COAT is proudly a B Corporation (B Corp) Certified company. We've been a purposeful business since day one, standing for the highest levels of environmental and social impact in tangible and meaningful ways.
In the greenwashing age, we're amongst those that think actions speak louder than words. Being B Corp Certified - as well as being an independently accredited Climate Positive business - is a very tangible and meaningful way of showing our true colours (pun, not sorry), without resorting to gimmicks.
COAT Paints is the first and only B Corp Certified paint company in the UK.
What is B Corp, then?
So, The rigorous B Corp certification takes a deep dive into all areas of a business' operations, covering the five key areas of Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. Becoming certified can take years, with companies asked to provide evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices related to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency.
Becoming certified is not, as they say, for the faint-hearted.
B Corp is about reinventing business beyond just profits.
Why did COAT become a B Corp?
B Corp is a movement. It's about reinventing business in a way that puts purpose alongside profits. Standing for the highest levels of social and environmental accountability and action, means that companies show true commitment to goals outside of shareholder profit.
Only around 0.002% of companies in the world are B Corp Certified...
For COAT, becoming part of the B Corp movement was a dream from day one. We poured so much effort into challenging the norm and doing things differently within our industry - and now we're part of an inspiring group of companies including Innocent, Patagonia, and The Body shop, that collectively signal and lead a call for change.
Simply put, we put our environmental and social credentials to some rigorous testing - and we hope to inspire many more companies to join the movement.
COAT is supporting and leading a move to more transparency and realness.
Three COAT Differences
Real change comes from community. Customers and fans support change by making conscious purchase decisions - and companies like COAT inspire change within industries by thinking and acting differently.
The most impactful actions aren't always visible, though. We don't subscribe to greenwashing, so here are three tangible things that represent our unique thinking on environmental impact:
- Zero-waste production. We don't make things people don't want - so all our paint is mixed fresh to your order. There's zero up-front waste creation.
- Regenerative operations. To sustain isn't enough, so COAT measures and offsets any unavoidable carbon emissions from our entire supply chain by 200%, to return more than we take.
- 360-degree recycling. Customers can return empty tins or paint dregs, and we'll re-process 100% of the product and packaging. Zero to landfill.
Want to learn more?
A huge part of becoming B Corp Certified is transparency, and accountability. For those who like a good read, we put every inch of our company on show in our Sustainable Principles report, which you can find here.
You can also learn more about the B Corp Movement here.
