Inaugural HTA report celebrates a year of achievements across carbon reduction, water resilience, sustainable growing media, and plastics in horticulture, and encourages more of its members to find opportunities in sustainable horticulture industry.
As discussions between the international representatives charged with finding ways to tackle climate change draw to a close at COP26 in Glasgow, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) is shining the spotlight on the opportunities for the horticulture industry to contribute to tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Taking stock of progress made, celebrating the strength of commitment across the industry, and looking to the future with positivity have been the themes this week, as the association marks one year since the launch of its Sustainability Roadmap.
Launched in November 2020, the Roadmap was created to give all members the help and assistance they need to ensure that their business can flourish in years to come. On November 11, the association published its 'one year on’ sustainability impact report, setting out the progress made so far towards the Roadmap’s goals, together with details of what HTA members and stakeholders can expect in 2022.
Yesterday, an HTA roundtable, sponsored by Easitill Ltd, brought together opinion leaders from horticultural and environmental organizations to collectively examine the opportunities and challenges that sustainability presents for the industry. It concluded that there is real benefit in individual businesses collectively making small changes to make a big difference and together affecting substantive progress as a sector. A ‘white paper’ will be produced early in the new year to develop the themes and issues discussed.
The first industry annual progress report highlights key achievements of the past 12 months including:
- The HTA convened and chaired a cross-industry growing media task force to work together on an agreed action plan for the voluntary removal of peat from horticulture between 2025 and 2028 in bagged growing media in retail, and 2028-2030 for commercial growers. The group were clear that for this ambition to be realized, the necessary volume of alternatives and support for businesses to transition to peat is needed - something the HTA is working with Government on.
- The creation of a partnership between HTA and carbon footprint and sustainability specialists Planet Mark. This saw HTA members with a combined turnover of £185 million and over 6,000 tons of CO2 emissions taking part in free workshops - enabling them to get started with sustainability changes in their businesses.
- Developing constructive relationships with water companies to drive a better understanding of the industry’s needs, combined with the publication of ‘how-to’ guides for members on implementing water efficiency measures.
Progress
HTA Chairman James Barnes commented: “Taking stock of progress this week has been a useful and positive experience, demonstrating the enormous role our sector plays in tackling climate change and the impact it’ll have on our businesses. There's a huge appetite amongst people in our sector for building a sustainable future for horticulture.
“The challenges we must overcome and the opportunities it presents us with will play a much bigger part in how we operate than anything else. How we report on that and how we measure that will become even more important, alongside our annual review and financial accounts."
Horticultural Trades Association