Categories
There are 13 eligible award categories, each having specific criteria that the judging panel will be examining.
- All entries must be submitted using the online entry form.
- All entry forms must be completed fully before the deadline.
- You may edit your entry after submitting, up until the entry deadline.
- Please make sure all your personal details are entered accurately, including contact details, as this will be used in the awards presentation if selected as a finalist.
- Nominations for members of the judging panel or headline sponsors will not be accepted.
- You may enter across any number of categories and be shortlisted in a maximum of four, providing that your entry meets the given award criteria.
- Entries should be based on a project from the last 18 months.
- There is no fee for entering the Sustainable Business Awards and all entries are strictly confidential.
- Entry is open to all businesses operating in Ireland.
- The Business Post reserves the right to quality check applications and may be in contact to ask for additional information if necessary.
Tips for Entering
- Make sure that you read and fully comply with the criteria
- Provide as much evidence of your results (financial and non-financial) as possible
- Be sure that you have the correct permissions needed to reveal any potentially sensitive information
- You can start your entry online and save it to complete it at any point before the deadline
- And finally – don’t be modest, this is the time to brag about your biggest achievements!
Sustainable Business (Large) of the Year
Overview
This award looks to recognise a large company displaying exceptional efforts in its environmental sustainability agenda. This category is open to companies that have between over 250 employees and have an annual turnover exceeding €50m.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please explain why and how your nominated company has decided to address sustainability within the organisation or through its products/services. Please include a brief profile of your company’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of what the biggest environmental challenges facing your company are, and/or what the biggest challenges are for the sector your company is providing products/services for.
- Governance and reporting (20 points): Please explain how governance practices within the organisation are being used to bring sustainability to the forefront of business practice, and how the environmental footprint of the organisation is gathered, reported on, and used to drive further sustainability plans.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline any projects that have taken place (or continued) within the adjudication period that demonstrate the work being done on environmental sustainability in your organisation. These can be internal projects that demonstrate the efforts to reduce the organisation’s environmental footprint, and/or products/services provided by the company that are helping customers reduce their environmental footprints. Please include any relevant data to support your claims.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts from the company’s overall sustainability efforts. Please include data, graphs, testimony or any other relevant information that demonstrates the measurable sustainability outcomes of your company’s internal efforts or products or services (carbon emissions, water usage, waste volumes etc). Data from previous years can be included to demonstrate progress, as long as data from the adjudication period is also included. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Industry leadership (20 points): Please outline how your company has provided leadership in your industry/sector/community on sustainability. This can include initiatives to support others in your sector in their sustainability journeys through partnerships, research or any other pooled efforts. It can also include efforts to ensure your company’s suppliers are also reducing their environmental footprint, or efforts to support your local community in furthering sustainability. Any other examples of leadership by your organisation are also welcome.
- Plans for the future (10 points): Please outline your company’s medium/long term plans for addressing sustainability, highlighting any ambitions or clear goals that have been set by the organisation, and citing any clear roadmaps being used by the company to achieve these goals. Please ensure any targets (50 per cent reduction in emissions etc) are accompanied by the relevant baseline year.
Sustainable Business (Small/Medium) of the Year
Overview
This award looks to recognise a small-medium sized company displaying exceptional efforts in its environmental sustainability agenda. This category is open to companies that have fewer than 249 employees and have an annual turnover not exceeding €50m.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please explain why and how your nominated company has decided to address sustainability within the organisation or through its products/services. Please include a brief profile of your company’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of what the biggest environmental challenges facing your company are, and/or what the biggest challenges are for the sector your company is providing products/services for.
- Governance and reporting (10 points): Please explain how governance practices within the organisation are being used to bring sustainability to the forefront of business practice, and how the environmental footprint of the organisation is gathered, reported on, and used to drive further sustainability plans.
