Passing the baton

I would like to use this last blog post of mine to take a look back at the last 2 years of sustainability at SPIES.

When I joined SPIES as Sustainability Manager two years ago, the foundations were already in place and SPIES was already in the midst of transforming itself into a sustainable company. We built on this and achieved many other milestones.

Two further sustainability reports were written in accordance with the DNK standard and our method of data collection, target setting and achievement were scrutinized and improved. We have also been assessed again by EcoVadis and have risen from bronze to silver status. EcoVadis challenges us again and again and motivates us to establish new processes and optimize our structures. We are getting ever closer to our goal of achieving the gold medal.

An important operational project has been launched: Zero pellet loss. An interdisciplinary team is working together on measures to prevent the loss of granulate into the environment and in general. There have already been great successes here, but there are still many ideas for further improvement.

In the social sustainability pillar, we have drawn up a new code of conduct, among other things - our SPIESers Code. This sets out the correct behavior for SPIESers and is clearly formulated with the help of examples and in the most important languages.

In the area of climate, we are professionalizing our calculation of the carbon footprint with external advice and are now including all scopes and formulating climate targets and a strategy to achieve them. The targets are being formulated in line with the requirements of the Science Based Targets Initiative so that we can submit them there in 2024.

Other departments have also gone full throttle in the direction of sustainability. For example, the Products & Innovations team has expanded the SPIES portfolio to include reusable products and has been able to achieve considerable material savings. In the area of energy management, great successes were once again achieved in increasing efficiency and saving energy, and major steps were taken in renewable energy projects.

That looks like a lot, but it is by no means everything. SPIES has made great progress in the area of sustainability in recent years and many SPIES employees from almost all departments are responsible for this.

Now it's time for me to discover new professional perspectives and pass on the baton. Carolin Buddenkotte will continue to run this blog from now on until the position of Sustainability Manager is filled again.

I personally learned a lot, made many valuable contacts and had inspiring conversations. Thank you to all my dear colleagues and business partners who have accompanied me along the way.