LEADING waste and resource management company, RiverRidge, has won the Road to Net Zero Champion award at the annual Export and Freight Transport and Logistics Awards 2024.

The ‘Road to Net Zero Champion’ award, sponsored by Logistics UK, was presented to RiverRidge at a glittering ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in South Belfast, which was attended by around 600 guests from all sectors of the transport and logistics industry and compered by the BBC’s Mark Simpson.

RiverRidge, a company that has been at the forefront of change within Northern Ireland’s waste and resource management sector, recognised early on that sustainability is the future of responsible business and looked at ways it could implement more sustainable practices and carbon saving initiatives, whilst also making it easier for its customers to become more sustainable.

Following engagement with KPMG’s Sustainable Futures Team in 2022 and extensive discussions with all RiverRidge stakeholders, from senior management to customers, professional bodies and employees, the company created its dedicated ESG strategy, establishing a set of sustainability ambitions and goals, along with the development of a set of KPIs, against which it could report on its progression. RiverRidge’s inaugural ESG report outlining this progress was launched earlier this year, and details the company’s activities and success in regards to environmental, social and governance practices to date.

The awarding judges felt that it was clear RiverRidge’s sustainability plans and strategies are based on these extensive consultations and deliberations, which fed into its corporate ESG strategies, and their process of sustainability transition was carefully thought about. Comment was also made on RiverRidge’s recognition of including scope 3 emissions reporting for customers, allowing them to better understand the carbon impact of their own operations, as well as the company’s clear, measurable and time focused targets for reducing environmental impacts, waste and carton emissions – e.g. 75% of its vehicle fleet is to be renewable by 2035.

Of particular note was RiverRidge’s focus on biodiversity initiatives, including nature-based solutions such as reed beds, alongside a more dominant focus on reducing carbon emissions. The installation of beehives is particularly important in terms of the ecological function of bees as key pollinators. RiverRidge successfully combines technical (solar, bio-methane generation) and non-technical (behavioural changes) initiatives along the road to net zero.

Speaking about the award, CEO of RiverRidge, Brett Ross said, “We are thrilled to win the ‘Road to Net Zero Champion’ award at this year’s Export and Freight Transport and Logistics awards. We have implemented an expansive number of strategies and invested heavily across the company to minimise not just our own impact on the environment, but the impact of our customers, and this is something that we are fully committed to progressing in the months and years ahead. This includes the launch of our new carbon accounting platform later this year, which will provide customers with enhanced transparency via tracking, recording and reporting in order to help them reduce their carbon footprint. The launch of our ESG strategy and subsequent report holds us accountable to our sustainability activities; enabling our customers full transparency on the actions that we are taking. We are delighted to be recognised for these efforts at this year’s awards.”

Organised by the Hillsborough-based publishers of Export and Freight magazine, 4SM (NI) Ltd, the Export and Freight Awards, which was first staged back in 2001, is Ireland’s premier platform of recognition for those operating in the transport and logistics sector. The awards celebrate and reward the very best in an industry that continues to meet its challenges head-on with resilience and perseverance.

To read RiverRidge’s ESG report, please click here: https://bit.ly/3HKFjUg.