Sustainability

One of the big issues of our time is climate change and how we all as individuals and companies respond to it. At AMC, we are talking about how to make our business more sustainable and contribute to the solution, not the problem.

Our main product is fundamentally a sustainable product.  We have produced cookware that will last your lifetime, and then some, for over 50 years. We have produced sustainable cookware for much longer than it’s been fashionable to do so!  We’ve moved from plastic based handles, which do require occasional replacement, to much more durable and environmentally friendly stainless steel gourmet handles.  Our cookware can be repolished and repaired - we sometimes have customers who do not believe that their returned cookware is actually theirs, it looks so new!

Striving towards sustainability

In 2013, we introduced the AMC Flux, a portable induction stove which uses a fraction of the electricity of a normal stove. AMC allows you to do all your cooking (baking, roasting, frying, grilling) in a single unit, saving you on washing up and electricity. Who doesn’t love serving dishes in their beautiful AMC? All the savings in terms of water and power help to reduce our carbon footprint and the impact on the environment.

In 2020, we will be installing solar generation capacity at our factory in Atlantis.  Although we will still require some electricity from other sources, we will have made big strides towards reducing our carbon footprint.  During the manufacturing process, some stainless steel will inevitably be wasted.  This is collected and recycled to produce other products. We reuse water in our production process to reduce the fresh water we require and we tap into alternative water sources at our factory.  We are looking at using the minimum amount of packaging that secures the product for transport, limiting the environmental impact.   

During the drought in Cape Town in 2018, we installed rain water tanks at our Support Centre in Cape Town.  This is having a lasting impact, as we are able to use this water to flush our toilets for a large part of the year.  This has been so successful that we are looking to install more tanks to further reduce the municipal water we use.

Into the future, we have to start thinking about the complete journey of products - from the raw materials we use, the way we produce them, how we package them, use them and, finally, dispose of them.  At AMC, I am pleased that we are already well on our way to becoming a sustainable business in the long term.  One of our values is ‘We Do the Right Thing’ and therefore we are committed to making decisions that are ‘doing the right thing’ for our people and the planet.

Credit

Green icon image Designed by Dooder / Freepik