Wieland on its way to carbon neutrality

 

• Publication of the third Sustainability Report
• Focus remains on decarbonization
• Increasing use of green energy
• Consistent recycling strategy 

With the third edition of its Sustainability Report, the Wieland Group underlines that its ambitious sustainability goals have not only been achieved, but expanded further. In particular, recycling centers, sustainable products and the electrification of production processes contribute to the decarbonization of the Group and its products.

In fiscal year 2021/22, the Wieland Group succeeded in consistently executing on its sustainability strategy. The results of cross-industry ratings such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and EcoVadis confirm Wieland's commitment to environmental, social and corporate governance issues. The company will not rest on these achievements. "By 2030, we will have reduced our emissions by more than 46 percent. The fact that these reduction targets are in line with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement has been validated by the independent Science Based Targets initiative. This is ambitious, but feasible given clear sustainability management," said Dr. Erwin Mayr, CEO of the Wieland Group.

Reduction of greenhouse gases
In order to continuously reduce its own environmental impact, Wieland continues to invest in activities that drive the expansion of the circular economy. In the year under review, Wieland was able to increase the average recycled content in its product portfolio to 75.6 percent – in some cases, and depending on the material, recycled content of over 90 percent is already possible. By 2030, this should apply to all products of the Wieland Group. Another key aspect of decarbonization is effective energy management and the use of green energy – increasingly from the company's own production. To this end, the Wieland Group is continuously expanding its own power generation based on renewable energies. A solar park is currently being planned near the company's headquarters in Ulm, which is expected to generate a yield of 26 gigawatt hours per year from 2024. This will reduce CO₂ emissions by around 18,000 tons per year.

Eco-friendly products 
Our ambitions in the areas of decarbonization and circular economy are also reflected in our product portfolio.  In the year under review, a concept was developed that includes not only the assessment of CO₂ emissions, but also the proportion of secondary raw materials used, recyclability and the longevity of a product. In this context, the Wieland Group is working on reporting emissions at product level in the future. For this purpose, Wieland uses a methodology based on the cradle-to-gate approach. Based on this approach, the product-specific carbon footprint has already been verified by TÜV Nord Cert. Another goal is also to reduce the use of toxic and critical materials as well as conflict minerals in the long term.

Responsible management and social responsibility 
In addition to climate protection, social responsibility also plays an important role in the Wieland Group's sustainability strategy. In the area of occupational safety and health protection, the rate of days lost due to accidents at work was reduced by 40 percent in the last fiscal year. "This was possible due to consistent safety training as well as a portal for employees that allows them to record accidents and report any safety gaps across all sites," noted Dr. Mayr. The company also promotes diversity and inclusion and has increased the proportion of women in management from 14 to 16 percent. Responsible procurement is an additional focus field key to achieving the goals. To this end, Wieland has introduced a global Business Partner Screening Tool for all major suppliers. "We have defined sustainability requirements for our own business, according to which we assess environmental impact and social consequences. We apply these requirements to our suppliers as well," explained Dr. Mayr. The Wieland Supplier Code therefore includes minimum requirements for compliance with internationally applicable human rights as well as environmental standards.

 

Read the full Sustainability Report.

 

[PDF]
[Image] Creating value for generations – Wieland publishes third edition of Sustainability Report.

 

Get in touch

Wieland Group
Dr. Wolfgang Albeck | Director Corporate Communications
Graf-Arco-Straße 36 | 89079 Ulm | Germany 
P +49 152 59719639  | press@wieland.com