Scott Dendler: The Man Behind the “E” in Belden’s ESG Strategy

Belden’s ESG goals, publicly announced in April 2022 and slated for achievement by 2025, are a true team effort.

While Belden has long been a conscientious company in practices and culture related to ESG, there are many team members who play a critical role in shaping that culture and leading achievement of ESG goals. Scott Dendler, senior director, corporate environmental health and safety, can easily be referred to as Belden’s “E Man,” the leader behind the environmental side of the company’s ESG goals.

While Dendler’s professional experience spans 25 years of strategic environmental, health and safety management, and consulting experience, he has spent much of his time with Belden.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and later earned his Master of Business Administration from Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business. Scott is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and a Registered Environmental Manager (REM). Scott’s skills and experience include environmental, health and safety (EHS) program assessment and development and local and corporate EHS management.

Dendler also has experience developing and managing EHS management systems like ISO 14001 and has sustainability program development experience. His capabilities include domestic and international EHS auditing as well, giving him a valuable perspective to support Belden’s global locations.

On paper, Dendler matches the ideal profile of an EHS professional who’s perfectly suited to lead a company’s environmental efforts—but he is the ideal “E Man” for Belden outside the office, too. He’s a self-proclaimed “outdoorsman,” passionate about conservation and the environment and aware of the impact of his activities on future generations.

Dendler’s home state of Indiana has a program to increase the state’s tree canopy by providing seedlings and coordinating planting opportunities for nonprofits, businesses and the general public. He has taken advantage of this program twice in the past five years by purchasing and personally planting over 200 seedlings across 10 acres on his own property.

“As we all know, trees absorb CO₂, and deforestation and invasive species have been destructive to the environment,” he says. “I’ve personally seen the damage that the Emerald Ash Borer has on old, mature ash trees on my property. There aren’t any left. Mature hardwood trees can absorb 40 to 50 pounds of CO₂ a year. Once these young trees are mature, they could absorb over four tons of CO₂ a year just on my property. While I won’t see this in my lifetime, it’s an investment in the future.”

Dendler is also an enthusiastic supporter of colleagues who champion environmental efforts in their own communities. Earth Day activities are always embraced as opportunities to make a positive impact on the planet. This year, the team in Cobourg, Canada, planted trees in their community and participated in a local park cleanup. To support the team’s desire to take an active role in positively impacting the environment, Belden provided a tree to every employee.

Ask him about the newness of Belden’s publicly announced ESG goals, and his answer may surprise you. “Belden has been an environmentally conscious company for a long time,” says Dendler. “We just haven’t always talked about it publicly. We’ve done the right thing where the environment is concerned, but, up until now, we simply weren’t telling the world about it or putting public measurable goals behind it.”

According to Dendler, Belden has prioritized waste reduction and recycling for many years. Belden’s EHS policies were recast in the early 2000s to go above and beyond basic compliance and achieve strongly supported environmental performance and accountability. Belden’s sites are a low risk from an environmental standpoint, but there’s always more that can be done. Now, Belden takes it to the next level with ESG goals and a more public commitment to ESG standards as an organization.

We can’t imagine anyone better suited to lead the team of passionate experts committed to achieving Belden’s environmental goals than Scott Dendler—a man who’s genuinely concerned about the environment and made a personal investment to improve it.

Learn more about Belden’s environmental goals and full ESG goals. 

RELATED LINKS:

Environmental, Social & Governance

A Focus on Health and Transparency: Important Changes as Part of LEED v4.1