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Omnicol Achieves VCDO Certificate
'Laureate Voka Charter for Sustainable Entrepreneurship',
on the way to SDG Pioneership

The seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are there for a reason. That's why Omnicol uses them as a compass for future-oriented and sustainable business policy. And successfully: we can now call ourselves a VCDO laureate for our 2023 action plan. A prelude to the ultimate goal, obtaining the UNITAR-SDG Pioneer certificate.   

"You know what surprised us the most?" says marketing manager Roy van Gorkom: "That what we have been doing for decades on our own initiative turned out not to be so self-evident after all. Take water management, for example. For twenty years, we have had a sustainable policy for wastewater, collect rainwater to flush toilets, use a zero-discharge statute where industrial water is not discharged but collected and largely reused, and have water-permeable parking spaces... For us, it's the most natural thing in the world. And now it is being recognized and appreciated internationally."  


The five P’s

The action plan Omnicol has developed includes dozens of projects, all linked to one of the five P’s: People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnership, and Peace. Under the theme Planet, for example, there is a focus on an even more sustainable production process by using as much post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) as possible. This is made from green waste, paper waste, and consumer plastic packaging, among other things. Post-consumer waste is the largest waste stream worldwide. That’s why there is a constant search for ways to limit this waste stream and also ways to process this waste into new products. By reusing it, fewer new raw materials are needed, and less waste goes to landfills. Additionally, under the theme People, Omnicol provides external drivers with a sanitary space where they have access to a toilet, shower, and kitchenette at night and on weekends via a code. "This also leads to a cleaner environment, so this action also falls under the Planet theme," Van Gorkom explains. 

Multiple Themes

It often happens that an action point benefits more than one theme. Take the electrification of the passenger and delivery vehicle fleet and the use of HVO diesel for all trucks on Dutch roads. This transition already results in an 89% CO2 reduction. Good for the Planet, but also Partnership is explicitly involved, Van Gorkom explains: "We also want to reduce that last 11%. For this, we will discuss with customers in the next step. If they order more smartly, for example, slightly larger orders at a time, our trucks will need to be on the road less and make fewer stops. Moreover, logistics on the customer side can also be more efficient and cleaner. The great thing is: such a small behavioral change costs nothing but yields huge environmental benefits."  


Plenty of Opportunities 

Achieving the VCDO certificate 'Laureate Voka Charter for Sustainable Entrepreneurship' has only further increased Omnicol's sustainable ambitions. Under the guidance of Voka, the largest and most dynamic Flemish network of enterprises, ten new actions are realized every year. The action plan still shows plenty of opportunities, such as using raw materials with a better LCA and lower CO2 footprint. And creating a so-called 'closed loop' by collecting buckets from customers or returning them to the packaging manufacturer at the construction site so that they can be converted into new recycled raw materials. In short, concrete actions that will yield hard, measurable results. Van Gorkom: "Our goal is always to reduce, not compensate. That means we really need to keep challenging ourselves to take concrete actions. In the coming period, we will move up another level: the Unitar SDG Pioneer certificate."