• Platinum EcoVadis medal confirms KHS’ outstanding achievements in sustainability
• KHS customers and partners now have a reliable basis for assessing the company’s ESG commitment
• KHS plans to further develop its ESG reporting for the upcoming rating

For the first time in its company history, KHS GmbH has been awarded a platinum medal by EcoVadis. The rating platform thus certifies the system provider’s excellent achievements with respect to sustainability and the progress it has made in this field. Compared to the previous year, KHS has improved further and now received 86 out of 100 possible points.

The Dortmund turnkey supplier is thus among the top 1 % of the companies rated by EcoVadis – with this figure currently at over 150,000. Depending on the size of the company and the branch of industry, the rating includes up to 21 different sustainability criteria. These are based on various ESG topics and split into the categories of environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

Last year, KHS scored 75 points and won a gold EcoVadis medal; this time around, the engineering company upped its rating by eleven points. One reason for this was the company’s extended guideline and certification management program that considerably helped to better KHS’ achievements in the ethics and labor and human rights categories in particular.

Moreover, as in previous years KHS was able to further improve in the sustainable procurement section and more or less keep its magnificent performance to date in the environment sector at the previous year’s level. What’s particularly pleasing is the recognition given to KHS’ reporting across all four topics that has been steadily further developed over the years.

Reliable basis for assessment of ESG commitment for customers
“We’ve met the strict requirements of EcoVadis and had our sustainability achievements rated since 2012. Our platinum medal sends both an important message to our customers and acts as confirmation for the KHS Group that we’re taking our responsibility to sustainable business seriously and are on the right track here,” says Kai Acker, CEO of KHS GmbH.

Regarding climate protection, the Executive Management Board is consistently guiding the engineering company towards net zero by 2050 at the latest. For several years now, EcoVadis has also enabled a company’s carbon management system to be independently assessed using what’s known as the carbon scorecard. This is not yet part of the overall rating; however, KHS has already actively incorporated it into its own carbon management setup. “In this way, we can gage the effectiveness of our climate strategy and the operational measures derived from it, plus of those throughout our value chain,” Acker explains. KHS thus again significantly improved this year and achieved the highest rating of “leader”. This provides proof of its outstanding management of the decarbonization of its business activities.

KHS relies on the CSRD in its reporting
KHS also scored points for its voluntary sustainability reporting. In the current report, for the first time the company has also accounted for a number of requirements specified by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This applies uniform rules to the disclosure of sustainability data to ensure transparency and comparability between different companies and their sustainability achievements.

As a subsidiary of Salzgitter AG, KHS is included in the consolidated Group management report. KHS is active in a completely different market environment, however, and for many years has therefore disclosed its own sustainability achievements and progress in a voluntary report. “With this, we want to provide our stakeholders with a detailed insight into our system of sustainability management, “ says Nicole Pohl, senior ESG manager at KHS.

Since the publication of its first voluntary sustainability report for 2013/2014, KHS has made reference to the reporting standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). To progressively adjust these to the criteria of the CSRD, in the current edition KHS has effected a first extensive comparison of GRI reporting standards with the ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) listed by the CSRD. The aim in the next few years is to gradually bring the voluntary KHS report into line with requirements for obligatory reports governed by the CSRD. “In doing so, we’ll be heading for a successful rating in the future, too, and can further strengthen our position,” states Pohl.

Sponsored Post – VOG Products attaches the utmost importance to sustainability, quality and product safety along the entire supply and production chain. This is also evidenced by the EcoVadis silver medal and SGF membership.

The sustainable and careful use of resources runs through the entire production process at VOG Products – from field to processing, particularly since the South Tyrol fruit processing company is closely linked through its members to regional farming, which is based on a long tradition of growing fruit.

“We know where the raw materials come from and which production steps they have gone through. This traceability to the source and comprehensive quality controls along the entire production line are key prerequisites for creating safe, sustainable, high-quality products”, Christoph Tappeiner, CEO of VOG Products, emphasises.

VOG Products belongs to three producers’ organisations from South Tyrol and Trentino, plus 18 cooperatives from South Tyrol. The membership comprises around 6,000 small, family-run operations: fruit-growers who tend their orchards with passion and devotion.

