Together for a sustainable future

We have been a pioneer in our field for more than 200 years and will continue to play a leading role in our industry. This applies also applies to sustainability: We are in the middle of a transformation that affects the entire economy and places high demands on us. For this reason, we have made sustainability a central part of our core business.

We are convinced that our actions today shape the world of tomorrow. We are not only ambitious with regard to our immediate business goals, but also measure ourselves against the expectations of future generations. That is why our sustainability strategy sets ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets.

Creating value for generations

Our sustainability strategy

With our sustainability strategy, we aim to make progress in the areas of environmental, social and governance performance. It forms the basis for our actions and helps us to embed sustainability in our processes in order to combine securing and strengthening our core business and pursuing growth options with sustainable action. 

We focus on six strategic fields:

• Decarbonization
• Circular economy
• Eco-friendly products
• Safety  & Health
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Sustainable procurement

Within the framework of our sustainability program, we have set ourselves ambitious medium-term goals for all areas of action up to 2030 and introduced corresponding measures.

Our sustainability goals for 2030

Our Sustainability Management

The Executive Board of the Wieland Group is responsible for the sustainability strategy. The Executive Board and the Supervisory board are regularly informed by the Senior Vice President Sustainability & Technology. The Corporate Function Sustainability & Technology brings together the areas of sustainability management, occupational safety and health, environmental and energy management, innovation and technology management, research and development, global engineering and association work. The Sustainability department within the Corporate Function Sustainability & Technology develops the global sustainability strategy and manages ESG performance. Together with the other corporate functions and the business units, the Sustainability department defines goals and key performance indicators and provides company-wide support for the implementation of sustainability measures.

Reporting, Ratings and Rankings

Our sustainability efforts are an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement and comprehensive reporting. Since 2020, we have published our annual Sustainability Report on a voluntary basis and in accordance with applicable international reporting standards. Through our membership in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Network Germany e.V., we also regularly publish our CoPs (Communications on Progress) along the ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

The Wieland Group's sustainability performance is measured by rating and ranking agencies such as EcoVadis and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). In the 2023/24 fiscal year we were awarded a silver medal by EcoVadis. CDP again awarded a B score for our fourth participation, recognizing our active management of environmental and climate impacts. These performance ratings help us measure our ESG activities and provide a benchmark against other companies in our sector and beyond.

Taking responsibility for the environment

Protecting the environment is a high priority for us: we place great emphasis on an environmentally friendly production. We try to avoid risks such as water, air and soil pollution, as well as risks to the health of employees and local residents. We also handle waste and contaminated sites responsibly. Our environmental management system helps us, to further expand our commitment to environmental protection. The Executive Committee, in collaboration with the Corporate Function Sustainability & Technology, is responsible for Group-wide environmental management.

Decarbonization

Climate protection is an important part of Wieland's sustainability strategy. By 2030, we aim to reduce our emissions by 46.2 % in Scope 1 & 2 and Scope 3. We want to achieve "net zero emissions" in our business operations by 2045. From this point on, all activities within our value chain should have no negative impact on the climate.

In early 2021, we joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to align our mid- and long-term reduction targets with a scientific approach. Both our 2030 targets and our longer-term net zero goal have been validated and confirmed by the SBTi.

Our climate targets

CO₂ emissions

Our current Group-wide carbon footprint in fiscal year 2023/24 is approximately 1.3 million metric tons of CO₂, a reduction of 25.2 % compared to the previous year.

In nearly all of our activities, investments and innovations, we are focusing on three key actions to achieve our net-zero goal: increasing the amount of recycled content in our products to 100 %, fully electrifying our manufacturing facilities and fully transitioning to renewable energy.

In the context of reducing our Scope 1 emissions through the systematic electrification of our facilities, energy efficiency improvements, the generation of our own electricity and the conclusion of further long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for electricity from renewable sources play a key role. Our recycling activities and strategic procurement of scrap are our biggest levers for reducing Scope 3 emissions. 

We aim to reduce the proportion of primary metals with high emission values. In the long term, we strive to 100 % recycled content in our products; by 2030, our products should contain an average of more than 90 % recycled content. We are also increasing supply chain transparency to work towards reducing Scope 3 emissions. In this context, we will increase our purchasing volume from certified or audited strategic suppliers of prime metal and shapes to 100 % by 2030.

Our renewable energy efforts

In October 2024, Wieland commissioned one of the largest solar parks in Erbach (Southern Germany). The solar park is expected to generate 29 GWh per year. This corresponds to around 8 percent of Wieland-Werke AG's energy requirements. The 24-hectare site will reduce CO₂ emissions by around 18,000 tons per year. We also rely on photovoltaic (PV) systems on our own roofs and on larger PV projects in the surrounding area. Starting in 2025, a solar park in Nauen, Brandenburg (Germany), will provide the metal processing with fossil-free, renewable energy under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Vattenfall. The photovoltaic project has a capacity of 45 MW. This will enable us to cover around 10 percent of our energy requirements in Germany with renewable energies. In the medium term, the expansion of our own generation will focus on our North American sites. In both North America and Europe, we will also focus on expanding wind power. 

Circular economy

Closing material loops is not only a key lever for reducing our environmental impact, but it has also always been a core element of our own business development. As part of our decarbonization roadmap and recycling strategy, we have set the goal to increase the recycled content in our products to over 90 % by 2030. To achieve this, we are increasingly focusing on the use of materials with high recycled content and the processing and recycling of copper scrap. By closing material loops in our own value chain, we also enable our customers to integrate elements of the circular economy into their respective business activities. Through Wieland Recycling in Granite City, Illinois (USA), we carry out extensive activities to separate, process, recycle or dispose of consumer waste.

