PCNA Releases 2024 Sustainability Report, Surpasses Key Environmental and Social Targets

Supplier Integrates Sustainability Into Business Operations, Achieving Measurable Progress in Energy, Emissions, Waste, and Community Impact

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Polyconcept North America (PCNA), the leading supplier of promotional products, today announced the publication of its 2024 Sustainability Report. The report details how PCNA is embedding sustainability into everyday business decisions and highlights significant progress across environmental targets and social priorities since its 2022 report.

The comprehensive 2024 Sustainability Report emphasizes PCNA's innovative approach of building sustainability directly into operations — ensuring environmental and social factors are assessed at every business decision point.

Key Achievements in 2024

• Energy & Emissions: Reduced energy intensity by 12% compared to 2023, achieving its 2026 target two years early. Scopes 1 & 2 emissions are down 20.5% since 2022, putting PCNA on track to reach its 42% reduction goal ahead of schedule.
• Workplace Safety: Achieved a Total Recordable Incidents Rate (TRIR) of 0.87, below the target of less than 1, reflecting the company's strong safety culture.
• Waste Diversion: Increased diversion rates at the Leed's facility from 76% in 2023 to 83% in 2024, saving more than $110,000 in avoided costs across operations.
• Climate Risk Preparedness: Completed comprehensive physical climate risk assessments across eight facilities, analyzing exposure to flooding, wildfires, cyclones, water stress, and heatwaves through 2050.
• Social Impact: Donated $1.26 million in 2024 through its 1% for the Planet commitment, bringing total contributions to $3 million. This includes funding 159 new community orchards with nonprofit partner The Giving Grove, projected to provide 20.9 million servings of fresh produce and sequester over 3,300 tons of carbon.
• Inclusive Employment: Expanded partnerships with Best Buddies and Hello Neighbor to open doors for communities that face barriers to employment and continued to nurture the Leading Inclusively for Future Talent (LIFT) and Fair Chance Employment internal support programs.
• Supply Chain & Regulatory Leadership: Launched a supplier risk-screening program and expanded Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance across multiple states, building resilience in procurement and regulatory readiness.
• Product Innovation: Introduced industry-first product lifecycle assessments (LCAs) to guide material substitutions and reduce environmental impact, with case studies showing reductions of up to 88% in cradle-to-gate emissions.

Strategy Rooted in Operational Excellence

In 2022, PCNA completed a materiality assessment to identify the social, environmental, and governance issues most critical to long-term success. Since then, the company has shifted from broad sustainability commitments to building technical competencies in four areas:

1. Product optimization
2. Supply chain intelligence
3. Climate risk management
4. Governance and regulatory readiness

"Our focus has been on inserting sustainability into the mechanics of how we operate — setting clear targets, tracking progress, and holding ourselves accountable," said Nick McCulloch, Director of ESG at PCNA. "From cutting energy intensity by double digits to achieving industry-leading waste diversion rates, these measurable results prove that sustainability is not just aspirational, it's operational — and it drives both environmental benefits and business value."

Looking Ahead
PCNA is developing science-based emissions targets for Scopes 1, 2, and 3 for submission to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2026. The company is also expanding supplier climate risk assessments to align with California Senate Bill 261 and other emerging regulations, ensuring readiness for future disclosure requirements.

On the product front, PCNA is prioritizing material substitution, durability improvements, and end-of-life design to align with growing customer demand and regulatory scrutiny. By 2026, all product transitions will be supported by lifecycle assessment data.

Commitment to Stakeholders
PCNA's 2024 Sustainability Report reflects progress toward the company's ProudPath™ goals, which emphasize environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and local community engagement.

"Sustainability is part of who we are. This report reflects our broader commitment to being a responsible partner to our customers, employees, and communities," said Neil Ringel, CEO at PCNA. "By weaving environmental and social responsibility into every decision we make, we're building a stronger, more resilient company that delivers impact well beyond our bottom line."

The full 2024 Sustainability Report is available at www.pcna.com/proudpath.

Media Contact
Kara Reilly, [email protected] 

About PCNA
PCNA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Polyconcept, the world's leading promotional products supplier. With headquarters near Pittsburgh, Pa., PCNA operates Trimark, Leed's, Bullet, JournalBooks, ETS Express and Spoke Custom, offering customers the industry's biggest and most diverse collection of products. To learn more, go to www.pcna.com.

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SOURCE Polyconcept North America (PCNA)