Products with sustainability improvements and certifications will help businesses make informed choices and reduce environmental impacts

RS South Africa, a global omni-channel provider of industrial product and service solutions for industrial customers, today announced the launch of its Better World product range.

Products in the range have made sustainability improvements and are supported by trusted certifications and eco-labels. This will make it easier for RS customers – the world’s engineers, innovators and problem solvers - to make more informed purchasing decisions based on the sustainability credentials of products. In addition, a major focus of the range will be on products that save energy or water and cut CO2 emissions, thereby helping its customers to reduce their environmental impacts and help tackle climate change. To achieve this, RS is working closely with its 2,500 global supplier partners to highlight the latest innovative cleaner and greener product solutions as part of the range.  

Across industry, sustainability is increasingly a top business priority. However, it is challenging for individuals and businesses to understand which products or services have environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements.

Market research studies have found that 89% of B2B buyers say if it was easier to identify sustainably certified products, they would be more likely to purchase more sustainable products (Amazon Business State of Business Procurement Report). 55% of B2B buyers with sustainability goals say it’s difficult to source suppliers that follow sustainable practices. Among this group, 81% of buyers agree this difficulty is holding their company back from achieving procurement sustainability goals (Amazon Business State of Business Procurement Report).

RS South Africa has made it simple for people to identify its Better World range: each product in the range is tagged with a Better World badge, and with a simple click customers can read about the product’s sustainability certification or energy label, which have been accredited by expert organisations.

To achieve its robust framework, the company partnered with trusted experts and selected more than 40 sustainability certifications and energy labels to highlight key products that meet or exceed sustainability standards and are better for the environment.

However, this is just the beginning. Over the coming year, RS will further develop its model to recognise multiple improvements in sustainability at different stages of the product lifecycle. The aim being that it will offer tens of thousands more products that are both made more sustainably and help customers lower their environmental impacts.

“Sustainability is a top priority for our customers. They want to purchase trusted products that are sustainably and responsibly made, and which help them to reduce their energy, water or resource consumption. But we know it can be hard to understand which products really are the best or the ‘greener’ choice,” said Christian Horn, Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer at RS. “The Better World product range will make it easier for our customers to be informed and select products that will help them design, build, maintain and protect their business more sustainably and safely.”

In addition to this milestone, RS Group has received global recognition as the 'Best Company for Sustainability Reporting' in the industrial sector at the Corporate ESG Awards. Commenting on this achievement, Andrea Barrett, VP Social Responsibility and Sustainability at RS Group, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "We were delighted to be nominated in two categories at the Corporate ESG Awards, alongside other leading listed organisations, and even more so to win Best Company for Sustainability Reporting. I believe the award is testament to the strong progress we have made since launching our 2030 ESG action plan in November 2021."

RS has unrivalled access to new products and technologies with more than 2,500 suppliers and more than 750,000 stocked and three million unstocked products. In combination with its strong commitment to advance sustainability for its own business, its customers and its partners, RS is ideally positioned to champion the development of more sustainable products for the global industrial and electronics industry.