- Innovation (10 points): SME’s face different sustainability challenges, both in terms of resourcing and market share. Please outline how, as an SME, your business is innovating to ensure your own internal sustainability goals are reached, or to ensure your products/services can have maximum impact on other’s sustainability goals.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline any project(s) that has taken place (or continued) within the adjudication period that demonstrates the work being done on environmental sustainability in your organisation. These can be internal projects that demonstrate the efforts to reduce the organisation’s environmental footprint, and/or products/services provided by the company that are helping customers reduce their environmental footprints. Please include any relevant data to support your claims.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts from the company’s overall sustainability efforts. Please include data, graphs, testimony or any other relevant information that demonstrates the measurable sustainability outcomes of your company’s internal efforts or products or services (carbon emissions, water usage, waste volumes etc). Data from previous years can be included to demonstrate progress, as long as data from the adjudication period is also included. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Industry leadership (20 points): Please outline how your company has provided leadership in your industry/sector/community on sustainability. This can include initiatives to support others in your sector in their sustainability journeys through partnerships, research or any other pooled efforts. It can also include efforts to ensure your company’s suppliers are also reducing their environmental footprint, or efforts to support your local community in furthering sustainability. Any other examples of leadership by your organisation are also welcome.
- Plans for the future (10 points): Please outline your company’s medium/long term plans for addressing sustainability, highlighting any ambitions or clear goals that have been set by the organisation, and citing any clear roadmaps being used by the company to achieve these goals. Please ensure any targets (50 per cent reduction in emissions etc) are accompanied by the relevant baseline year.
Sustainable Business Leader of the Year
Overview
This award seeks to recognise an outstanding individual business leader who has displayed passion, commitment and creativity in delivering on their company’s environmental sustainability agenda. Applicants can nominate themselves or an individual from their company.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please explain why and how the company which the nominated person works for has decided to address sustainability within the organisation or through its products/services. Please include a brief profile of your company’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of what the biggest environmental challenges facing your company are, and/or what the biggest challenges are for the sector your company is providing products/services for.
- Leadership, culture and governance (20 points): Please outline how the nominated person has demonstrated environmental leadership in their work. This can be through leadership style, impact on company culture, embedding of environmental governance in an organisation, and communicating the company’s environmental message internally or externally.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please detail any project(s) that demonstrates the nominated person’s environmental leadership, and how the project(s) has further the company’s environmental ambitions and goals.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts delivered as a result of the nominated person. Please include data, graphs, testimony or any other relevant information that demonstrates the measurable sustainability outcomes of the business as driven by the nominated leader. Data from previous years can be included to demonstrate progress, as long as data from the adjudication period is also included. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated person has identified specific challenges in delivering environmental sustainability for the company, and how he/she has worked to overcome them.
- Testimony (10 points): Please include short testimony from at least 3 separate parties, from within or outside the company, citing the reasons why this person should be awarded sustainable business leader in this year’s awards.
Sustainable Product or Service of the Year
Overview
This award seeks to recognise an organisation that has developed or delivered an innovative product or service that makes a significant contribution to environmental sustainability. This category is open to products or services that demonstrate measurable environmental benefits, including carbon reduction, resource efficiency, waste minimisation, or positive lifecycle impact.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please describe the nominated team (size, personnel, role in the organisation). A team can be two people + and can be at any level of the company, from executive board to junior team. Please explain why and how your nominated team is addressing sustainability through the development or delivery of this specific product/service. Please include a brief profile of the product/service’s environmental footprint, including lifecycle assessments or Scope 3 impact (if collected), and a description of the primary sustainability challenges this product/service was designed to solve.
- Influence and Accountability (20 points): Please explain how the nominated team and the product/service exert wider influence on the sustainability of the company and the market. Please demonstrate how the team’s work makes the company more accountable for the environmental impact of its output. Please show how this sustainable product/service is prioritised by the senior board and integrated into the broader commercial and sustainability strategy of the company, rather than existing as a standalone or niche offering.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline the specific development or delivery of the product/service undertaken within the adjudication period that demonstrates its contribution to environmental sustainability. This should focus on the innovation behind the product/service, such as sustainable sourcing, circular design, or energy-efficient delivery. Please include any relevant technical data, certifications, or R&D milestones to support your claims regarding its environmental credentials.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts resulting from the use of this product or service. This should include data on how it helps customers reduce their environmental footprints (e.g., carbon avoided, water saved, or waste diverted). Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated team identified specific challenges to the success or sustainability of this product/service—such as supply chain issues, material costs, or market adoption—and worked to overcome them.
