How responding to customer need kick-started MTM Products’ sustainability journey

MTM Products has revealed how listening to customer needs prompted a sustainability drive which has seen it slash carbon emissions by more than a third over the past 12 months.

The Derbyshire-based business, one of the UK’s leading industrial graphics suppliers, has reduced its operational carbon footprint by 34 tonnes of CO2e – or 37 per cent – by cutting its consumption of gas, grid electricity and water.

The emissions saving equates to flying seven times around the world, a motorist driving 162,000 miles or enough water being boiled to make 3.9 million cups of tea.

And the business is not finished yet, with further ambitious plans to transform its operations before 2030.

Now Managing Director Mark Niblett has shared how a catalyst for the initiative was a request from a customer in the building and construction sector who wanted help in completing a questionnaire in relation to the UK Government’s Plastic Packaging Tax.

“At that stage, although we were operating to recognised industry standards such as BS, ISO and UL/ANSI, and were conscious of the need to reduce our carbon outputs, we weren’t specifically auditing our sustainability credentials. For the good of our business, our customers and the environment, we realised we wanted that to change,” said Mark.

MTM launched an internal Green Committee and appointed CarbonQuota a print and packaging carbon reduction and measurement specialist, as an external partner to support its transformation initiative.

CarbonQuota experts provided the business with baselines and measurable objectives and produced a roadmap for emission reduction, which included deployment of upgraded, energy-efficient equipment and a transition from paper-heavy in-house systems to automated real-time reporting and utilisation of the Internet of Things.

Results so far have included a 47 per cent reduction in KWh of natural gas used in boilers, a 42 per cent decrease in KWh of electricity consumption and a seven per cent reduction in water usage.

“Thanks to these energy efficiency measures, CarbonQuota have independently verified that our overall carbon emissions have decreased by 37 per cent,” said Mark.

“And we don’t intend to stop. Continuing this trend through 2023 and beyond will reduce our emissions further.”

MTM’s ongoing work – still supported by CarbonQuota – includes reassessing their supply chain and collaborating closely with strategic partners to identify alternative sustainable materials, with the aim of continuing to achieve year-on-year CO2e reductions.

“This process is positive for us as a business, for our workforce, who want to be part of a company which thinks and acts sustainably, and, fittingly, given the starting point for this whole project, also for our clients, who will enjoy the benefits of a shared focus on environmental responsibility,” Mark said.

The work MTM is doing also involves challenging partners on their approaches to sustainability, as well as continuously assessing internal processes.

“We hope that by us demonstrating what we’re doing, we’re sharing best practices for the wider industry, in the hopes we can all begin to make a positive change,” Mark said.

Based in Chesterfield, MTM has been supplying original equipment manufacturers in the automotive, electrical and electronic, rail, medical, construction and machinery equipment sectors in the UK and across the EU for 47 years.

If you’re interested in learning more about the company’s sustainability journey, please don’t hesitate to contact us.