PPE manufacturers crowned Heroes of Net Zero winners at COP26

PPE manufacturers Design Abled were crowned winners of the Heroes of Net Zero competition at a special awards ceremony hosted by Intuit at the COP26 international climate change summit in Glasgow. 

More than 160 businesses entered the competition, making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2050, in line with the government’s own climate commitment.

The PPE manufacturers, based in Stanmore, Middlesex, won in the micro business category by demonstrating a range of measures taken on their journey to net zero, including minimising their manufacturing waste, developing recycling and upcycling partnerships for used devices and creating bespoke sustainable and bio-degradable packaging.

They won an exclusive prize package worth over £4,500 from competition partners BT, NatWest, and SSE.

Dean Ezekiel, director of Design Abled, said: “We are very proud of the business decisions we have taken on our way to becoming a Hero of Net Zero. We hope to inspire other businesses to make the same commitment and to make eco-friendly decisions. We believe in our chance to make a positive impact. “Our aim is to solve communication problems of respiratory protection, as a sustainable, net zero business. As a manufacturer, we have a choice to reduce our impact on climate change, while still meeting the needs of customers and growing our business.”

The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine estimate that the carbon footprint of PPE distribution in the UK equated to around 244 return flights from London to New York, per day during the first six months of the pandemic. Design Abled won over the competition judges for supporting the UK to stay safe in the pandemic, while continuing to make cutting their emissions central to their entire operations.

The business aims to improve communication for those who struggle to interact and rely on lip reading or facial expressions by designing and manufacturing transparent, recyclable, and reusable face masks.

The Heroes of Net Zero competition is part of the government’s Together for Our Planet campaign, run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The competition was supported by BT, SSE and NatWest Group, who contributed a prize package worth £4,500 for the winners in the micro business category, PPE manufacturer Design Abled, of Stanmore, in Harrow.

The panel of judges included the government’s Net Zero business champion Andrew Griffith. The Heroes of Net Zero competition is part of the government’s Together for Our Planet campaign, run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

UK Net Zero business champion, Andrew Griffith said: “I am delighted to be celebrating The Heroes of Net Zero today at our special COP26 event. Representing a diverse range of industries and locations, the finalists spotlight the actions that UK businesses of any size can take to cut their own emissions and help us build back better.”