Our commitment to Sustainability

From the outset, when we established our business over three decades ago, we were already passionate about sustainability.

Through this ethos and our support for the circular economy, we have celebrated the following achievements:

Supporting the circular economy by using recycled materials, or treating people fairly and with respect – we have always adopted a responsible and ethical approach.

Building a culture of sustainability

As the business has grown, this ethos has become ingrained into our company culture, shaping everything we do.

It is reflected not just in our products, through which we transform plastic waste into handcrafted outdoor furniture, but also through our pledge to Net Zero Carbon, our environmentally responsible supply chain, and our social values in providing a working environment that demonstrates we do care about employees and the communities in which we operate.

King’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development

TDP was hugely proud in 2023, to announce that were honoured with the King’s Award for Enterprise in the category of Sustainable Development.

This prestigious awards programme is in its 58th year and celebrates outstanding UK businesses. We were one of only 15 winners in our category and were recognised for our sustainable initiatives and inspirational leadership. This award is held for five years.

Find out more about our achievement.

The business of being nature positive

Moraine Lake - Canada

Biodiversity is the vast variety of life you will find in an area. It encompasses a plethora of lifeforms, be it plants, animals or microorganisms. These myriad species form complex ecosystems or networks, which shape and are shaped by Earth’s ecosystems and habitats. Everything is interconnected and interrelated and this diversity is the lifeblood of the natural world.

Businesses also rely on nature’s rich bounty, yet many fail to recognise the importance of natural capital and ecosystem services in providing them with the resources they need to operate. According to the World Economic Forum, $44 trillion of economic value generation – over half the world’s GDP – is moderately or highly dependent on nature.

Read our Biodiversity e-book

Our Social Responsibility

Sustainability is about more than saving resources. It is also about how you treat people, customers, suppliers and local communities to minimise your impact on your surroundings.

Our ethos is based on family values and demonstrating that we care no matter who we are dealing with whether this is our employees, our customers, our suppliers and our communities.

Our social responsibility is underpinned by having policies in place that ensure we continue to operate in a sustainable way that meets our commitments to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Our sustainabilitiy strategy is already making an impact

Learn how TDP are already contributing to the following areas…

Our People and Charity Work

People and the environment are the cornerstones of our sustainability strategy at TDP Ltd. We have created a culture of mutual respect and appreciation, which has seen many of our employees remain with us for more than 20 years.

We are committed to investing in our people and pay everyone above the National Living Wage. Our colleagues are also free to join or form trade unions and encouraged to raise any concerns with managers through our open-door policy. This is a critical part of our strategy to create a more sustainable place to work.

In addition, TDP Ltd remains committed to local causes. This is why we are a Corporate Charity Partner with Aquabox.

Aquabox is a project based in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, which was set up to save lives following natural and manmade disasters by supplying water purification equipment and other aid to people in dire need. We hold frequent fundraising events throughout the year to raise much-needed money, which enables this great charity to continue its life saving work.

For many years we have supported our local bowls, cricket and football clubs with sponsorship. Just recently we have joined with a local allotment society to save the land from developers and in 2021 we stepped in to pay the wages at a school in Uganda.

TDP & Aquabox partnership with TDP supporting this vital charity
Aquabox water filters in action in Napal
Aquabox water filter being demonstrated to refugees in Syria

Sustainability Report

TDP is committed to driving long-term growth and profitability but not at the expense of people and planet. It is important to us that our values and ethos are integrated into all of our business operations and our engagement with our stakeholders.

Our Sustainability Report explains the steps and processes we have put in place to achieve our goals. As part of this process, we have aligned our business with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in the three areas of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).

As we continue our sustainability journey, we have also considered what is important to our business as well as to our stakeholders. Our Materiality Assessment highlights the key areas where we believe we can make a difference by reducing negative impacts and increasing positive ones.

Download our Sustainability report

Why is this important?

We are in the midst of a planetary emergency. Climate change is intensifying and from rising sea levels to extreme weather events, we are seeing the consequences across the globe. Greenhouse gas levels are at an all time high and without fundamental changes to the way we operate, we are on course for temperature rises far higher than the Paris Agreement target of 1.5%.

We all have a role to play in redressing the balance, not least the business community. When Anna and I set up TDP more than three decades ago, we were already passionate about sustainability, be it generating our own energy, supporting the circular economy by using recycled materials, or treating people fairly and with respect.

That ethos has fed into the culture of our business and shaped everything we do. This is reflected in our pledge to Net Carbon Zero and our commitment to transform plastic waste into locally designed and handcrafted outdoor furniture. In recent years we have built a portfolio of products from picnic tables to commemorative benches, planters to nest boxes.

From our modest base in rural Wirksworth, we have used more than 4,000 tonnes of recycled rigid plastic waste in our products. We take immense pride in the fact that we are supporting circularity and preventing huge quantities of discarded plastic from going to landfill and polluting our beautiful Blue Planet.

Despite our credentials, we can’t rest on our laurels. We are on a sustainability journey and are excited to continue finding even better ways of balancing the demands of People, Profit and Planet. We have teamed up with consultants from Wylde Connections to implement TDP’s sustainability strategy and will use that to help take our business to the next stage of growth.

Rob Barlow
Managing Director