Sustainability in the medical sector
Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword — it has become an essential requirement in corporate decision-making. In healthcare, ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance) credentials are now a key component in tenders, encouraging the supply chain to review and improve their operations. In the UK, the National Health Service aims to be the world’s first carbon net zero national health system by 2040. By 2045, this goal will also apply to the broader supplier chain. With 80,000 suppliers, the NHS has the power to drive change across its network. The potential impact is huge. Medicines, medical equipment, and other supply chain sources account for more than half of the organization’s carbon emissions. This emphasis on the environment is reaching businesses, too, as they look to their own suppliers for sustainability gains. In short, no business can afford to overlook sustainability, since doing so could result in commercial losses.
In the medical device sector, controlling contamination is critical and can make recycling and reusing materials difficult, expensive, or even impossible. There is room for more innovation here, but for now, it’s possible to lower the environmental impact of products by re-examining the entire design and manufacturing process to identify opportunities for change. As a family-owned company, Owen Mumford has made a sustainable future a priority for many years, and it’s deeply ingrained in our core values of heritage, safety, and sustainability. To reinforce our commitment, we chose B Corp certification as our next big step. The B Corp certification process evaluates not only environmental credentials but also assesses companies in four additional areas: governance, community, workers, and customers. Companies like ours in the medical device sector already operate under strict regulations, so it made sense for us to formalize our ethical and environmental accomplishments and goals through a recognized certification. We are now among the first medical device companies to achieve B Corp certification.
The demands of B Corp
“B” stands for Benefit. Certified B Corps are organizations taking action to address pressing global challenges. By achieving B Corp certification, a company publicly commits to working for the benefit of the planet and its people. For us, this was a natural step, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we had already adopted. To become a B Corp, a business must complete the ‘B Impact Assessment,’ which consists of over 250 questions that review a company’s governing structure, from articles of association to day-to-day operations. Worldwide, there are now more than 4,000 B Corps in 77 countries and 153 industries, and over 100,000 companies use the B Impact Assessment to manage their impact. The B Corp community in the UK includes over 400 organizations, representing a wide range of industries and company sizes. In this article, we’re highlighting some of the key milestones in our journey to becoming a B Corp.
Achieving certification
Our commitment to social and environmental responsibility was written into our articles of association, with a new section defining the company’s purpose. This includes promoting the company’s success for the benefit of all stakeholders, and explaining how we make a meaningful, positive impact on society and the environment through our work. This formal commitment protects our mission and keeps us accountable to all our stakeholders.
Even before starting the B Corp process, we invested time and resources to better understand sustainability issues and the actions we could take as a business. In 2014, our Environmental Steering Group was created to launch and monitor initiatives supporting our sustainability goals. This showed our commitment, and to further strengthen it, we rolled out energy reduction efforts across all our locations in the UK, USA, and Malaysia. These actions cut our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by more than a quarter (27.3%). In addition, our UK sites now get most of their energy from renewable sources, including power we generate ourselves through on-site solar panels. We also tracked and reported our waste management progress, showing a reduction in overall waste generation relative to sales. Furthermore, we expanded our environmental purchasing policy across our supply chain and analyzed our value chain (including suppliers, services, and materials) to identify areas of risk for greenhouse gas emissions.
Safety was another key focus. Safety is central when designing our medical devices, but it’s also part of how we run our company. For the last two years, our top-tier health and safety standards have earned us a gold award from the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Organizations honored with a RoSPA Award are recognized as global leaders in health and safety best practices. But we knew there was more we could do. To obtain B Corp certification, we also completed an air quality audit, since indoor air quality can significantly affect building occupants’ health, comfort, and well-being. Carbon dioxide levels are important indicators for ventilation and overall indoor air quality. We also monitored temperature, relative humidity, and carbon monoxide levels, with our sites meeting all required standards.
Future plans
B Corp is not a one-and-done certification. It’s not just a checklist but a methodology that guides ongoing progress toward better ESG benchmarks. It tells a company where it stands, provides independent verification of baseline standards, and maps out the road ahead. That’s why Owen Mumford chose the B Corp path. We believe that the best approach to ESG compliance is to engage in a system that enables a company to regularly and effectively raise its standards. Rigorous progress measures are now built into our corporate reporting, giving senior management complete visibility—and challenge us to keep setting new goals for ongoing improvement. In many ways, B Corp fits the mindset of LEAN manufacturing: both are guides for continuous progress, not endpoints.
Summary
In summary, B Corp represents a real challenge to companies to measure and improve their ESG standards. Instead of being just a badge, B Corp helps instill and manage a better approach to business. Everyone in our company is part of this journey and is helping raise the standards.