ESG – it’s the three letters that business leaders around the world foresee as the most important trend for business success in the immediate future. The 2020 World Economic Forum’s push for standardised reporting has catalysed this, bringing environmental and social governance to the forefront of people’s attention.

The project, which was a collaboration between the World Economic Forum, International Business Council and Big Four accounting firms, focuses on stakeholder capitalism metrics organised under four sustainability pillars: People, Planet, Prosperity and Principles of Governance.

While the 21 reporting metrics cover an array of sustainability and humanitarian advancements, the adoption and reporting of these metrics has drawn interest from the investor community and are likely to impact investment decisions, both directly and indirectly. Transparent reporting of these metrics is likely to impact investment decisions made at Emerald Financial within the resources and manufacturing industries. Indirectly, sharing of such information around waste emissions, pay equality and diversity may have an impact on the War on Talent which has been accentuated during the pandemic due to border restrictions. Good talent is in high demand and securing such talent has downstream impacts on operations.

As the largest manufacturer of orthotics in Australia, we recently caught up with Healthia CEO – Bodies & Minds and Feet & Ankle, Dean Hartley for a chat about iOrthotics’ manufacturing processes within an industry he describes as traditionally “really wasteful”.

“We saw what waste we were producing and thought there’s just gotta be a better way to do this.”

Traditional orthotics were manufactured from large sheets of plastic with orthotics then cut out, creating wastage from the leftovers. 3D printing however starts with nothing, and builds up layer by layer.

“And the waste generated from that is minuscule. It doesn’t compare essentially to the old school way. So when we moved to 3D printing, we saw a 95% reduction in plastic waste,” said Hartley.

“But sustainability is about more than just reduction in landfill.

“What also needs to be taken into account is the raw materials needed to make that plastic waste, the energy used in that production process, the fuel needed to transport it and their resulting emissions. So when you look at the overall picture, you begin to realize the true scale of the environmental damage we’re avoiding.

“It’s something that we’re really proud of and I’m personally very proud of here at iOrthotics that last year alone we’ve saved around 60 tons of plastic waste from going to landfill.”
From its manufacturing facilities in Queensland and New York, iOrthotics produces custom 3D printed orthotics for more than 50,000 patients across 10 countries annually.