Sustenuto and its subsidiary, C2C Platform, are proud to be a Certified B Corporation®. We obtained this internationally renowned certification in March 2022 from B Lab Europe. 

We’re in good company. Today, there are around 5,000 B Corps from over 150 industries spread across 80 countries worldwide. Other notable B Corps include Patagonia, WeTransfer, The Guardian, and our valued customers Spadel and Alpro.

B what?

B Corporations are companies that uphold sustainable practices across their entire organisation. They strive to use business as a force for good to help build “an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet” (B Lab Europe)

A vision of the non-profit network B Lab™, the B Corp™ movement sprouted in 2006. They believed that it was necessary to create a different kind of economy, and that business could lead the way towards a new stakeholder-driven model.

B Lab subsequently developed the B Corp certification, a label to reward companies that lead the way by meeting “high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency”. Through the B Corp certification, B Lab is “transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.”

Our journey

The vision and mission of Sustenuto aligns seamlessly with that of B Lab. Everything we do starts from our core belief that companies are key levers for positive change. 

Companies can have enormous positive impact when they embrace purpose beyond profit, and take up responsibility for all their stakeholders, including employees, communities, business partners, and the planet.

With this vision, we develop sustainability strategies, products, and brands for all types of organisations across a range of industries. We also guide these companies through the full B Corp certification process and train professionals to become B Leaders . More on that below.

Our values and mission align seamlessly with the B Corp vision. Moreover, our service offering includes B Corps certification guidance and training. Naturally, it made sense for us to become a certified B Corporation.

Over the past six months, we developed a detailed insight on where we stand according to the B Impact Assessment. Usually, we do this for our customers when taking them on the B Corp journey. This time, we turned our gaze to our own business and operations.

Our impact

Through our work

We aim to create value for society as a whole. Helping companies integrate sustainability not only benefits their own business, but also positively impacts people and the planet in general.

Our services are founded on our core values of responsibility and respect. This is very much in line with the Fundamental Theory of Change of B Global Network, the network of B Lab and Sistema B organisations worldwide. Through five global strategies, the Theory of Change leads the transition of the global economy to a more “inclusive, equitable, and regenerative system.”

Businesses act sustainably when they take responsibility for the impacts of their core activities and minimise the negative impacts on people, communities, and the environment. Yet, climate change and other global challenges teach us that embedding this responsibility alone is not enough to create a sustainable world.

A business must also be modelled in a way that creates positive impacts, and really becomes a force for good. The idea of not only minimising negative impacts but also actively creating positive impacts has gained ground since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.

In general, Sustenuto’s business model is designed to generate a positive outcome for business and society alike. When the mission of a company is intentionally designed in such a way, B Lab calls this an “Impact Business Model” (B Impact Assessment).

Through our operations

Of course, the B Corp certification implies that our own internal business works according to a fixed set of ethics and standards. More specifically, we have identified five SDGs to which we primarily contribute through our work:

Quality Education

We organise learning networks in partnership with knowledge organisations and sector federations and offer training sessions on many sustainability topics. Specifically, as a partner of B Lab, we organise B Leader training sessions. The B Leader programme is a training and community programme that teaches professionals the necessary knowledge to support companies in their transition to a B Corporation. Learn more.

Internally, we advocate life-long learning in different ways. The classic approach, i.e., learning on the job, remains important because of the complexity of sustainability coaching and consulting. In addition, we have an employee training policy in place for our colleagues to develop their professional skills and competencies.

Decent Work and Economic Growth

By developing sustainability at the core of their organisations, we help our customers become futureproof while they contribute positively to society.

Internally, we support a healthy work-life balance of our employees by offering full flexibility in the possibility to work from home, a flexible holiday policy, and careful project planning and management.

Responsible Consumption and Production

We develop sustainable innovation roadmaps for organisations and leverage the transition towards new business models. In addition, through our subsidiary, C2C Platform, we make products sustainable and circular from the start.

Together with C2C Platform, we maximise the use of circular products in our joint office in Brussels, Belgium, making sure to source our equipment and office supplies sustainably.

Climate Action

Our projects with our clients frequently focus on climate change. We develop sustainability strategies and products for them to minimise their negative impacts and contribute to a sustainable future. We support science-based climate target setting and action planning.

Internally, we aim to offer climate neutral services by 2025 and are developing corresponding measures to reduce our footprint accordingly.

Partnerships for the Goals

Through our activities, we position ourselves as a true partner of organisations that aim to integrate sustainability strategically. Our collaboration with different knowledge organisations supports this mission.

In addition, we are a knowledge partner of the Antwerp Management School, a member of The Shift, and we support the annual Connect2Change sessions of Bond Beter Leefmilieu.

Only the first step

In March 2022, we received the exciting news from B Lab Europe that we can now officially call ourselves a Certified B Corp. Our overall B Impact Score is 92.2.

The certification is an acknowledgment of our choices and actions and a great step in our own ongoing sustainability journey. But we know we can do better. In the next three years as a B Corp, we will continue to develop our actions to further improve sustainability.

The certification is and never should be the end goal of any organisation. Instead, the B Corp movement is about taking further action to continuously improve doing business as a force for good. And that’s exactly what we plan to do in the years to come.

Find out all there is to know about the B Corp certification in our dedicated blog post.