Forvis Mazars entered Circular Slovakia, the platform for circular economy

Another green light for greener business in Slovakia: this is how we want to describe our entry into Circular Slovakia, the platform for circular economy. Its members do not compete, but cooperate. They inspire each other, share their experiences and opinions, remove barriers, and bring ideas to the table. The fundamental aim of this, not an elitist but of an elite club, as defined by its founders, is the promotion of circularity and thus sustainability for impact.

Forvis Mazars promotes ESG both internally and externally. The cornerstone of our business is to offer clients quality advice that ensures continuity, hand in hand with sustainability. However, the topic of the circular economy is not the exclusivity of just one department within a company; on the contrary, it "circulates", i.e. is present, across the board. Our team of ESG professionals have expertise in sustainability in a wide range of projects, from the life cycle of pharmaceuticals and blister packs, to bio-waste in the retail sector, to energy audits of plants.

"There are high levels of pharmaceuticals in European streams. Under the European Commission's new rules, companies have to estimate the environmental impact of the production process of medicines, their use and disposal. However, it is not only in the hands of the authorities to influence nature, it is also in our place to buy only the medicines we need." says Jana Ružická, Sustainability Director at Forvis Mazars in Slovakia, in paralel in the radio entry about waste for Rádio Slovensko.

Without conscious practices, the future will become grey. Therefore, it is up to individuals, but also to companies. At Forvis Mazars, we don't just talk about the circular economy with our clients, we also implement it in our own firm.

This is demonstrated by the change of our premises in May 2022. After the pandemic, we allowed our employees to continue working at home. This has enabled us to reach for smaller premises that consume less energy. The SKYPARK OFFICES building, where we are currently based, is energy-efficient. It meets the requirements in terms of sustainability, as demonstrated by its LEED Gold building certification.

"Annually, 5 trillion plastic bags are produced and 13 billion plastic bottles are thrown away. On average, one million marine animals are killed yearly in the oceans by these products. Experts are therefore exploring the use of natural materials such as mycelium fibres to package goods. They are also analysing the use of corn starch, straw, fruit peelings and olive pits to produce bioplastics to replace plastic from oil."

Waste separation is a matter of course for us. It is obvious to produce as little of it as possible. We therefore strive to digitise documents as much as possible. We have reduced the number of traditional business cards, but if we still need them, we reach for recycled, certified paper options. We have also done away with disposable hand wipes and instead, we have cotton roll wipes. We collect e-waste and hand it over to Sewa organization once a year. In return, they issue us with a certificate of environmental responsibility.

Forvis Mazars’ employees produce fewer emissions not only because they do not travel to work every day, but also because they are recommended to choose to travel by train for business trips. This is not only true for transfers within the country, but also abroad.

"When it comes to carbon footprint, it is important to differentiate between short-haul and long-haul flights, as most fuel is consumed by the aircraft when it takes off. So it is better to choose direct flights than to combine several shorter ones."

Sustainability also translates into employee benefits. In all our four offices in Slovakia, we provide an allowance not only for public transport but also for electric scooters.

But we don't just keep our expertise in sustainability and the circular economy for employees and clients. We regularly participate in conferences and panel discussions with this topic, not only as an audience but also as speakers. Forvis Mazars’ experts are also frequently quoted in the media and regularly lecture at universities.

"The climate crisis is solved. We have the facts and the solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change." - David Attenborough