- Testimony (10 points): Please outline the nominated team’s plans for the future of this product or service, including any relevant planned upgrades, new iterations, or scaling strategies.
Sustainable Project of the Year
Overview
This category seeks to recognise businesses that have demonstrated an outstanding project that has contributed to the furthering of the company’s environmental sustainability agenda. These projects can either be from companies working in the relevant sectors of transport, agrifood/drinks, energy, waste/circular economy etc.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please describe the nominated team (size, personnel, role in the organisation). A team can be two people + and can be at any level of the company, from executive board to junior team. Please explain why and how your nominated team is addressing sustainability within the organisation and/or through your products/services. Please include a brief profile of your company’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of what the biggest environmental challenges facing this team are.
- Influence and Accountability (20 points): Please explain how the nominated team exerts wider influence on the sustainability of the company, and how the team’s work makes the company more accountable for its environmental footprint. Please demonstrate how the nominated team’s environmental work is taken seriously by the senior board of the company and integrated into broader company strategy.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline any environmental project(s) undertaken by the team within the adjudication period that demonstrates the work being done on environmental sustainability. These can be internal projects that demonstrate the efforts to reduce the organisation’s environmental footprint, and/or products/services provided by the company that are helping customers reduce their environmental footprints. Please include any relevant data to support your claims.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts from the nominated team’s sustainability efforts. Please include data, graphs, testimony or any other relevant information that you feel demonstrates the measurable sustainability outcomes of the team’s work. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated team identified specific challenges to its sustainability work, and worked to overcome them.
- Future Plans (10 points): Please outline the nominated team’s plans for the future, including any relevant planned projects, initiatives, products or events.
Semi-State / Public Body of the Year
Overview
This award seeks to recognise a semi-state organisation, public body, or state agency that has demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress in advancing its environmental sustainability agenda. This category is open to government-funded organisations, local authorities, and semi-state bodies that can demonstrate meaningful environmental impact within their remit and operations.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please describe the nominated team (size, personnel, role in the organisation). A team can be two people + and can be at any level of the organisation, from executive board to junior team. Please explain why and how your nominated team is addressing sustainability within the context of your public mandate, statutory remit, and/or through your public services. Please include a brief profile of your organisation’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of the specific regulatory or operational challenges facing this team in a public sector environment.
- Influence and Accountability (20 points): Please explain how the nominated team exerts wider influence on the sustainability of the organisation, and how the team’s work makes the body more accountable to the public and government stakeholders for its environmental footprint. Please demonstrate how the nominated team’s environmental work is integrated into the Corporate Plan or Annual Report, and how it is overseen by the board or senior management to ensure alignment with national climate targets.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline any environmental project(s) undertaken by the team within the adjudication period that demonstrates the work being done on environmental sustainability. These can be internal projects that demonstrate efforts to reduce the organisation’s operational footprint (such as energy efficiency in public buildings or fleet electrification), and/or public-facing initiatives and services that are helping citizens or stakeholders reduce their environmental footprints. Please include any relevant data to support your claims.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline how the nominated team identified specific challenges to its sustainability work—such as procurement hurdles, budgetary constraints, or legacy infrastructure—and worked to overcome them.
- Industry leadership (20 points): Please outline how your company has provided leadership in your industry/sector/community on social and equality issues. This can include initiatives to support others in your sector or your local community through partnerships, publicity campaigns, research or any other pooled efforts, or how your own work has served as an example to others. Any other examples of leadership by your organisation are also welcome.
- Plans for the future (10 points): Please outline the nominated team’s plans for the future, including any relevant planned projects, initiatives, or strategies to meet 2030 or 2050 climate obligations.
Collaboration of the Year
Overview
These categories seek to recognise businesses that have demonstrated an outstanding project that has contributed to the furthering of the company’s environmental sustainability agenda. These projects can either be from companies working in the relevant sectors of transport, agrifood/drinks, energy or waste/circular economy, or can be companies from any sector that can demonstrate an exceptional project in their transport, agrifood, energy or waste efforts.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please explain why and how the company which carried out the nominated project has decided to address sustainability within the organisation or through its products/services. Please include a brief profile of your company’s environmental footprint, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (if collected) and a description of what the biggest environmental challenges facing your company are, and/or what the biggest challenges are for the sector your company is providing products/services for.
