Picture by Abhinav Sunil

 

Complicated organizations must implement sustainability initiatives that minimize throughout a number of companies. To look deeper at one such group with numerous companies, we interviewed Kristin Edie, vice chairman of enterprise sustainability at Hallmark, about her management position and essentially the most impactful sustainability efforts at Hallmark throughout Hallmark Media, Crayola, and Hallmark Playing cards.

Position And Obligations

Abhijit Sunil: Please inform us extra about your position because the chief for sustainability at Hallmark and your inside group.

Kristin Edie: I’m the vice chairman of enterprise sustainability. Hallmark has a portfolio of companies, together with Hallmark, Crayola, Hallmark Media, and Crown Middle. I work on the enterprise stage to set the environmental technique, objectives, and targets. As well as, if there are initiatives that cross a number of companies, my group will take the result in implement them. One instance is our provider engagement program, which incorporates suppliers of a lot of our international companies and types.

Along with my group working throughout the enterprise, we have now further sustainability groups within the particular person companies. Whereas these groups don’t instantly report back to me, we associate collectively each day to ship the technique. This group construction permits us to embed possession for sustainability inside the particular person companies. We really feel that embedding enterprise possession is essential as a result of reaching our objectives could require totally different actions in every enterprise. For instance, one focus space of our technique is our product and content material pillar, which entails redesigning bodily merchandise and packaging for Hallmark and Crayola. But at Hallmark Media, this similar objective means measuring the carbon footprint of film manufacturing to establish the important thing emissions drivers. Every enterprise could have some custom-made methods of constructing our methods come to life, however we at all times collaborate throughout the companies to share concepts and greatest practices.

Most Impactful Sustainability Efforts

Abhijit: What are essentially the most impactful sustainability efforts that you simply’ve undertaken inside Hallmark?

Kristin: In 2022, we had our 2030 enterprise science-based goal authorised for greenhouse fuel emissions discount. There are 4 key pillars of labor to ship this goal.

The primary pillar is merchandise and content material, which incorporates redesigning merchandise and packaging to make them extra sustainable and scale back their carbon footprint. We’re additionally working to extend the sustainability of film manufacturing at Hallmark Media.

The second pillar is renewable power. Our objective is to transition to renewable electrical energy throughout our international amenities. We’re additionally asking our key suppliers to implement renewable electrical energy and power effectivity initiatives to do their half in decreasing emissions throughout our provide chain.

The third pillar is sustainable forestry. We all know that forests are a vital sustainability consideration, and we have now had a dedication to accountable sourcing of paper and wooden for a few years. Once we launched our up to date technique, we didn’t wish to lose give attention to this space, so we introduced this precedence into our new motion plan.

After which fourth is transportation. Our objective is to cut back emissions from transporting our merchandise, in addition to these from our workers commuting to the workplace and our enterprise journey.

We’ve been making nice progress towards our renewable power priorities. This has been a significant journey, because the idea of renewable power goes again into our historical past. I not too long ago visited our first Crayola manufacturing facility, which started operation again in 1900 in Pennsylvania, the place Crayola nonetheless operates at present. Manufacturing operations at that first Crayola manufacturing facility had been powered by a waterwheel from the close by creek. Since Crayola has at all times had this hyperlink to the ability of nature when it got here to manufacturing, we proceed that keenness for renewable power at present. For instance, in 2010, Crayola constructed a photo voltaic farm to assist energy the manufacturing plant. Then in 2020, Crayola transitioned to 100% renewable electrical energy in all of the US-owned amenities.

Many leaders at Hallmark deliver the identical ardour for renewable power to the Hallmark model. The Hallmark model started its renewable electrical energy journey in 2021 inside our distribution amenities. We not too long ago started buying renewable electrical energy, akin to photo voltaic and wind, for our Hallmark-owned amenities and places of work globally. We’ve additionally submitted plans to construct a photo voltaic farm at our greetings manufacturing plant in Kansas.

From an influence viewpoint, these renewable electrical energy initiatives have achieved lots to cut back our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. However furthermore, it has been a approach to construct a tradition of sustainability inside our firm — to indicate our dedication to sustainability to our workers, clients, suppliers, and guests.

