Our mission is to build, connect, power, and protect our world, and our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices are at the heart of that important work.
“We are investing in new and emerging technologies and expanding our capabilities in order to meet the growing demands in energy efficiency and management, renewable energy, and in sustainable maintenance, repair and operations for our customers.”
- John Engel, Chairman, President and CEO
Explore our Interactive ESG Report
Sustainability Social Environment Economic Governance Documents
Our Commitment
In 2022, Wesco is celebrating our 100th anniversary since being founded in 1922. In an uncertain and volatile world, very few companies enjoy such longevity and success. Wesco has been a leader in our industry, acquiring and developing capabilities along the way. Our ability to capture synergies and create value for our stakeholders by combining strengths is in our DNA.
Sustainability
Our approach to sustainability is two-fold. We aim to minimize the environmental impacts of our own operations and assist our customers and suppliers with achieving their sustainability goals through the products and services we provide.
Wesco's Sustainability Journey
Wesco has the unique opportunity to learn about new and innovative products and practices and to share our learning with our customers and along the entire value chain. We design and provide solutions enabling our customers to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at their facilities and in their supply chains, improve productivity through automation and increase output more efficiently through digital tools and applications.
DID YOU KNOW?
2009
Wesco becomes the first electrical distributor in the U.S. to report to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
DID YOU KNOW?
2012
Wesco opened two new state-of-the-art Lighting and Sustainability Solution Centers in Boston, MA, and Chicago, IL to provide customers with real-world applications of energy efficient lighting, controls, and other green building solutions.
DID YOU KNOW?
2014-2016
Wesco moved to providing a fuel-efficient leased vehicle to employees who log more than 7,500 miles in business travel annually, resulting in 14.3% increase in average miles per gallon for our fleet through 2016.
Our 2030 Sustainability Goals
30%
Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
15%
Reduction of landfill waste intensity across our US and Canadian locations
15%
Reduction in Total Recordable Incident Safety Rate
Social Accomplishments
New mission, vision and values were introduced for the combined company.
We reduced the total recordable injury rate by 10.6% since 2020.
Wesco matched employee donations for humanitarian aid to Ukraine and our team contributed volunteer hours and financial support for Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross.
We were named to lists including Forbes "World’s Best Employers" (2021) and "America’s Best Employers for Women" (2021), and Fortune Magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list (2021).
Business Resource Groups (BRGs)
Wesco’s Inclusion and Diversity Council led the creation of five BRGs. More than 2,200 employees from 23 countries at every level of the organization have joined one or more of our BRGs. These groups are offered globally and are open to all employees regardless of any aspect of their personal identity.
Wesco Success Story
Wearable Devices Improve Safety Metrics
2021 was a pivotal year in the digital transformation of our Health and Safety program by introducing pilots of wearable technology designed to provide live education to the participants of their at-risk postures and movements throughout the day.
Environment
We are working to reduce our environmental impact in the following areas: energy, emissions, waste and water. We track data on these topics at the location and global levels, with senior management regularly reviewing performance to identify gaps and issues and further refine our goals.
Environmental Accomplishments
Waste to landfill was reduced by 5%.
We set 2030 sustainability goals for landfill waste, greenhouse gas emissions and safety.
We conducted a supplier sustainability survey, responses representing $5.6 billion in spend, to better understand our supply chain’s sustainability practices and risk.
We implemented energy reduction projects including 25 lighting retrofit projects, restructuring our solar strategy, and actively working to purchase green power through utility green tariffs
Environmental Management
Energy
As a leading provider of products and services focused on energy efficiency, we are in a unique position to both minimize our energy consumption and that of our customers.
Water
Wesco tracks water data to identify unusual consumption patterns that could indicate undetected leaks or excessive usage that requires intervention.
Waste
With waste generated through our operations, we work to identify any opportunity to reuse and recycle.
Emissions
In 2021, we saw a 6.9% uptick in absolute overall energy use. Our analysis identified four large, high-use sites that drove over 50% of our natural gas increase. In 2022, we are conducting a more in-depth analysis to identify better controls.
Economic
We are a strategic partner for our customers and suppliers supporting their growth, reducing their operating costs, and minimizing their environmental impacts through our products and services. We help our customers make progress in lighting efficiency, energy management, renewable energy, water and waste mitigation and green procurement.
We continue to invest in emerging technologies and expand our capabilities to remain an innovative leader and a forward-thinking resource to our customers.
Supply Chain
Our supply chain mission statement prioritizes safety, sustainability and supplier diversity. We are proud to deliver comprehensive and innovative supply chain solutions while supporting small and diverse businesses. Over the last two years, Wesco increased our portfolio of vetted, third-party-certified diverse partners to support our supplier diversity priorities and promote supplier diversity efforts at an enterprise level.
2021 Lighting Project Results
5,512
Projects Completed
128 Million
Sq. ft. of Space Audited
275 Million
kWh Saved for Our Customers
245,755,380
kgCO2e was Offset
$51 Million
Saved in Energy and Maintenance Cost
$3.3 Million
Dollars Customers Received in Rebates
Governance
Wesco is committed to sound business practices and effective corporate governance and believes it is the cornerstone to ESG strategy across the company. We foster a culture of integrity, accountability and transparency. We place a high value on ensuring that we operate according to ethical principles in everything that we do at all levels of the business. Our Board of Directors oversees and works together with our executive officers to ensure they are acting in the best interest of our stockholders.
Governance Accomplishments
Independent Lead Director, James L. Singleton, was named Public Company Director of the Year by The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Sundaram Nagarajan was elected to the Wesco Board of Directors, September 1, 2022.
An annual review of ESG initiatives and results was completed by the Board of Directors.
Corporate Responsibility Documents
Sustainability Report Archive
Social
We surveyed employees to keep a pulse on our culture as teams settled into new ways of working as a result of the pandemic, and after our combination with Anixter the previous year. Results of the survey provided senior leadership insights into the effectiveness of our change management planning. We continue to monitor and refine systems and process integration that support our continued success.
Learn more about social initiatives at Wesco.