In today’s business landscape, companies face a broad spectrum of challenges that encompass environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. These three pillars form the core of ESG criteria, which guide companies in adopting sustainable practices. To enhance transparency and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability across these dimensions, companies are increasingly required to disclose their operations and efforts through ESG reporting.
Waste management, including waste collection, recycling, and adherence to circular economy principles, falls under the environmental pillar of ESG. These practices significantly influence a company’s ESG reporting and ultimately affect its ESG score. It’s clear that waste generation varies significantly between sectors: industrial manufacturing companies producing goods and materials typically generate more waste compared to firms in finance, IT, or software.
With this distinction in mind, we analyzed the Top 100 companies ranked by their ESG scores, focusing specifically on manufacturing companies that generate waste during the production process. Below, we present the refined list of these companies:
Sources: investors.com – Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), Dow Jones
This list features U.S.-traded stocks valued at over $10 and ranks them according to their Dow Jones ESG scores as of August 25, 2023. It includes only top-performing companies based on environmental, social, and governance criteria. The 20 companies listed are ordered by their ESG score. In the event of ties, rankings were determined first by the highest IBD Composite Ratings, followed by RS Rating and EPS Rating. Additionally, all included stocks have either met or surpassed the S&P 500’s performance over the previous five years.
Methodology:
In our ranking of the top 20 manufacturing companies based on ESG reporting scores, we selected firms from the 2023 list published by Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) on investors.com. We focused exclusively on companies from sectors such as Machinery and Electronics Equipment that are directly involved in manufacturing production, excluding those from non-relevant sectors like Finance or Consulting.
The 2023 list of the 100 Best ESG Companies on investors.com features public firms that excel in both Dow Jones sustainability scores and IBD’s technical and fundamental stock ratings, highlighting them as top choices for ESG investing. This selection began with an extensive analysis of ESG sustainability scores from Dow Jones Newswires, covering over 6,000 global companies.
For greater clarity, our ranking of TOP 20 ESG reporting manufacturing companies does not include any technical and fundamental stock ratings, such as EPS Rating or SMR Rating, but only the final ESG score.
Positive examples and best practices from the ranking
When you look out on the sustainability or climate protection initiatives by companies ranked in our Top 20 list, you can find some inspiring examples.
Chris Librie, Senior Director of ESG at Applied Materials, the leader of our ranking, shared for 3blmedia.com that Applied Materials employs over 100 staff members focused exclusively on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. This impressive number of specialists handle various tasks including reporting, refining the company’s goals for 2030, and updating the net-zero strategy.
As stated in Sustainability Magazine, according to Christine Montenegro McGrath from Mondelēz International, number 8 in our list, Mondelēz has unveiled initiatives aimed at achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 in the company’s food product supply chain and operations, aligning with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Paris Agreement. The company is focusing on decarbonizing its extensive product range through various measures. These include promoting regenerative agricultural practices with cocoa and wheat farmers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in dairy supply chains, and enhancing manufacturing efficiency and energy use.
Additionally, Mondelēz is implementing innovative logistics solutions, such as partnering with Indian Railways and using coastal waterways to lower emissions from transportation.
Also, Caterpillar, a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment and number 3 in our ranking is known as one of the leading companies in sustainability and has been named to USA Today’s inaugural list of America’s Climate Leaders for 2023, recognizing the company’s significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions intensity relative to revenue between 2019 and 2021.
Manufacturers are consistently enhancing their operations to be more intelligent, data-driven, and efficient. A prime example is Rockwell Automation, ranked number 20 on our list. The company’s Polish factory in Katowice was recently honored with the prestigious Factory of the Future Award by a notable government group. This accolade highlights how the Katowice plant exemplifies Rockwell Automation’s commitment to smart manufacturing. Utilizing Industry 4.0 technologies, the facility not only improves operational efficiencies but also maintains a strong focus on both employee well-being and customer satisfaction.
How can Sensoneo help with ESG reporting?
Sensoneo delivers a comprehensive smart waste management solution tailored for factories, facilities, and fulfillment centers. Our system includes intelligent sensors and buttons, an innovative mobile app that facilitates collection and provides navigation through floorplans, and a robust Waste Management System (WMS) software platform. This end-to-end solution enables the continuous collection of waste data, offering valuable insights directly through our platform. These insights can be seamlessly integrated into your ESG reports, providing all the necessary details about your waste management practices.
For instance, our data reports offer insights for waste management in factories by providing weight data for the supervision of internal/external waste collectors. They facilitate a comprehensive understanding of waste production and collection frequency, empowering data-driven decisions to enhance sustainability KPIs, such as Waste Diversion Rate. These reports play a pivotal role in optimizing waste management strategies and promoting a more environmentally conscious operational approach. Our Waste Management Software (WMS) platform offers a comprehensive analytics dashboard with all data collected during the collection process. We are also able to send tailored e-mail reports to help you run a more efficient operation and report easily to management.