- Concept and Delivery (20 points): Please outline the project in your relevant area which was delivered (or continued) in the adjudication period. Please detail the formation of the initial concept and the subsequent delivery. This can be an internal project that demonstrates the efforts to reduce you organisation’s environmental footprint, or it can be project around the delivery of your company’s products/services that is helping customers reduce their environmental footprints. Please include any relevant data to support your claims.
- Governance and reporting (20 points): Please explain how the project was managed and measured from an environmental perspective, with a view to delivering real environmental benefits and measuring those benefits.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts from the nominated project. Please include data, graphs, testimony or any other relevant information that demonstrates the measurable sustainability outcomes of your project. Data from previous years can be included to demonstrate progress, as long as data from the adjudication period is also included. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated project identified specific challenges and worked to overcome them.
- Plans for the future (10 points): Please outline how the project will continue to deliver benefits into the future, or may be used as a model for other projects within the company.
Sustainable Construction Project of the Year
Overview
This award seeks to recognise an outstanding construction project that has demonstrated excellence in sustainable design, delivery, and environmental performance. This category is open to projects that showcase measurable achievements in areas such as MMC, energy efficiency, carbon reduction, sustainable materials, waste management, biodiversity enhancement and overall environmental impact.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please describe the nominated project team (size, personnel, role in the project). A team can be two people + and can include architects, engineers, contractors, or developers. Please explain how this team integrated sustainability into the design and delivery of the specific construction project. Please include a brief profile of the project’s environmental footprint, including embodied carbon and operational energy targets, and a description of the primary environmental challenges faced during the site’s development.
- Influence and Accountability (20 points): Please explain how the nominated team exerts wider influence on the sustainability standards of the construction sector or the parent company, and how the project’s work makes the organisation more accountable for its environmental footprint. Please demonstrate how the sustainable methods used in this project (such as MMC or circular economy principles) are supported by senior leadership and integrated into the broader long-term strategy of the company.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please outline the specific sustainable features of the construction project undertaken within the adjudication period. This should focus on excellence in areas such as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), use of sustainable or low-carbon materials, and onsite waste management. Please include relevant technical data, such as BER ratings, or specific energy efficiency measures that demonstrate the project’s sustainability credentials.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline the measurable environmental impacts of the project. This should include data on carbon reduction (embodied and operational), biodiversity enhancement (such as net gain or green infrastructure), and resource efficiency. Please ensure any data around carbon intensity improvements is also accompanied by total emissions data for the project. Please ensure any emissions offsets programmes are dealt with separately to actual emissions reductions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated team identified and overcame specific sustainability challenges during the project life cycle, such as site-specific constraints, supply chain issues for sustainable materials, or regulatory hurdles. Please explain how the team maintained environmental integrity while meeting project deadlines and budgets.
- Future Plans (10 points): Please outline how the learnings from this project will influence the team’s future construction work, including any relevant planned projects, upcoming sustainable initiatives, or new technologies to be adopted.
Rising Star of the Year
Overview
This award seeks to recognise an individual under the age of 30 who has displayed passion, commitment and creativity in delivering on the environmental or equality and inclusivity agenda in a business environment. Applicants can nominate themselves or an individual from their company. Please note that this category is also open to young business founders who have demonstrably embraced ESG standards of excellence in their organisation.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please explain why and how the company which the nominated person works for has decided to address ESG issues within the organisation or through its products/services. Please give a brief explanation as to why the nominated individual (under 30 years of age) has proven themselves an exceptional talent with regard to the improvement of environmental or social and equality practices within the nominated company.
- Leadership and influence (20 points): Please outline in more detail how the nominated person has demonstrated leadership and influence in their work, and how their work has influenced the company. This can be through work style, impact on company culture, communicating their work, and providing leadership.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please detail any project(s) that demonstrates the nominated person’s leadership, and how the project(s) has further the company’s ambitions and goals.
- Outcomes and impacts (20 points): Please outline any positive outcomes or measurable impacts delivered as a result of the nominated persons actions.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please outline how the nominated person has identified specific challenges in delivering on its sustainability or equality agenda for the company, and how he/she has worked to overcome them.
