ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND OTHER GOVERNANCE MATTERS
CAI is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and reporting on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) information to understand how we are managing long-term risks to the company as well as the benefits CAI produces for society. Our products and services are integral to global commerce and transportation, and we seek to use our position in the value chain to drive impact across the industry.
While our company has valued ESG principles since our founding, we have started the process of formalizing our approach to ESG reporting. In 2020, the Board identified ESG as a strategic priority for the Company and prompted our inaugural disclosure in this proxy statement. This action from the Board has been a powerful catalyst for formalizing ESG governance, strategy, and reporting from the highest levels of the organization. In our first year of reporting, our goal is to disclose what initiatives we have in place to manage relevant ESG topics and to set the stage for continuous improvement as we formalize our approach.
As an integral part of the global shipping industry, it is worth clarifying our operational controls and the ways these controls impact our approach to ESG. CAI container leasing operates under triple net lease agreements; those effectively grant full operational control of our containers to our customers. While this limits our ability to enact certain policies or requirements, we work to manage ESG issues where we do have operational control and to engage our industry partners to work together on shared ESG goals.
CAI has been an active member in the International Institute of Container Lessors (IICL) for over 30 years. IICL is heavily engaged in projects aimed at enhancing the environmental and social impacts of container production and use. IICL regularly engages government regulators, container manufacturers, shipping groups, customers, and other stakeholders to drive change, and we are proud to support their work.
Environmental
We place a significant focus on ensuring that our container fleet is manufactured and maintained with the highest environmental and safety standards, as well as compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations. We work closely with our manufacturing partners to establish approved raw material suppliers, and our in-house technical team and third-party service providers routinely inspect our manufacturing partners to validate that our standards are being adhered to. In addition to monitoring the manufacturing process, we also enhance the lifespan of our products through a process of frequent product inspection and mandated repair if necessary. Our lease contracts require our customers to maintain our containers in compliance with all required international Intermodal Shipping (ISO) container standards. Those standards require that every container be inspected before and after each movement in or out of a port, or depot for both structural integrity and safety compliance. If the inspection process uncovers any issues the container is taken out of service, repaired and recertified before it can be placed back into service. A consequence of our commitment to manufacturing quality and rigorous inspection and repair processes is that we are experiencing a gradual increase in the average useful life of containers.
Even after containers are no longer suitable for use in intermodal marine shipping, they are repurposed or recycled in many applications. CAI sells containers to other vendors for use in storage, housing, and other functions all over the world, which can extend their useful life by many years. When they ultimately reach the end of their useful life, the container, which are primarily steel, are scrapped and the recycled steel is repurposed.
In addition, we are working with our industry partners at IICL to improve the environmental profile of shipping containers and the engagement with container manufacturers. In particular, our partners are working to remove harmful paint chemicals from container specifications and to eliminate the use of unsustainable wood species in container flooring.
Finally, CAI is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of our operations. Our two primary office locations in the US and the UK are both LEED® Certified, and we’ve taken steps to reduce our energy consumption including moving our IT servers to a more secure and energy efficient location.
Social
One of CAI’s greatest values is collaboration. By focusing on open communication, care for employees, teamwork, and a commitment to shared goals, we strive to build a workplace culture that attracts and retains a highly talented and diverse workforce,
CAI offers generous benefits and compensation that help to attract, support, and retain top talent. Our benefits include a health, dental and vision insurance program covering 95% of the cost for employees and their