HeidelbergCement renew commitment to sustainability
Company’s Sustainability Commitments 2030 focus on six key priorities along the entire value chain
HeidelbergCement have renewed their commitment to sustainability, stating that their goal is to grow in harmony with the environment and society.
Speaking at the launch of the company’s Sustainability Commitments 2030, Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the HeidelbergCement managing board, said: ‘The Sustainability Commitments 2030 challenge us to find new solutions and think differently to make our business even more sustainable. That is what we need to ensure our corporate success over the long term.’
In renewing their commitment to corporate social and environmental responsibility, HeidelbergCement are setting ambitious targets that the company intends to achieve by 2030.
The Sustainability Commitments 2030 replace the existing Sustainability Ambitions 2020, and at the same time expand the objectives of the company’s sustainability strategy.
For example, CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 30% compared with 1990 levels, and 80% of the research and development budget is to be used for the development of sustainable products as a way to continuously promote innovation.
Occupational health and safety are also central to the new sustainability strategy, with the goal of reducing the number of lost-time accidents to zero.
To ensure that the company continues to grow sustainably, HeidelbergCement will focus on six key areas of action along the entire value chain:
1. Driving economic strength and innovation
‘We will ensure sustainable profitability through the effective management of all processes and resources and the continuing innovation of products and services’.
2. Achieving excellence in occupational health and safety
‘We are committed to continuously enhancing the occupational health and safety conditions of our employees, contractors, and third parties’.
3. Reducing the company’s environmental footprint
‘We are committed to fulfilling our share of the global responsibility to keep temperature rise below 2°C, and we will continue to reduce our impacts on air, land and water’.
4. Enabling the circular economy
‘We will conserve our natural reserves by continuously increasing the use of alternative resources as substitutes for natural raw materials’.
5. Being a good neighbour
‘We are committed to supporting the social and economic development of our neighbouring communities, and ensuing transparent communication to all our stakeholders’.
6. Ensuring compliance and creating transparency
‘We will adhere to international human rights, anti-corruption and labour standards, and co-operate proactively in an open and transparent manner with all our stakeholders’.
‘The development of the Sustainability Commitments 2030 was supported by representatives of all business lines and Group areas. This joint effort has already created a broad understanding of what we want to achieve as a company,’ continued Dr Scheifele.
‘From now on, the Sustainability Commitments 2030 will be implemented worldwide throughout the whole Group. They must become present in the minds and the daily activities of our employees, and thus reflected in our business processes.’