- Testimony (10 points): Please include short testimony from at least 3 separate parties, from within or outside the company, citing the reasons why this person should be awarded ESG Rising Start in this year’s awards.
Charge Point Operator of the Year
Overview
This award is all about celebrating an electric vehicle charge point operator who has gone above and beyond in its service and delivery for customers, be that fleet, domestic, public, destination or workplace charging.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please provide an overview of the company and related services, solutions and products.
- Leadership and influence (20 points): Provide details of the impact to the end user/customer your company/solution has had.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please provide any metrics, case studies or testimonials available to demonstrate the impact to customers or industry.
- Overcoming impacts (20 points): Please provide evidence of how you have improved the experience for end user/customer your company/solution.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please provide any evidence of ‘’future proofing’’ can hardware be easily upgraded or replaced.
- Testimony (10 points): Please provide any other reasons why this should be chosen for the award over your competitors.
Charge Point Hardware Manufacturer of the Year
Overview
This award is to recognize a charge point manufacturer who has excelled in the creation of fit for purpose solutions for their customers and markets. They will be stand out as a manufacturer of choice for supplier partners.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please provide an overview of the company and related services, solutions and products.
- Leadership and influence (20 points): Provide details of the impact to the end user/customer your product has had. Please provide any metrics, case studies or testimonials available to demonstrate the impact to customers.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please provide any metrics, case studies or testimonials available to demonstrate the impact to customers.
- Overcoming impacts (20 points): Please provide evidence of how you have improved the experience for end user/customer your company/solution.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please provide any evidence of ‘’future proofing’’ can hardware be easily upgraded or replaced.
- Testimony (10 points): Please provide any other reasons why this should be chosen for the award over your competitors.
OEM of the Year (Passenger Vehicles)
Overview
This award will recognise the OEM who has brought one or more unparalleled passenger zero-emission vehicles into the market. It will be advanced and competitive in terms of its range capacity, creative and fit for purpose design and charging innovation.
Please note we may ask that a test drive is provided for judges in the week prior to the judging day based on the level of information submitted in this application. As the award is for the overall manufacturer, rather than a specific vehicle we will only ask for this if requested by the judges to support their decision making.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Please provide an overview of your company and its sustainability commitments and strategy.
- Leadership and influence (20 points): Provide details of how the company is a mover and shaker in passenger electric vehicle design and manufacturing
- Key Projects (20 points): Please provide metrics or testimonials. to demonstrate how your vehicle(s) are a clear leader in the Irish Market.
- Overcoming impacts (20 points): Please provide evidence of how you have improved the experience for end user/customer your company/solution.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please provide any evidence of ‘’future proofing’’ can hardware be easily upgraded or replaced.
- Testimony (10 points): Please provide any other reasons why this should be chosen for the award over your competitors.
OEM of the Year (Commercial Vehicles)
Overview
This award will recognise the OEM who has brought one or more unparalleled zero-emission commercial vehicles into the market. These vehicles will be advanced and competitive in terms of their range capacity, creative and fit for purpose design and charging innovation.
Please note we may ask that a test drive is provided for judges in the week prior to the judging day based on the level of information submitted in this application. As the award is for the overall manufacturer, rather than a specific vehicle we will only ask for this if requested by the judges to support their decision making.
Criteria
- Background (10 points): Provide details of how the company is a mover and shaker in commercial electric vehicle design and manufacturing.
- Leadership and influence (20 points): Please provide metrics or testimonials to demonstrate how your vehicle(s) are a clear leader in the Irish Market.
- Key Projects (20 points): Please provide any other reasons why this should be chosen for the award over your competitors.
- Overcoming impacts (20 points): Please provide evidence of how you have improved the experience for end user/customer your company/solution.
- Overcoming challenges (20 points): Please provide any evidence of ‘’future proofing’’ can hardware be easily upgraded or replaced.
- Testimony (10 points): Please provide a short summary of your entry. This may appear in the printed event guide and in any relevant marketing communications about the awards should you make the shortlist. Please note that we reserve the right to edit for consistency and publishing reasons.