Articles

ISSA Launches Global Sustainability Initiative

Categories: ISSA Insights, Sustainability & ESG

2023 is sure to be a year full of challenges and opportunities as the global cleaning industry continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, deals with labor shortages, battles inflation and cost cutting, and more. One emerging and most intriguing issue is sustainability, which will increase the requirement for detailed reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

Sustainability requirements

For those unconvinced that sustainability is a significant emerging issue, consider this. According to the Governance & Accountability Institute, in 2021, 96% of the S&P 500 published sustainability reports were up substantially from 20% just ten years ago. This, along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to require sustainability reporting (with similar requirements in Europe and elsewhere), requirements for reporting will affect their suppliers (including the cleaning industry) soon.

Beyond the requirements of the SEC and large customers, along with the opportunities to increase sales and profits by driving efficiencies and reducing waste, the environmental footprint of the global cleaning industry is huge! Made up of tens of thousands of companies that operate manufacturing facilities, warehouses, offices, delivery trucks, and cars, and more importantly, employ over 100 million workers, the challenges and opportunities for members of the global cleaning industry are equally vast.

A global initiative

To help the industry respond, ISSA has launched a global initiative to provide timely resources, guidance, and other tools to support their short- and long-term sustainability goals. As with any huge challenge, ISSA is thinking big, as it will take a lot of people to transform the global cleaning industry. As such, ISSA issued a “call for volunteers” and received strong support with upwards of 170 people applying from 11 countries, including manufacturers, distributors, service providers, property management companies, universities, governments, professional associations, sports organizations, labor unions, and more.

Smaller working groups have been created to address specific topics such as education and training, tools for reporting and responding to customer requests, needs unique to international members, ISSA convention preparations, and strategic planning, and others, such as those designed to mentor the next generation of sustainability leaders.

To provide extra value for the members, monthly virtual meetings include a guest speaker with a range of sustainability expertise. To date, this has included speakers from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), National Retail Federation, International Facility Management Association (IFMA), National Hockey League, and Green Sports Alliance. These speakers have shared their views on both how they look at sustainability, as well as their expectations
for the cleaning industry.

ISSA is hosting general monthly committee meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at noon EST. For those interested in participating, fill out the free application, which takes about five minutes. To access the application online, visit issa.com/application.

Sustainability clearly is an emerging issue that can be a benefit or a burden depending on how organizations address it. ISSA is committed to providing tools and leadership to help its members succeed and make a difference on a global scale for years to come.

About the Author.

Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm working to “green” the cleaning industry, executive director of the Green Cleaning Network, a nonprofit organization working to accelerate the adoption of green cleaning by building owners and managers, and cofounder of Green Cleaning University. He can be reached at 812-332-7950.