Our Business
Material matters that guide
our focus
Our Business
Material matters that guide our focus
5. Environmental sustainability
Importance to SANBS in delivering value
Natural capital, encompassing the air, water, energy, land and biodiversity that support our operations, is vital to SANBS’ mission.
Through our Greening Initiatives, we measure and advance environmental stewardship, reducing our footprint and building resilience against resource scarcity, regulatory risks and rising utility and waste costs.
Risks to value creation
- Negative impact of SANBS operations on the environment
- Reputational risk relating to SANBS not being seen to be actively contributing to environmental sustainability
- National and local grid failures threaten uninterrupted operations and increase reliance on backup power
- Municipal water supply interruptions and increasing dependence on boreholes heighten the risk of water scarcity, operational disruption, and rising resource costs
- Climate-related events such as floods and heatwaves can disrupt supply chains and donor services
Opportunities and strategic response to create value
Scale renewable energy by commissioning solar installations at four priority sites, re-tendering for the remaining three and integrating green-building principles in the Constantia Kloof upgrade
Expand water stewardship through rainwater harvesting, water-filtration plants and borehole capacity at six newly approved sites
Sustain waste and pollution controls by maintaining a >50 % recycling rate, enforcing Electronic Waste Association of South Africa (eWASA)-compliant e-waste disposal and driving paperless digital processes
Drive green procurement by engaging vendors to reduce supply-chain emissions and prioritising low-impact goods and services
Leverage our Business Continuity Project and climate-resilience programme to embed robust business continuity and disaster recovery plans, future-proofing against infrastructure challenges and natural disasters
Outlook for the year ahead
- Establish Carbon Footprint Baseline - An assessment will be conducted to establish a carbon footprint baseline that will be used to determine long term carbon footprint goals
- Complete the first phase of solar installations and finalise CK building renovations with integrated solar and water solutions
- Install and commission water-filtration systems at six borehole-equipped sites
- Approve and launch a unified Environmental Sustainability strategy, supported by quarterly updates to the Greening dashboard
- Test and refine business-continuity and disaster-recovery plans at head office, zone and site levels
- Monitor regulatory or environmental shifts that may require further infrastructure resilience measures
Top risks
Capitals impacted
Strategic priorities