Provide Chain Decarbonization

Abhijit: You talked about provide chain being an enormous a part of your decarbonization technique. I’m assuming that with Crayola, Hallmark, and even in film manufacturing, provide chain is an enormous a part of decarbonization efforts. How do you tackle varied efforts inside the provide chain, and what has been essentially the most difficult and essentially the most impactful efforts you’ve taken to date?

Kristin: As you talked about, our provide chain is a crucial space of focus for us. Hallmark and Crayola have our personal manufacturing operations in the USA, through which we use renewable electrical energy. These operations fall inside our scope 1 and a couple of emissions, however we even have an exterior provide chain for uncooked supplies and a few completed merchandise, which is a part of our scope 3 emissions.

In October 2022, we launched a provider engagement program, the CARE program, to ask suppliers to affix us on this journey by decreasing their environmental influence. As a part of this program, we’re asking suppliers to measure their greenhouse fuel footprints and set emission discount targets. We’re additionally encouraging suppliers to take actions akin to implementing power effectivity initiatives and transitioning to renewable electrical energy of their factories. The actions taken by our suppliers are essential as a result of their factories are a part of our greenhouse fuel footprint. We, in flip, are a part of our clients’ footprints. Because of this all of us should take collective motion.

As well as, a minimum of one in every of our suppliers has taken the initiative to implement the identical sort of program with their very own suppliers. That is very worthwhile, as a result of our provide chain emissions come from not simply our direct suppliers’ factories but additionally from our suppliers’ suppliers.

Abhijit: What are the most important challenges in working with these suppliers?

Kristin: A giant problem is offering training. Once we began, many suppliers had not measured their greenhouse fuel footprint and had been solely beginning to study renewable power. Yearly, we have to ask our suppliers to supply us with emission-related knowledge to trace our progress. The difficult half is reaching out to our suppliers to collect knowledge yearly and, for them, having the data mandatory to supply that knowledge. We periodically maintain conferences with suppliers to coach them about our CARE program, why we’re implementing it, and the way we observe our progress on enhancing the sustainability of our provide chain with the info they supply. Yearly, we and our suppliers have gotten extra educated, however this can be a continuous studying course of for everybody.

Sustainability Laws

Abhijit: What regulatory features are key for you at Hallmark? What reporting frameworks are you planning to report into, and contemplating that you’re a personal firm, how do you see laws such because the EU’s Company Sustainability Reporting Directive and the SEC’s proposal affecting your technique?

Kristin: As a non-public firm, some laws focused towards public firms and their buyers don’t apply to us. However globally, some laws being carried out do embrace massive personal firms. For instance, not too long ago, California and the European Union have each launched laws associated to emission reporting and local weather danger assessments that embrace massive personal firms of their scope. It is crucial that each one firms monitor the fast-moving international laws in any respect ranges (nation, state, native) to make sure that they’re compliant with laws that apply to their enterprise. You will need to have robust rigor round these processes and reporting.

As well as, there are rising legislative necessities for third-party verification audits of greenhouse fuel footprints. Because of this, the rigor round sustainability reporting is getting elevated to turn into nearer to monetary reporting. These audits be certain that firms are compliant with the Greenhouse Fuel Protocol and that their processes and knowledge are credible. With the elevated legislative give attention to performing local weather danger assessments, such because the TCFD [Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures], in companies, the partnership of sustainability with finance and danger administration is changing into extra essential. This enables firms to research and decide their largest monetary dangers due to the altering local weather.

Usually, when laws begins to require sure actions akin to audits or danger assessments, this may create a brand new trade commonplace. Due to this fact, even when laws doesn’t apply to all firms, it’s nonetheless advisable for firms to observe evolving greatest practices.

Integration Of Sustainability Into Merchandise

Abhijit: How do you combine sustainability into varied Hallmark merchandise? How do you infuse sustainability-related metrics and experience into varied product strains?

Kristin: Proper now, our main focus for product sustainability is on rising the recyclability of merchandise and packaging, utilizing extra sustainable supplies akin to recycled content material, and decreasing the amount of uncooked supplies used per product. All of those are key levers to cut back the environmental influence of our merchandise and packaging by decreasing their carbon footprint and rising circularity.

We even have software program to do product lifecycle assessments. We use this software program to match the emissions of a product or packaging resolution earlier than and after the proposed redesign. Product sustainability to cut back greenhouse fuel emissions is an space the place we’re studying and rising daily.

Abhijit: Thanks, Kristin, on your worthwhile time and insights!

Kristin: Thanks!