Sustainable development

‘Sustainability is what we deliver’

As a raw material and energy supplier we can make a significant contribution to fighting raw material scarcity and global warming. Together with customers and other stakeholders, recycling and waste prevention can help keep natural raw materials in the environment. And, in nearly every instance, recycling leads to CO₂ reduction. Because sustainability is an integral part of our business case, the Board of Directors focuses on non-financial targets as well as the financial ones.

Many organisations and companies adopted the three Ps (People, Planet, Profit) as their guidelines for responsible sustainable development. Van Gansewinkel Groep has explicitly chosen the three Es approach (Ecology, Equity, Economy) because this approach is the closest to Cradle to Cradle philosophy. Cradle to Cradle’s positive agenda presumes opportunities and developments in line with our vision Waste no more. We are convinced that sustainability can only be successful if there is a balance between the three Es. Sustainability is what we deliver. Again last year, we invested in developing and commercialising solutions that directly address raw materials scarcity.

We encourage the responsible use of raw materials and aim to improve our own ecological footprint. But sustainability is about more than just the environment. We also contribute to the development of people, social policy and security and we take responsibility for business continuity.

This integrated financial and sustainability report sets out our vision, our ambitions, the strategy as well as our results based on the three Es.

Board of Directors

Sustainable development organisation

Sustainable development is an integral part of our business execution. The way in which we drive sustainable development evolves alongside the development of the company. Since 2008, we have been working on anchoring professionalism further within the organisation’s sustainable development.Our ambition to obtain an A+ status using G3 guidelines helped - the GRI A+ status requires increased transparency and broader reporting of key indicators, making demands on our internal reporting and audit processes which, in a sense, ‘persuaded’ us to become experts.

Within the organisation, the Chairman of the Board has overall responsibility for sustainable development and the Board defines the vision and strategy for the whole organisation. Across the decentralised organisation several initiatives are planned or in development.

The Executive Committee, consisting of group management members, advises the Board regarding Cradle to Cradle. In addition there is a Cradle to Cradle Development Team, consisting of a variety of employees from different disciplines and knowledge areas who play a facilitation role in sustainable development and Cradle to Cradle.

The shareholders support our vision and approach to sustainable development. So, KKR for example, supports the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and works together with the Environmental Defense Fund. With the ‘Green Portfolio Program’, KKR aims to improve the environmental performance of those companies in which it invests. They want to show that Economy & Ecology can go hand-in-hand and are a substantial part of the long term value development of a company. More information about the approach of the Green Portfolio Program can be found at: http://green.kkr.com/