Priority 1 • Reduction of our GHG emissions
As a company that produces a large number of products, we are fully aware of the environmental impact our industry generates. In this sense, Kotmo prioritizes reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, whether in the transportation of goods or in the industrial or artisanal production of its products.
Priority 2 • Establish a system for managing residual materials from production and use
Since the useful life of promotional items is generally short, it is imperative to understand the impact of the production of our items in order to be able to produce sustainable and responsible items. In this same logic, we are constantly developing our knowledge of the different industrial and artisanal processes allowing us to produce various items with a responsible useful life. Kotmo also aims to develop a management system for our residual materials from production in order to be able to responsibly manage the production of our items, from design to use.
Priority 3 • Addressing the problem of production surpluses
It's also important to note that we want to address the issue of overstocking. Since production losses are a reality we have to work with, it's usually necessary to produce more products than necessary to cover a potential margin of error. As a result, we sometimes have overstocking. We want to address this issue and develop a program to donate these items to non-profit organizations.
Priority 4 • Support sustainable mobility
Kotmo aims to maintain its current partnerships and develop new ones with key players in sustainable mobility. The very nature of our business requires us to deliver goods to customers, and we aim to be at the forefront of reducing the environmental impact of freight transport.
Priority 5 • Maximize the use of eco-responsible raw materials and be a vector for the development of eco-responsible raw materials and eco-design
As Kotmo creates objects, the raw materials used to create our products are at the very heart of our environmental impact. As such, we strive to maximize the use of recycled, recyclable, and compostable raw materials for our projects. Along the same lines, we aim to be key players in the development of new, more eco-responsible raw materials and in eco-design.
Responsible Sourcing Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct
As part of its sustainable development plan, Kotmo aims to be a driver of positive change for its suppliers. In this regard, the following points align with Kotmo's commitments to its suppliers and the approach to engaging them in a responsible procurement process.
This section also includes the supplier code of conduct and focuses on governance and sustainable development issues, including ethics, internal social and environmental policies, raw material procurement, and waste management. It applies to all suppliers of goods and services.
Governance
- We do not tolerate any form of collusion, corruption, falsification of documents, and others.
- The intellectual property of objects produced for Kotmo must be respected before, during and after any contract.
- Any information shared with a supplier must remain private unless there is a specific agreement between the parties.
- Kotmo encourages its suppliers to have diverse governance (female ownership or from diverse backgrounds).
- Kotmo will prioritize companies with a fair hiring policy in place.
- Kotmo will prioritize the selection of suppliers whose legal status includes the social economy: social reintegration enterprise and NPO.
Fairness and Ethics
- Kotmo will favor a supplier who has a code of conduct in place in their workplace.
- Kotmo requires its suppliers to respect the human rights of its employees and all those involved in its supply chain, in accordance with applicable Quebec and Canadian laws. It is also necessary that all partners working with Kotmo respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- In this sense, Kotmo refuses to work with any company where one or more of these points are not respected:
- No forced labor.
- No child labor.
- Respect and fairness towards all staff.
- A workplace free from discrimination and respecting everyone's freedom of expression.
- Openness to diversity.
Environment
- The supplier is expected to comply with the environmental standards in force in its industry.
- Kotmo will favor a supplier with an environmental or sustainable development plan in place.
- Kotmo encourages its suppliers to take initiatives to reduce the use of single-use plastics, to promote the use of recycled raw materials, to reduce individual packaging as well as over-packaging and also to minimize its carbon footprint.
- Be open to different projects or process modifications based on eco-design principles.
- The supplier undertakes to inquire about the traceability of materials used during production and to share this information with Kotmo if a request is made.
Health and safety
- The supplier is committed to providing a healthy, safe and secure working environment for all its employees.
- The supplier undertakes to comply with all standards in force under the Labour Standards Act.
- Kotmo is committed to fostering partnerships with non-profit organizations, cooperatives, social economy enterprises of all types, social reintegration enterprises, and businesses owned by women or people from diverse backgrounds.
- Kotmo is committed to prioritizing local businesses when choosing its suppliers in order to promote the development of the local economy and expertise.
- Kotmo guarantees its openness to all partnership requests and proposals from suppliers to generate positive changes with the aim of achieving sustainable and responsible sourcing.
- Kotmo will also favor companies that integrate environmental criteria into their operations:
1. Respect for the environment.
2. Energy efficiency.
3. Reduction of packaging.
4. Disposal of hazardous substances.
5. Use of environmental certifications.
6. Presence of recycled or renewable materials.
7. Life cycle analysis.
8. Use of organic or certified products.
Kotmo will only work with companies that guarantee that the products purchased from
abroad were manufactured under adequate working conditions:
- Absence of corruption or collusion.
- Respect for human rights and adequate working conditions.
- Minimum wage.
- Reasonable working hours.
Community investment
At Kotmo, we place great importance on developing our community. In fact, we were named "Best for the world: Community" by B Corp in 2019 for our 2018 recertification. Improving the quality of life and opportunities in our community is paramount to us. With this in mind, we work with a large number of local suppliers and customers. In addition, we are currently working on developing a donation program for all our surplus production to be an integral part of our community by helping out in any way we can. Finally, we donate 1% of our profits to a non-profit organization each year.
