• Industry scores two out of five for sustainability
  • DPP unveils average score for participants in its Committed to Sustainability programme
  • “The DPP itself scores just two,” says Mark Harrison, DPP MD

sustainability windmills

Production: Industry scores two out of five for sustainability

The DPP has unveiled the first average score for participants in its Committed to Sustainability programme, which was launched last November to promote environmentally sustainable practices.

The DPP’s Sustainability Programme provides a self-assessment checklist that allows companies to record their progress in implementing sustainability policies, awarding them a score out of five.

In a statement, the media industry’s business network confirmed that while participating companies scored across the whole range, the industry average emerged as two out of five.

DPP managing director Mark Harrison said: “Two out of five might sound poor as an industry average. And the DPP itself scored just two.”

“But the fact is that until now no one knew where the media industry was on its journey towards a more sustainable future.

“Our programme has provided a tool through which we can all show our commitment and measure our progress. It’s really motivating.”

The Committed to Sustainability programme was enabled by DPP member Atos and was launched at the DPP Tech Leaders’ Briefing in November last year, to promote environmentally sustainable practices among suppliers and content providers.

The score awarded by the programme is private to the company concerned, but it can be used in procurement submissions, in marketing, and as a motivating force for further improvement.

The DPP said: “A range of scores, between one and five, has been achieved by participating companies, resulting in the current industry average score of two.”

There are currently nineteen participants in the programme, from global professional service providers to specialist media technology companies.

The companies are A+E Networks EMEA, Akamai Technologies, Arqiva, Atos, Blackbird, Cerberus Tech, Deep Render, DPP, Film Locker, InSync Technology, Limecraft, MediaSaaS, Piksel, Qvest Media, Red Bee Media, Rubber Republic, Singular Live, Sundog Media Toolkit and Tinkerlist.

Harrison added: “What all these companies are saying is ‘we care, and we want to know how to measure our progress’.”

“That’s why the low scoring companies are just as impressive as the high scoring ones. The programme is a statement of intent and a community for responsible companies.

“The DPP is excited about working with that community in the months and years ahead.”

The range and number of participants in the DPP Committed to Sustainability programme is expected to increase rapidly over the next twelve months according to the DPP and will regularly update the industry average score so that companies can measure their performance against it.

Akamai Technologies is among the latest companies to be awarded the DPP Committed to Sustainability mark.

Akamai director of sustainability Mike Mattera said: “We’re delighted to be a part of the DPP Committed to Sustainability programme.

“Here at Akamai, environmental sustainability speaks to our core values as an organisation. And being able to demonstrate our dedication to reducing our impact publicly is important to us and our customers.”

The programme is available to all companies, free of charge, irrespective of whether they are a member of the DPP.

More information is available on the DPP website here.