‘No Time to Waste’ – Mergon launch first sustainability report for children

Mergon, a global leader in plastics manufacturing, with headquarters in Castlepollard, has launched its sustainability report, including a special version for children to coincide with UN World Children’s Day on November 20.

The company, which has operations in South Carolina, the Czech Republic and China, and supplies parts for some of the biggest brands in the world, like Tesla, Toyota, Rivian, Lucid, BMW, Abbott, and Xerox, is aiming to make its programme of climate action digestible for the youngest members of employees’ families.

The Sustainability Report for Children, entitled ‘No Time to Waste’, contains easy to understand explanations of sustainability topics, accompanied by illustrations designed to help children of all ages learn about environmental awareness.

The company hopes that its Sustainability Report for Children will assist employees in educating their children on the importance of climate action, including recycling and responsible energy use, and explaining how their parents are helping to reduce carbon emissions through their work.

As a manufacturer in plastics, the company has been targeting increased sustainability in its operations in recent years.

Mergon now runs its Irish site fully from renewable energy, has achieved a Carbon Neutral Buildings Certification in Ireland, and has reduced carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 in the last year, down to 8,901 tCO2e for 2021.

In its Sustainability Report, Mergon has set ambitious objectives to achieve carbon neutrality across its global business by 2030, including to obtain 100% of its energy from renewable sources, to use only electric vehicles in its operations and to reduce landfill waste to zero within the decade.

Founded in Westmeath in 1981 by Pat Beirne, a plastics engineer, the company has grown to employ more than 700 people across the globe.

Now CEO, Mr Beirne, speaking about Mergon’s Sustainability Report for Children, said: “We have launched this report, alongside our main sustainability report, because we recognise how important this issue has become to families in both their working and personal lives.

"Children have rightly come to be very conscious of environmental issues and they want to learn more about sustainability and what their parents are doing to contribute to climate action."

“This beautifully illustrated report helps them to do just that, and I am proud to be able to communicate what Mergon is doing to promote sustainability across all generations.”

Chief transformation officer, Aoife Beirne, added: “At Mergon, we work with the leading electric vehicle brands in the world where our plastic components help make cars lighter and more fuel efficient, thus reducing emissions and energy use.

“As a global company, we must be accountable for our operations and the impact they can have. ‘No Time to Waste’ focuses on the youngest generations in our communities – our children and the children of our global workforce.

"They have the greatest stake in the future of our planet and they expect us all to achieve the highest standard on sustainability.”