Belgium based leader in lightweight construction and the name behind the Siniat brand, Etex has just released its latest Sustainability Report.
Along with it, Etex has further pledged to be an agent of change in the sustainable building sector by announcing its ‘Road to Sustainability 2030’ plan, which outlines the company’s vision to help build a better, sustainable future.
The Etex Group focuses on the manufacture of building materials such as plasterboard, fibre cement boards or glass mineral wool, and embraces the demand for high-quality, energy-efficient and sustainable living and working spaces. Etex’s lightweight construction solutions offer the potential to reduce raw material and energy use, contributing to long-term circularity through deconstruction, reuse and recycling.
In recent years, Etex has laid a solid foundation to become a more sustainable organisation. In 2020, the company became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) for sustainable and responsible business practices. As a global citizen, Etex has also committed to supporting the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by implementing concrete projects and initiatives.
Together with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, the company has defined where it has the biggest impacts and where it can secure the biggest sustainability wins. These early efforts have already paid off, with tangible results and recognition. In 2021 Etex published its first-ever Sustainability Report.
In its most recent business sustainability assessment as a supplier in 2021, Etex received a silver medal from EcoVadis in recognition of its best-in-class sustainability management. The silver medal places Etex in the top 25% of all companies evaluated by EcoVadis. In 2021, Etex’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk exposure was rated 18.1 out of 100, indicating that the company has a low-risk exposure and is ranked favourably amongst its peers in the top 10% of the construction industry.
Road to Sustainability 2030
Etex’s ‘Road to Sustainability 2030’ sets clear ambitions for the next eight years across five priority areas: health, safety and wellbeing; customer engagement; diversity, equity, and inclusion; decarbonisation; and circularity.
1. Health, safety and wellbeing: The daily goal is to reach zero fatalities, injuries or burnouts;
2. Customer engagement: Etex aims to build a sustainable roadmap per product platform by 2025;
3. Diversity, equity and inclusion: By 2025, Etex will cover all teammates by diversity, equity and inclusion policies, procedures and practices. It will also train all teammates on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as close the gender pay gap;
4. Decarbonisation: The goal for 2030 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (intensity of Scopes 1 and 2) by 35% compared to 2018;
5. Circularity: By 2030, Etex will use more than 20% of circular input as raw material (compared to 2018), send zero waste to landfill, use 100% recycled packaging material and reduce plastic packaging by 20% (compared to 2018), offer a takeback service of its product portfolio in 80% of its European countries, and dedicate 50% of its innovation resources to sustainability.
The Australian business
The Etex Group purchased the Australian plasterboard, metal and compound business from Knauf in 2021, and rebranded it to Siniat.
“We were delighted to discover that the Etex sustainability vision aligned very well with our own,” said Regional EHS and sustainability manager Kathryn Walker.
“Sustainability has been a priority for our business for more than a decade. In 2014 we partnered with Lendlease on the Barangaroo Development Project to develop our Climate Active certified Carbon Neutral Opt-in Program – an important step in our local sustainability journey,” she said, adding that Etex Australia is still the only manufacturer of plasterboard and metal products to offer a program of this kind to the market.
Kathryn said Etex Australia is actively continuing its efforts to reduce emissions. “Recent projects include the improvement of our gypsum storage and handling facility in Matraville, and we have made excellent progress with introducing renewable electricity into our plants, with a solar project installation commencing this year in our Altona facility.”
Watch Etex’s Road to Sustainability 2030.
