INTRODUCTION
INTERSPORT Elverys aims to be recognised as the leading Irish sports retailer practicing and promoting a more sustainable business and lifestyle. In 2025, we were shortlisted for the Green Retailer Award in the Green Awards 2025, a significant recognition marking a very important step on our sustainable journey, underscoring our objective to play a leading role in sustainable business practices.
This wonderful achievement follows on from being honoured for our visionary efforts in driving sustainable change with the prestigious INTERSPORT Global Leadership Excellence Award in Sustainability for two years running. In 2023, our winning entry focused on sustainability initiatives within our HQ and Distribution Centre, and our efforts to redefine green distribution. The submission highlighted the transitioning to self-generated solar energy along with detailing additional recycling efforts.
In 2024, we successfully retained this award with our reverse logistics recycling and distribution initiative through the introduction of a Reusable and Recyclable Pallet Box System, and the significant results achieved.
Intersport Elverys is actively working every single day to reduce our footprint on the planet and to empower our communities in Ireland.
We’re doing this by implementing both small and large changes to our business and our people.
We have some short-term and long-term initiatives actively in place, while we have also invested heavily in other areas that will help us to be circular in every aspect of our business by 2030.
Scroll down to find out more about some of our exciting and ambitious sustainability initiatives and partnerships.
MATERIAL AND DESIGN
- All Intersport Elverys in-store carrier bags are designed with a circular business model in mind. Provided to customers in our over 44 stores nationwide, they are made from 100% recycled material and are also 100% recyclable again.
- Furthermore, all packaging from online orders dispatched from our Distribution Centre in Castlebar are 100% recyclable.
PRODUCTION
- Electric vehicle (EV) charging points have been installed on-site in our Support Centre and available to staff to use to help ease carbon emissions. According to seai.ie the CO2 emissions of an electric vehicle are 60g/km compared to 130g/km to that of a petrol engine.
- A water harvesting system has been installed in our Support Centre to manage and store waste and rainwater more effectively and ease water consumption as well as cutting costs.
- Through the introduction of a Reusable and Recyclable Pallet Box System, we can optimise our reverse logistics and enhance our circularity capabilities. This initiative enables recyclable waste throughout our store network to be returned to our Distribution Centre (DC) for efficient processing in our purpose-built recycling centre.
- Installation of multi fuel biomass boiler in our Support Centre. This carbon neutral fuel source will save large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, therefore delivering a significant return on our de-carbonisation efforts in addition to reducing heating costs and a more efficient heating system. The utilisation of waste products contributes to a circular economy.
- There has been an LED lighting upgrade across a number of stores to reduce energy usage – LED lights use up to 90% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs.
- Air conditioning systems in Support Centre upgraded to low-energy consumption systems.
- Solar panels have been installed in 10 stores and at Support Centre to utilise renewable energy sources.
PARTNERSHIPS
AN POST
Intersport Elverys has a longstanding partnership with An Post, the state-owned postal service provider in the Republic of Ireland and the only postal service provider of Intersport Elverys.
An Post is responsible for delivering over 400,000 online orders for Intersport Elverys annually. They do this while ensuring their carbon footprint on the planet is as low as it can be, delivering an average of 70 packages on a single route.
The level of carbon emissions released on the planet with this method is drastically lower than traditional retail shopping.
An Post share the ethos of addressing a more sustainable future of business and have some hugely impressive sustainability initiatives ongoing, such as:
- Carbon emissions have been reduced by 23% since 2009 with An Post on track for 50% reduction by 2025, and carbon zero by 2030.
- Operating Ireland’s largest EV fleet. In 2024, An Post increased the size of their EV fleet by 31.5%, to a total of 1,445 vehicles, 157 e-trikes and three 7.5 tonne electric trucks.
- 50% of the fleet to run on alternative fuel sources by 2025 - 39.8% as at end 2024.
- First postal service in the world to attain zero emission delivery status in all major cities – Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Kilkenny
ENERGIA
We have also partnered up with Energia, Ireland’s greenest electricity supplier to supply 100% green energy to all our stores nationwide.
Renewable energy is tailor made for Irish businesses and Energia makes switching to clean, renewable energy easy.
Read more here: https://www.energia.ie/business/news/intersport-elverys-and-energia-team-up
PRODUCT TAKEBACK AND RECYCLING
In 2020, Intersport Elverys made a substantial investment of over €1 million into a state-of-the-art recycling centre located at our Castlebar HQ.
The recycling centre is equipped to handle the recycling of the main packaging materials that arrive into the warehouse – timber, plastic and polystyrene. It contains a high functioning timber pallet recycling machine, various plastic recycling machines, cardboard recycling machine and also a polystyrene recycling machine.
All recyclable material across our stores is shipped back to Castlebar to be correctly processed there.
The polystyrene recycled in this machine can and is currently being re-used as housing insulation locally in Mayo.
To ease energy consumption of the plant, 11.250kwp worth of PV (total investment total investment €16,000) solar panels have been installed to help power the machines.
A solar PV system approximately 20sq.m can generate 2,600kWh of electricity a year, which is over 40% of the average electricity demand of an Irish home (seai.ie).
OUR PEOPLE
Intersport Elverys is committed to a workplace environment that promotes diversity and inclusion and creates an open and inclusive culture where everyone feels valued. We believe that embracing equality and diversity in the workplace benefits not just our employees, but also our customers.
With the support of the leadership team, Intersport Elverys partnered with the Irish Centre for Diversity, a leading provider of Diversity and Inclusion training, in 2023. Having successfully achieved the ICD Bronze (2023) and Silver (2024) awards, we have performed ahead of the National Benchmark level with regards to inclusive leadership, recruitment, data recording, and monitoring to benefit our D&I.
Intersport Elverys is proud to report a very favourable gender balance in management roles, as well as general staff, across the company. Historically, Intersport Elverys has always represented a close to 50% gender balance in management roles, which is well above the worldwide average of around 31% (Mercer, 2020).
These are figures that Intersport Elverys is committed to maintaining and improving (July 2024).
Of a total approx. headcount of 744 employees, 50% are female and 50% male. In management roles, the breakdown is 51% female and 49% male.
Click here to view the 2024 Intersport Elverys Gender Pay Gap Report.
OUR COMMUNITY
We love our sport at Intersport Elverys and we pride ourselves on supporting Irish athletes from grassroots to the very elite.
Supporting sport at all level, both locally and nationally, dates back to our very origins and is a huge part of our ethos.
We’re Official Retail Partner of the football and rugby national bodies of Ireland, the FAI and the IRFU.
While we’re proud to be empowering women in sport since 2005 by being proud sponsor of the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon, the largest event of its kind in the WORLD.
Since the 1990s, we have and continue to be proud sponsors of Mayo GAA, while we have strong grassroots involvement with initiatives like the FAI Summer Soccer Schools and the Elverys Sports Super League.
Read our full list of our Supporting Irish Partnerships HERE.
**This is not an exhaustive list and will be constantly updated as we work on new and innovative green initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint and make our business more and more future proof**