‘Credible Validation of Our Sustainability and Responsible Practices’
As one of North America’s leading wire and cable manufacturers, Southwire is an important consumer of copper cathode. Three of their manufacturing sites in the United States have already achieved The Copper Mark; four more are currently participating in the assurance process. The family-owned company aims to be a leader in sustainability: “Getting our sites awarded The Copper Mark is a credible, third-party validated way to show our customers that we are serious about sustainability and responsible practices,” says Amy Hou, sustainability manager at Southwire.
Copper is critical for the transition to clean energy and Southwire aims to play a leading role in this area. “Responsible practices are critical to us – not only regarding our business operations but also as part of our responsibility to ensure a sustainable future. We pursue sustainability not out of obligation, but because it’s the right thing to do,” says Hou. “Our shareholders care deeply about sustaining the company for future generations, which gives us a long-term view on sustainability.”
Our shareholders care deeply about sustaining the company for future generations, which gives us a long-term view on sustainability.
Responsible Sourcing
Southwire applies due diligence in line with the OECD guidelines to 100% of its copper sources. A significant portion of Southwire’s suppliers hold The Copper Mark, with other brands being compliant with the requirements of the London Metal Exchange (LME). Southwire itself highly values the independent assessment offered by the Copper Mark assurance framework. “We chose the Copper Mark because its approach to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors was more comprehensive than other frameworks. The focus on social aspects is particularly strong, especially in areas such as human rights and indigenous communities.”
Preparations Towards The Copper Mark
“Ultimately, we aim to achieve The Copper Mark award for all of our manufacturing sites that process copper,” Hou continues. Since the Copper Mark criteria are comprehensive and span various departments, the company started the assessment for the first three sites by gathering extensive documentation. This involved engaging with different internal stakeholders and collecting the necessary data from individual manufacturing sites. “In the next phase, we conducted interviews with managers and subject matter experts for each criterion. Once the sites were ready to be visited by an independent assessor, we engaged in education and communication efforts with the sites. Our three sites in Denton (Texas), Bremen (Indiana) and Lafayette (Indiana), now have The Copper Mark, and four more sites are in the assurance process.”
For the four ongoing assessments, Southwire is looking to build on its initial experiences and is centralizing more information at the enterprise level, reducing the burden on individual sites. “Many policies to meet the Copper Mark criteria are managed at the enterprise level and implemented at the site level. Over time, we’ve also developed a closer working relationship with the Copper Mark team. This allows us to easily ask questions and obtain feedback about the criteria related to our specific needs,” explains Hou.
Revised Working Hours Policy
Most of the Copper Mark criteria align well with the five core tenets of Southwire’s sustainability approach: Growing Green, Living Well, Giving Back, Doing Right and Building Worth. One necessary major adjustment was the elimination of mandatory overtime from the working hours policy. This constituted a considerable operational challenge, requiring adjustments to staffing to ensure coverage without mandatory overtime. However, this was something Southwire committed to when adopting The Copper Mark: the leadership team strongly believes in fostering a healthy work-life balance. “Some schedule flexibility improvements were already planned, but the Copper Mark assessment accelerated this timeline. Many sites now offer four-day workweek shifts,” says Hou. “Furthermore, having The Copper Mark gives our team members a sense of pride that they are working for a company that is doing the right thing and showing leadership in responsible practices.”
Furthermore, having The Copper Mark gives our team members a sense of pride that they are working for a company that is doing the right thing and showing leadership in responsible practices.
New Requirements
The four sites that are currently in the process of obtaining The Copper Mark are assessed against the updated Risk Readiness Assessment (RRA) Criteria Guide 3.0. These revised criteria include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions using science-based targets. “Before the assessment, we faced a lot of uncertainty about how we could successfully meet the required Scope 3 reduction targets. After all, we are highly dependent on our suppliers and value chain partners for this. However, we are very keen to stay at the forefront of sustainability, meeting customer expectations and aligning with our peers,” Hou notes. “The Copper Mark reinforced our commitment to this path.”
Future Challenges
Looking ahead, Southwire sees decarbonization as a key challenge across the copper industry’s value chain. “Our suppliers represent a significant portion of our emissions, so we strongly encourage them to reduce emissions and adopt renewable energy,” Hou says. “We are also pushing for a larger supply of recycled copper. Ultimately, this benefits everyone.”
