Impact of impending sustainability legislation on manufacturing SMEs: An analysis

Under the Irish Government Sectoral Emissions Ceilings announced last year, the manufacturing sector will have to achieve a 35% reduction in emissions by 2030, compared to the level of emissions in 2018. Manufacturing along with broader industrial processing accounts for approximately 13% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions. While a range of companies such as Intel, Diageo, Janssen and Boston Scientific have already pledged to significantly reduce their carbon emissions, many companies do not have the resources or internal technical expertise to make this transition to sustainability. This is particularly the case for SMEs, which account for 49% of Irish industrial sector employment. Overall within the EU however, it is reported that SMEs are the source of 64% of total industrial pollution and account for 60-70% of the total industrial waste.