Our presence at Interclean: Over 250 trees planted and stand materials repurposed

Visitors to our stand at Interclean 2024 may have noticed our Plant A Tree Pledge Wall; we devised this as we wanted to help organisations showcase the actions they are taking to be more sustainable. In return for each Pledge, we committed to a donation to plant a tree via SC Johnson’s partnership with Conservation International.

Each person who made a Pledge told the story of how they or their organisation would use less, waste less, or recycle more over the next 12 months. Thanks to these Pledges, over 250 trees will be planted as part of the Conservation International’s international forest restoration programme.

The Pledge Wall was a big part of our focus on sustainability at the event. We shared how our products can help organisations to be more sustainable, by doing everyday things better to help to make a real difference. We believe that all efforts to be more sustainable are good efforts, no matter how big or small. However, doing everyday things better is easy to action, and can add up to make a significant contribution towards an organisation’s sustainability goals. And this is where we come in; our cleaning and hygiene solutions are designed to help businesses use less, waste less and recycle more every day.

The Pledges made showed people’s real dedication to making everyday decisions that help to achieve their goals to be more sustainable. A third of our Pledges talked of changes to travel habits, with visitors pledging to switch to electric or hybrid cars, choose public transport more frequently, walk and cycle more. 1 in 4 Pledges mentioned product choice, an area in which our solutions can be used to help businesses use less, waste less and recycle more. 

Other common themes in the Pledges were waste and recycling, as well as training. The right products along with the right training can empower organisations to take on a more sustainable approach, making a real difference in how they care for people. All of the solutions in these Pledges help individuals to use fewer resources, waste less, recycle more, and improve everyday practices. 

Alongside our Pledge Wall and Conservation International donations, we worked with Trash Galore to donate and repurpose our surplus Interclean stand materials. Trash Galore is an environmental services organisation which collects and donates waste event materials, including stand materials to social, cultural and ecological initiatives throughout Germany. By working with them, we helped to donate over two tonnes of stand materials to various initiatives in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW). 

Repurposing our exhibition stand materials has had a positive impact on various projects in the region - with four charitable organisations across Cologne already making use of our stand’s materials, such as ‘urban cultural association’ Niehler Freiheit e.V. using chipboards for an open-air concert stage and the German Alliance for Climate Change and Health, Klug e.V., transforming the floor covering of our exhibition stand into flooring for their office.

In cooperation with Trash Galore, we have ensured that 2,134 kg of residual stand materials have been repurposed by local organisations in need, avoiding both disposal and the need to use new materials, helping to prevent a potential 939 kg of CO2eq emissions. To emphasise the importance of transparency, Trash Galore helps its clients to report their achieved impacts in accordance with GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) standards.

Commenting on our work with Trash Galore, an SC Johnson Professional spokesperson, said: “This initiative exemplifies our sustainability strapline, "use less, waste less, recycle more". By helping extend the life of materials and supporting community projects, we’re helping to make sure that sustainability remains a key focus after Interclean. Many thanks to Trash Galore and all those involved for their dedication to this fantastic initiative!”

To find out more about our sustainability approach, head here: https://www.scjp.com/en-gb/sustainability