Reynaers Group launches Reynaers Act – sustainability strategy report

Reynaers Group launches Reynaers Act, its industry-leading sustainability strategy report that reveals a set of ambitious targets the Group wants to achieve by its 60^th anniversary in 2025. The broad aim is to limit the increase in global average temperatures to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030.

Reynaers Group, leading European provider of sustainable architectural aluminium and steel solutions, introduces its stakeholders in architecture and construction, as well as the business world, to the Group’s ambitious sustainability objectives for 2025. The objectives contained in Reynaers Act (the report’s title) is based on the fact that the Group can make a substantial difference by the way the company chooses to act.

‘Track record’

Reynaers Group has a long and remarkable track record as an environmentally conscious company that consistently improves on its own achievements. This is well demonstrated at its largest subsidiary, Reynaers Aluminium, where the company has been improving the insulation levels of its products from 6.5W/m²K in 1965, to 4W/m²K for its first insulated system, and Uf-values of less than 0.8W/m²K in 2022.

Today, Reynaers Group announces its intentions to escalate its sustainability goals and actions towards 2025, when the multinational will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The objective: for Reynaers Group to outperform internationally set sustainability goals by chasing and aligning itself to the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to hold the rise in global average temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

A Sustainability Board, assisted by a cross-departmental project team, will lead the project, applying ambitious sustainability goals across four key areas. These areas are: Reynaers’ sustainable products; the buildings in which these products perform; Reynaers Group and its people; and the company’s operations. The strategy behind Reynaers Act has been translated into concrete actions, as outlined below. The aim is to achieve these targets by consciously acting and living the goals and the spirit to attain them.

Building the sustainable way

As buildings account for 35% of the global use of energy, Reynaers Group plans to reduce that consumption level by developing innovative products that allow customers to choose sustainable, energy-efficient solutions for all their building projects. To this end, the innovative company is constantly expanding its range of Passive House certified systems and achieving other certifications on thermal performance, such as Minergie, within its aluminium product range.

Next, by integrating sustainability data in its digital tools, Reynaers Group will offer its business partners easy access to all the information they need to design sustainable buildings. For example, the firm is expanding its cloud-based Building Information Modelling (BIM) software to introduce a Digital Passport which will contain all the necessary sustainability information of every product included in BIM.

In 2023, Reynaers Group plans to guide its customers and partners towards holistic sustainability, every day. Detailed simulations will help them quantify, calculate and demonstrate the impact of Reynaers Aluminium products on the energy efficiency of any building. By considering parameters such as local climate, orientation, or building type, trained staff will advise clients on how to take optimal advantage of thermal insulation, solar gains and natural ventilation. 

Designing product solutions for sustainable architecture

Construction materials account for 47% of the EU’s overall consumption of materials by weight. Increasing the circularity of materials can significantly reduce their environmental impact. The most cost-effective strategy to reduce embodied emissions in the built environment is to increase utilisation of shared floor space and to reduce construction waste.

Reynaers Group’s ambition is to certify nine more aluminium systems to Cradle to Cradle® Bronze Level certification by 2024, increasing its share of certified circular products to 60% of its aluminium product turnover. Also by 2024, the company expects to deliver product passports that contain all relevant product information, such as (dis)assembly and maintenance instructions, material composition and sustainable system properties.

To maximise the volume of recyclable material at the end of a building’s lifetime, Reynaers optimises the end-of-life processes by identifying and avoiding components that have a negative impact on those processes.

Together for better 

In 2019, Reynaers Group activities generated an ecological footprint of 280,000 tonnes of CO₂. Several actions have now been prioritised to reduce this impact. The company plans to reduce carbon emissions in its operations by shifting its electricity consumption to renewable energy, and by reviewing the designs of its company buildings, its vehicle fleet and its production processes. Its value chain accounts for 96.3% of the 280,000 tonnes of CO₂ Reynaers Group emits yearly. Updating parts of its processes, the building company will reduce this factor by 55%. In addition, it plans to invest more in environmental management systems, several of which are already improving Reynaers Group’s daily operations currently.

Reynaers Group has grown its staff complement from around 100 employees in 1986 to over 2,650 in 2021, spread across more than 70 countries. Today, the company faces many challenges that inspire it to constantly improve its approach to human resources. To face ever-changing market developments, Reynaers Group offers its employees various lifelong learning and personal growth opportunities. In-depth product training sessions as well as soft-skill courses help people develop on a personal level.

Reynaers Group cares for its employees’ well-being and believes in growing together in a great place to work at. Worldwide surveys map out employees’ most pressing needs and help implement effective measures. Safety at work is considered a number one priority and is accordingly treated as a top management responsibility.

As a caring partner for its entire community, Reynaers Group wants to realise a daily positive impact on society. That is why it invests in and supports local charities with its yearly Community Days and the Reynaers for Community programme.

Thoughts from Reynaers

Reynaers Group CEO Dirk Bontridder is excited about the future of the Group and its commitments included in the Reynaers Act strategy.

He comments: “I believe in our sustainability strategy, Reynaers Act. We as a company, our employees, and all our stakeholders can and will change our behaviour in line with these ambitious targets.

“Speaking for our entire Group, I commit to positively contributing to our planet’s health, by limiting the increase in global average temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030. Together, we can achieve our objectives by believing in ourselves and by acting decisively, day after day, to live the goals we have set in Reynaers Act.”

Richard Hall, Managing Director at Reynaers Aluminium UK (pictured above), adds: “The UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050.  The target requires that the UK brings all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

“To this end, we are delighted that Reynaers Group has signed up to the science based target initiative – SBTi – and will endeavour to continue to do our part in the UK.”

‘Act differently’

He adds: “We are already operating to ISO 14001 Environmental Standards as well as ISO 50001 Energy Management Standards at our UK site and signing up to these ambitious science-based targets further demonstrates our commitment to Act differently by looking at the decisions at every level of the business.

“We will make a marked contribution to reduce the environmental impact of the products we produce, and of our operations. ..We aim to be very open about our steps towards achieving these ambitious targets over the coming months and years.”

To learn more about Reynaers Act and to keep up to date with the latest news and developments from Reynaers UK on this visit: https://www.reynaers.co.uk/sustainability