We are building two new recycling centers to further develop our business model and ensure a sustainable supply of raw materials. The new recycling center in Shelbyville, Kentucky (USA) is scheduled to start operations in fiscal year 2024/25. The recycling center for copper-bearing scrap at the production site in Vöhringen (Germany) is scheduled to start operations in early 2026. By focusing on increased recycling and closing material loops through measures such as these, we are making a significant contribution to promoting the circular economy.

In fiscal year 2022/23, we developed a calculation methodology for our recycled content and made it publicly available in the White Paper on Recycled Content. Within the calculation methodology, we use a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches to calculate recycled content. Within the calculation method, we follow a two-step approach, which ist based on the method of the EN 45557 standard and enables a more realistic determination of recyclate values. In order to achieve industry-wide comparability of recycled content values, we are also striving to standardize the calculation based on our methodology explained in the White Paper.

Eco-friendly products

We are continuously working on developing more eco-friendly products in order to reduce negative environmental impacts. To this end, we make targeted investments in research and development. As a result, we are already increasingly able to eliminate alloying elements that are harmful to health and the environment and increase the proportion of certified input materials.

CO₂ emissions of our products

To permanently reduce the environmental impact of our products, we are working intensively on calculating the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF). In fiscal year 2023/24, we completed the development of a hybrid PCF calculation method based on DIN EN ISO 14067 and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and have already applied it to various Wieland Group plants. The PCF values include the emissions of all three scopes within the cradle-to-gate system boundaries and take into account the specific production processes of each individual plant.

The method was verified by the independent certification body TÜV Nord Cert GmbH in fiscal year 2023/24, making us currently the only company in our industry that can provide PCF values based on a verified calculation method. The expansion of this calculation method to other Wieland Group sites worldwide will be continued on an ongoing basis, thereby extending the availability of PCF values to more than 15,000 products. In the coming fiscal year, we plan to further develop the PCF calculation method to include customer-specific input materials.

Toward a lead-free future

People & Culture

At Wieland, we focus on our employees and their development, safety and diversity. In our Group-wide human resources strategy, we describe how we create an inclusive and safe working environment through training and fair participation in success. This includes actively promoting diversity and equality in our workforce.

Safety & Health

Our global safety strategy

Nothing is more important to us than the safety and health of our employees. We provide a work environment that meets and significantly exceeds relevant occupational health and safety standards. Our goal is to reduce accidents, injuries and illnesses to an absolute minimum. The core message of our global safety strategy is: "Everyone goes home safe every day”. Since its introduction in 2024, regular training sessions, workshops and dialogues have been held with employees and managers. As part of the global safety strategy, we have also developed a set of Group-wide safety rules, known as the "Golden Rules," which are binding on all employees and are designed to prevent serious accidents.

Our occupational health and safety management system ensures that the well-being of all employees, temporary workers and external service providers is continuously improved. It is supported by strong pillars that emphasize safety priorities: safety standards, the Golden Rules, corporate governance, leadership and employee engagement. This is summarized in our global safety strategy as the House of Safety. 

LTI rate reduction

Our long-term goal is to reduce the lost time incidents rate (LTI rate) by 90% by 2030 compared to FY 2019/20. In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the LTI-rate was 1.0, which corresponds to a reduction of 62 % compared to the base year 2019/20.

Diversity & Inclusion

Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging has a positive impact on talent diversity, our competitiveness and our business success. Therefore, all business units, managers and employees at Wieland are called upon to make Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging a tangible part of their daily work and work environment. A work culture of openness and humanity creates a stronger community and enriches everyone. 

Our goal is to increase the proportion of women in leadership roles to 20 % by 2030. The proportion of female managers across the Group remained at 15 percent in the year under review. We are stepping up our efforts to promote positive development. In addition, we have implemented tools to promote the development of employees at Wieland and to actively involve them in the development of their careers. 

Employees in the Corporate Fuction Human Resources take part in special training courses that enable them to recognize, reflect on and reduce the unconscious bias. Actively adressing unconscious bias has also been integrated into the talent selection and management process. The managers involved are sensitized through training and structured self-reflection.

Civil engagement

As a company with a long tradition and global operations, we have long supported various donation and sponsorship projects in the regions in which we operate around the world. With our social commitment, we live up to our own standards of good and responsible corporate governance. In doing so, we focus on four key areas: Education & Science, Social Affairs, Health & Sport, and Arts & Culture.

Based on the Code of Conduct and the internal Donation and Sponsorship Guidelines, we support charitable and non-commercial organizations in accordance with our company-wide sponsorship principles. Preference is given to supporting projects and organizations that are active in our location regions, provide long-term, tangible assistance and reach a larger group of people, such as teams. In particular, we want to support organizations in which our employees are involved or can participate.

Responsible corporate governance

Ensuring sustainable procurement processes

Wieland has defined sustainability requirements for its own business area, according to which environmental impacts and possible social consequences are assessed. The same requirements also apply to our suppliers. Based on clearly defined processes and in close cooperation with our suppliers, we implement our due diligence obligations and share responsibility with our suppliers to comply with applicable laws and recognized standards and to promote more sustainable and fairer supply chains. Binding guidelines such as our Supplier Code of Conduct and our Sustainable Procurement Policy published at the beginning of 2024 contribute to Wieland's sustainability goals, as does our global Business Partner Screening Tool for all existing and new suppliers.

Our Supplier Code of Conduct documents the sustainability standards for our value chain. It includes minimum requirements for compliance with internationally defined human rights, based on the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related UN documents. It also formulates expectations with regard to climate and environmental protection. Based on the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains (LkSG), we audit our suppliers on a regular and ad-hoc basis.

Initiatives and memberships

Your contacts for sustainability at Wieland

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