Kotmo is continually working to improve its performance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the production of its products and the transportation of goods. This applies to all levels of its supply chain, from the choice of raw materials and their extraction location to the delivery of the finished product to the customer. As transportation is a central issue in our supply chain, Kotmo is committed to working with partners offering alternative delivery services, whether via hybrid or electric cars or by bicycle courier whenever possible.
Priority 1: Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions
As a promotional products manufacturer, Kotmo is fully aware of the greenhouse gas emissions challenges of this industry. Recognizing that climate change is partly due to the proliferation of greenhouse gas emissions, it is central to our company's mission to propose an approach to reducing our emissions. To date, Kotmo has been collecting metrics for several years regarding the greenhouse gas emissions for the transportation of its products, including travel between main suppliers and the storage location, and then from storage location to delivery to the customer. We also calculate the emissions avoided by local production and delivery compared to production in Asia and international deliveries. Since transportation has a significant impact on carbon production, we are working to develop partnerships with alternative transportation companies, such as electrified transportation, public transit delivery, or bicycle courier delivery.
As early as 2018, Kotmo began emission-free deliveries to its local customers using a bicycle courier service. In 2019, Kotmo made over 200 bicycle deliveries and plans to substantially increase this number in 2020. In addition, Kotmo is developing a partnership to offer this service to its customers in Quebec City. To raise awareness and be agents of positive change, Kotmo records its employees' transportation data (car, train, and plane) when these trips are made for business purposes. Once a year, Kotmo purchases carbon offsets to offset its emissions. Working with a multitude of different suppliers and raw materials, Kotmo faces a significant challenge in collecting metrics regarding the industrial or artisanal production of its products. It is in this sense that in a strategy to combat greenhouse gases, Kotmo aims to be able to collect data on greenhouse gas emissions from the production of its objects by 2023. Kotmo thus wishes to work in collaboration with its suppliers to stay abreast of new technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of our company. Kotmo also donates 1% of its profits to the Bourse Scol'ERE to offset the GHG emissions from the delivery of our products.
Short and medium term GHG reduction objectives:
Reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions from freight transport by 5% in 2020.
Increase in zero-emission bicycle courier deliveries by 15% in 2020 and 25% in 2021.
Priority 2: Residual materials management plan
Kotmo aims to develop and implement a system for managing residual materials from the production of its objects during 2020 and 2021.
Kotmo currently does not have a waste management system, but since our company generates waste mainly in production, we want to put a program in place.
Kotmo has thus opened a 6-month internship position starting in February 2020 to implement a production waste management program, primarily textile and wood, as these are the two types of raw materials most used by Kotmo. Having chosen a candidate based on her experience in residual materials management, we aim for this program to be in effect from 2021.
This evolving program will aim to:
- Create an inventory of residual materials of industrial origin in order to qualify and quantify production waste.
- Develop a sorting system to classify and process the various residual materials.
- Create a system for the recovery, recovery, or responsible disposal of residual materials. Plan a 3- to 5-year plan in terms of objectives to be achieved.
- Create and work towards achieving targets for the recovery, recovery and responsible disposal of production waste.
- A timetable for implementing the various measures that will be part of the program.
- Planning annual visits to each supplier that will participate in the program.
- Implement a plan for accountability and innovation for our partners in terms of residual materials management.
This sustainable development plan thus contains several major projects on which Kotmo wishes to move forward in the short term. Now more than ever, Kotmo wants to consolidate its position as a vector of positive change in the promotional product industry and in the Quebec economy. We believe that the air is ripe for change, and we want to focus our efforts on developing bold products and innovative internal policies in order to create a network of partners working in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
As sustainability becomes increasingly prominent in public debate, we believe businesses have a key role to play in bringing positive change to our society. We look forward to seeing what will be achieved in the coming months and years, and we're excited to be part of the change!
Our mission for the year 2020
Priority 1 • Reduction of our GHG emissions
As a company that produces a large number of products, we are fully aware of the environmental impact our industry generates. In this sense, Kotmo prioritizes reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, whether in the transportation of goods or in the industrial or artisanal production of its products.
Priority 2 • Establish a system for managing residual materials from production and use
Since the useful life of promotional items is generally short, it is imperative to understand the impact of the production of our items in order to be able to produce sustainable and responsible items. In this same logic, we are constantly developing our knowledge of the different industrial and artisanal processes allowing us to produce various items with a responsible useful life. Kotmo also aims to develop a management system for our residual materials from production in order to be able to responsibly manage the production of our items, from design to use.
Priority 3 • Addressing the problem of production surpluses
It's also important to note that we want to address the issue of overstocking. Since production losses are a reality we have to work with, it's usually necessary to produce more products than necessary to cover a potential margin of error. As a result, we sometimes have overstocking. We want to address this issue and develop a program to donate these items to non-profit organizations.
