We do it. Better.
In joint responsibility for tomorrow.
Sustainable management has been a fundamental factor in our success for decades. The long-term added value of our actions lies at the heart of all of our decisions. This attitude is best described by the notion of "responsibility". We assume this responsibility every day anew – for our employees and the quality of our products, for the natural resources of our planet and for the region which we call home. In our report, we demonstrate how we embrace this responsibility within our company – and what aims we want to and must achieve. Read the full management statement
“Our aspiration is to reconcile the market demands of our industry with our responsibility for future generations!”
The management (from left):
Henk Gövert, Norbert Nobbe and Matthias Lesch.
Sustainable business is not an entirely new concept for us. Our sustainability management can be described as follows: we embed already existing features in a new form, supplement it with current aspects and insights and let it grow organically within our company.
We divide responsibility for the topic into three levels. On a strategic level, our governing bodies are in charge of sustainability issues. The flat hierarchies facilitate regular consultation with management, advisory board and shareholders regarding new developments. The direct involvement of management can be seen through the participation of its members in various workshops and attendance at important events. The advisory board is involved in major strategic decisions. Shareholders are represented in the company’s key initiatives, such as the PÖPPELMANN blue® steering committee, and are thus able to help set the course at an early stage.
Our sustainability management is based on the PPx principles. We use these principles to express our corporate policy. It explicitly mentions social responsibility as a corporate task. At the operational level, we align ourselves with existing management systems and the objectives and measures defined therein. The integrated management system for quality, environment, energy and occupational safety forms the basis for our sustainability programme, which we aim to develop further in coming years. In the future, we want it to include topics such as compliance, risk management and social responsibility in order to create a comprehensive approach.
The steering committee includes representatives from various areas of the company and management systems that are relevant in relation to sustainability. These include personnel, purchasing, compliance, the works council, environmental, energy and quality management, innovation, communication and marketing. The task of this steering group is to support the development and implementation of the sustainability strategy and assist the core team with further questions.
By involving the steering committee, we can ensure that sustainability management is understood and embraced as a cross-cutting issue. We also want to ensure connectivity to existing concepts and systems. This allows us to exploit existing synergies in the form of expertise, data and information in both directions. Last but not least we want to gain multipliers to transfer the topic to departments and implement it in everyday business.
However, the real work is done by the core team in terms of strategic content, communication and marketing. The team is responsible for the development of the sustainability strategy, the preparation of the sustainability strategy, the creation of the sustainability report, internal and external communication on the topic and the organisation of dialogue events.
Through this, the core team is firmly anchored in the company’s innovation management. This is the ideal interface in order to continuously check the future viability of all operational and strategic matters and promote innovative solutions that are sustainably responsible. Management is also represented in the core team, thus ensuring that the company’s executives are also directly involved in all results of the steering committee’s work. As part of the dialogue with stakeholders and the public, we want to put our work and results to the test - time and time again. The marketing and corporate communication departments are therefore also involved in the work of the core team.
After preparing this report, we started to develop a sustainability programme. It aims to be in accordance with the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will guide our business in the coming years. You can read more about this in our next report.
Our fields of action.
We have defined four fields of action for our sustainability strategy. They are mutually dependent, built on the PPx-principles and thus express our fundamental values.
Products
In the manufacture of our high-quality products, we focus on the quality of the solutions we develop together with our customers.
Employees
People lie at the heart of everything we do. Our close connection with our employees embeds our company's deep roots in the region.
Resources
Like every industrial company, we depend on resources. Our most important raw material is plastic, including as a recycled material.
Region
As one of the largest companies in the region, we see it as our duty to contribute to social prosperity and cohesion.
This is how we embrace responsibility. Every single day.
Four stories and many people give an insight into our work.
Our responsibility in figures.
Based on the GRI standards, we provide information and facts about the economic, ecological and social effects of our work. GRI stands for Global Reporting Initiative. This international, non-profit organisation is dedicated to the development and dissemination of a global framework for sustainability reporting.
26,018
Years of experience and competence
(combined length of service of all employees in December 2018)
> 60 millions
Plant pots delivered in Recycling Blue.
(September 2018 to September 2019)
An overview of our disclosure information as per the GRI standards.
Based on the GRI standards, we provide information and facts about the economic, ecological and social effects of our work.
We assume responsibility – with competence and experience.
Plastic is a material that has been enabling humanity to make ground-breaking progress for more than 100 years: in medicine and in the household, in communication and in mobility.
Our goals for the future are firmly anchored in our tradition.
Sustainable business is not an entirely new concept for us. Our sustainability management can be described as follows: we embed already existing features in a new form, supplement it with current aspects and insights and let it grow organically within our company.