The entire supply chain is involved

Sustainability is firmly embedded in VOG Products’ strategy and is actively implemented throughout the production process. This was also recently confirmed by EcoVadis, the world’s most reliable provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains, which rewarded the efforts of VOG Products with a silver medal. The silver status means that VOG Products is among the top 25 per cent of all companies rated. The EcoVadis rating looks at environmental aspects, as well as employment and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

Criteria that also play an essential role for VOG Products as an SGF-certified member. “SGF” stands for the fruit juice industry’s “Sure – Global – Fair” industrial self-regulation, which has established in this a voluntary control system (VCS) for all the production and trading stages of its products. In other words, the quality, safety, authenticity and sustainability of juices, fruit nectars, and other products made from fruit are controlled on the global market and action is taken against food fraud. This is how SGF guarantees fair competition and compliance with legal and industrial quality and safety standards.

The control system includes factory inspections as well as checks on semi-finished and finished products throughout the entire supply chain. Specifically, this means that the suppliers are also included. They are subject to checks on hygiene, traceability and documentation, for instance, and they adopt the Code of Conduct, which regulates environmental and social aspects.

VOG Products are represented on the SGF Executive Committee by their CEO, Christoph Tappeiner.

Sponsored Post – Sustainability is firmly embedded in the strategy of VOG Products. The prestigious EcoVadis award, the world’s most reliable provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains, has confirmed the company’s active effort in the entire production process, rewarding it with a silver medal a few weeks ago.

“We are proud and happy to have received this honour, which is an important signal to our customers and consumers: we offer safe, sustainable and high-quality products,” said Christoph Tappeiner, the CEO of VOG Products. The silver status means that VOG Products is among the top 25 per cent of all companies rated. The EcoVadis rating looks at environmental aspects, as well as employment and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

Two years ago, VOG Products passed the «GLOBAL G.A.P. Farm Sustainability Assessment» with the FSA Gold label and since then, has systematically taken next steps. For example, it invested in the continuous development of its own photovoltaic system and now obtains 100 per cent of its power from renewable energy. “We calculated our corporate carbon footprint and verify it every year. By doing so, we can systematically implement measures to increase energy efficiency and further lower our CO₂ emissions,” said CEO Tappeiner.

From the field to processing: saving water at all levels

Water is a special focus of VOG Products: with the “Cooling water optimisation” project, the company saved as much water in 2022 as 15,000 people consume in one year – by using the same water twice as cooling water and as transport water.

Water is not only saved on the company grounds in Laives, but also along the VOG Products supply chain: infact, the Laimburg Research Centre collaborated with the Alto Adige Consultancy Centre to develop “Smart Land”, a system that uses high-quality sensor technology to measure soil moisture in the field and connect it to current weather and temperature data. The data are then transmitted via app in real time to farmers, who use it for the needs-orientated watering of the fruit orchards. With “Smart Land”, water savings of up to 50 per cent can be achieved.

Elopak, a leading global supplier of carton packaging and filling equipment, has been awarded a platinum rating for its sustainability performance by EcoVadis, the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. This achievement places Elopak in the top 1 % of companies evaluated across all industries.  

EcoVadis is a trusted sustainability ratings provider, with a global network of more than 75,000 rated companies. They assess sustainability performance; how well a company has integrated the principles of CSR into their business and management system. The methodology covers 21 criteria across four themes of environment, labour & human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. It is built on international sustainability standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000.

Carbon neutral since 2016, Elopak was one of the first companies to sign up to the Science Based Targets initiative to keep global average temperature rise below 1.5 °C in 2019. In line with this commitment, Elopak has pledged a 55 % reduction in internal GHG emissions by 2030 and a 16 % reduction in emissions across the value chain by 2030 from a 2017 baseline. In 2021, Elopak joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact as a participant in recognition of its commitment to advancing sustainability and working collaboratively in pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The global packaging producer, Ecolean has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal Recognition 2020 for its sustainability work. The certificate is awarded by the independent and trusted provider of sustainability ratings, EcoVadis. In the overall rankings, Ecolean is placed in the top 5 percent of a total of 60,000 companies assessed from 155 countries.

Ecolean’s high score is based on the company’s strategic work with clear objectives within significant areas of sustainability such as environment, including renewable energy and climate impact and social aspects – as well as via monitoring and transparent reporting of sustainability data of its lightweight packages and filling machines. For Ecolean, this is the first year the company participates in the ratings by EcoVadis.

EcoVadis is an independent provider of business sustainability ratings, which evaluates companies’ sustainability work in global supply chains annually. The assessment focuses on four key areas: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. EcoVadis uses international standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the UN Global Compact.

About Ecolean
Ecolean develops and manufactures innovative packaging systems for the dairy and liquid food industry. Ecolean’s modern lightweight packaging is consumer convenience and environmental concern in one. Ecolean is a global company with its headquarters in Sweden. Established in 1996, the company has commercial activities in over 30 countries, with China, Pakistan and Russia being its largest markets. Ecolean has 450 employees.