Page 36 - HW April 2022

global eyes
Mitre 10 says thanks to Mark Laidlaw
Mark Laidlaw, CEO
of Mitre 10 Australia over 2010-2020 and now Chairman of Total Tools at Metcash, was recently recognised with the Mitre 10 CEO
Recognition Award.
In a post on LinkedIn, he is called “A
friend to us all, a champion in our industry, and the person who has had the most impact on our business over the last 10 years.”
As CEO, faced with increasing competition from Bunnings and Masters, he took the Mitre 10 Australia buying group “from shaky ground to new heights many others could not even imagine.
“In 2010, there was no end to the challenges that needed to be addressed with the group.
“Number one was trust and belief in the business, and that is possibly his largest legacy when we consider how far we have come with the membership and our hopes for the future.”
On top of shaping Mitre 10’s culture
and making sure everyone “had some fun andlaughteralongthatway”,whenMark Laidlaw retired as CEO, “he left the business in a far healthier position than he found it.”
The LinkedIn post finishes: “Mark, you have been an inspiration. You listened, you fought, you taught, we laughed, we cried but what means the most to us is – you made us a family. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
International action on “conflict timber”
AS PART OF Wesfarmers’ commitment to use 100% renewable electricity by 2025, Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks have signed an agreement with CleanCo, the Queensland Government-owned renewables, low-emissions and hydro company, to supply the retailers with 100% renewable electricity across their 147 sites in Queensland.
Following a staggered onboarding of sites starting July 2022, this will result in participating stores using a combined
140,000 MWh of renewable energy each year by mid-2025 – the equivalent to the energy consumption of some 23,000 Australian households annually.
The scheme will also result in the removal of carbon emissions from the environment equivalent to taking about 48,000 cars off the road and represents 30% of Scope 2 emissions from Bunnings and about 18% for each of the other businesses.
Renewable electricity will be supplied
to stores primarily from Western Downs Green Power Hub, one of Australia’s largest solar farms and the under construction MacIntyre Wind Farm, one of the largest wind farms in the southern hemisphere.
The new partnership is a step towards all four retailers sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and supports each retailer’s goal of net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
www.wesfarmers.com.au
INTERNATIONAL NOT FOR profit forestry and timber organisations have put a ban on Russian timber products as “conflict timber”.
Along with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification
(PEFC – a global alliance of national forest certification systems) has labelled all timber originating from Russia and Belarus as “conflict timber”, therefore ruling that it cannot be used in PEFC-certified products.
Although not affecting private buyers, the ban in effect warns off institutional or governmental buyers from purchasing or using the “conflict timber”.
The organisation says: “PEFC is extremely concerned about the Russian government’s attack on Ukraine. The military invasion is in direct opposition to our core values.
“This aggression causes unspeakable and unacceptable pain and death to innocent people, including women and children.
“It also has an immediate and long-term destructive impact on the environment, on forests, and on the many people that depend on forests for their livelihoods.”
Although this ban it is not thought likely to significantly further impact timber shortages in the APAC region, it’s reported that Bunnings in Australia has asked suppliers not to buy Russian timber and warns of a shortage of engineered wood products in coming months.
The PEFC International Board says it is continuing to monitor the situation and “will consider additional measures as necessary.”
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) also says it is “deeply concerned about Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine and stands in solidarity with all victims of this violence.
“With full commitment to FSC’s mission and standards, and after a thorough analysis of the potential impact of withdrawal of FSC certification, the FSC International Board of Directors has agreed to suspend all trading certificates in Russia and Belarus and to block all controlled wood sourcing from the two countries.”
https://pefc.org/ https://fsc.org/en
Wesfarmers goes renewable in Queensland
34 NZHJ | APRIL 2022
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