Howden Group has partnered with ocean clean-up organisation, Seven Clean Seas to help achieve its goal of becoming plastic neutral.

SCS has been tasked with helping Howden to measure and reduce its plastic consumption, and then to offset what remains. Thus far, Howden has already offset over 66,000kg of plastic - the estimated amount used by its workforce during 2020.

David Howden, CEO of Howden Group Holdings, commented: “When we talk about sustainability, we are talking about building value for the long term, and creating a business that our employees can be proud of.

“Our job as an insurance group is to mitigate risks, so while we’re looking at what products we need to develop to help our clients respond to increasingly prevalent ESG risks, we equally need to look internally and curb the impact our own businesses are having on the environment. Our partnership with Seven Cleans Seas is an important part of this.

“Plastic pollution is a major risk to the health of our oceans and wildlife, and, potentially, to human health. Plastic accounts for 12% of total oil consumption, so using it is also directly contributing to climate change.

“Based on SCS’ estimations, if our 8,500 employees reduce their plastic consumption by just 25%, that’s a reduction of over 23,000kg annually. While reducing plastic consumption to zero, may not be feasible at this stage, for the plastic we do continue to use, Seven Clean Seas’ offsetting initiative will allow us to remove at least as much plastic as we have generated from the world’s most polluted rivers."

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