Priority 4 • Support sustainable mobility
Kotmo aims to maintain its current partnerships and develop new ones with key players in sustainable mobility. The very nature of our business requires us to deliver goods to customers, and we aim to be at the forefront of reducing the environmental impact of freight transport.
Priority 5 • Maximize the use of eco-responsible raw materials and be a vector for the development of eco-responsible raw materials and eco-design
As Kotmo creates objects, the raw materials used to create our products are at the very heart of our environmental impact. As such, we strive to maximize the use of recycled, recyclable, and compostable raw materials for our projects. Along the same lines, we aim to be key players in the development of new, more eco-responsible raw materials and in eco-design.
Responsible Sourcing Policy and Supplier Code of Conduct
As part of its sustainable development plan, Kotmo aims to be a driver of positive change for its suppliers. In this regard, the following points align with Kotmo's commitments to its suppliers and the approach to engaging them in a responsible procurement process.
This section also includes the supplier code of conduct and focuses on governance and sustainable development issues, including ethics, internal social and environmental policies, raw material procurement, and waste management. It applies to all suppliers of goods and services.
Governance
Fairness and Ethics
Environment
Health and safety
1. Respect for the environment.
2. Energy efficiency.
3. Reduction of packaging.
4. Disposal of hazardous substances.
5. Use of environmental certifications.
6. Presence of recycled or renewable materials.
7. Life cycle analysis.
8. Use of organic or certified products.
Kotmo will only work with companies that guarantee that the products purchased from
abroad were manufactured under adequate working conditions:
Community investment
At Kotmo, we place great importance on developing our community. In fact, we were named "Best for the world: Community" by B Corp in 2019 for our 2018 recertification. Improving the quality of life and opportunities in our community is paramount to us. With this in mind, we work with a large number of local suppliers and customers. In addition, we are currently working on developing a donation program for all our surplus production to be an integral part of our community by helping out in any way we can. Finally, we donate 1% of our profits to a non-profit organization each year.
Kotmo is continually working to improve its performance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the production of its products and the transportation of goods. This applies to all levels of its supply chain, from the choice of raw materials and their extraction location to the delivery of the finished product to the customer. As transportation is a central issue in our supply chain, Kotmo is committed to working with partners offering alternative delivery services, whether via hybrid or electric cars or by bicycle courier whenever possible.
Priority 1: Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions
As a promotional products manufacturer, Kotmo is fully aware of the greenhouse gas emissions challenges of this industry. Recognizing that climate change is partly due to the proliferation of greenhouse gas emissions, it is central to our company's mission to propose an approach to reducing our emissions. To date, Kotmo has been collecting metrics for several years regarding the greenhouse gas emissions for the transportation of its products, including travel between main suppliers and the storage location, and then from storage location to delivery to the customer. We also calculate the emissions avoided by local production and delivery compared to production in Asia and international deliveries. Since transportation has a significant impact on carbon production, we are working to develop partnerships with alternative transportation companies, such as electrified transportation, public transit delivery, or bicycle courier delivery.
As early as 2018, Kotmo began emission-free deliveries to its local customers using a bicycle courier service. In 2019, Kotmo made over 200 bicycle deliveries and plans to substantially increase this number in 2020. In addition, Kotmo is developing a partnership to offer this service to its customers in Quebec City. To raise awareness and be agents of positive change, Kotmo records its employees' transportation data (car, train, and plane) when these trips are made for business purposes. Once a year, Kotmo purchases carbon offsets to offset its emissions. Working with a multitude of different suppliers and raw materials, Kotmo faces a significant challenge in collecting metrics regarding the industrial or artisanal production of its products. It is in this sense that in a strategy to combat greenhouse gases, Kotmo aims to be able to collect data on greenhouse gas emissions from the production of its objects by 2023. Kotmo thus wishes to work in collaboration with its suppliers to stay abreast of new technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of our company. Kotmo also donates 1% of its profits to the Bourse Scol'ERE to offset the GHG emissions from the delivery of our products.
Short and medium term GHG reduction objectives:
Reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions from freight transport by 5% in 2020.
Increase in zero-emission bicycle courier deliveries by 15% in 2020 and 25% in 2021.
Priority 2: Residual materials management plan
Kotmo aims to develop and implement a system for managing residual materials from the production of its objects during 2020 and 2021.
Kotmo currently does not have a waste management system, but since our company generates waste mainly in production, we want to put a program in place.
Kotmo has thus opened a 6-month internship position starting in February 2020 to implement a production waste management program, primarily textile and wood, as these are the two types of raw materials most used by Kotmo. Having chosen a candidate based on her experience in residual materials management, we aim for this program to be in effect from 2021.
This evolving program will aim to:
This sustainable development plan thus contains several major projects on which Kotmo wishes to move forward in the short term. Now more than ever, Kotmo wants to consolidate its position as a vector of positive change in the promotional product industry and in the Quebec economy. We believe that the air is ripe for change, and we want to focus our efforts on developing bold products and innovative internal policies in order to create a network of partners working in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
As sustainability becomes increasingly prominent in public debate, we believe businesses have a key role to play in bringing positive change to our society. We look forward to seeing what will be achieved in the coming months and years, and we're excited to be part of the change!