Materiality analysis

What does materiality mean? 

Materiality is an important keyword in the field of sustainability reporting. Actually, it comes from accounting and auditing and describes the principle that the audit should pay attention to the most significant aspects with a high influence on decisive facts. In this way, a dilution of the audit by insignificant aspects is to be avoided. Transferred to the area of sustainability, the aim is to ensure that the sustainability report and the measures taken relate to the most relevant topics for the company and that the focus is not on topics with a low impact. 
 

Why should you do a materiality analysis? 

In the existing reporting standards for sustainability reporting, such as the GRI or the DNK, reporting companies should carry out a materiality analysis at the start of reporting. This defines at the outset which content is to be reported and which is to be omitted due to lack of relevance. A materiality analysis is mandatory for all of the approximately 15,000 companies affected by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). (The requirements for the materiality analysis as a basis for reporting are regulated in the "General Requirements" (ESRS 1)). 
 

How did we proceed at SPIES?  

In preparation for our sustainability report, the most important topics for the divisions were identified together with all division managers and the management. In doing so, we made sure that we proceeded according to the principle of double materiality. This means that on the one hand we look at which topics have an impact on SPIES. This is called an "outside-in" perspective or financial materiality. On the other hand, we considered with which topics we can have an impact on others or on the environment. This is the so-called "inside-out" perspective. These two perspectives are mandatory for compliance with the CSRD reporting standards.  

Once all the divisional managers had identified the key issues in their areas, a "top-down view" was taken together with the management to arrive at a holistic view of the issues. 
 

What do our results say? 

The result is our materiality matrix. This already contains only those topics that have been assigned a high to very high materiality. With the help of the matrix, it is easy to map both perspectives of double materiality and recognize which areas are the most relevant for SPIES.  

Topics such as circular economy and safeguarding the future have very high priorities for us. Securing the future is the essential thing for a company to be able to have a sustainable effect and to plan long-term projects. Circular economy is also an enormously important topic for us as a company in the plastics industry, since our products have a sustainable life cycle and are fully recycled at the end of their use phase. To this end, we ensure that our products have good recyclability through mono-materials and continue to be involved in initiatives such as HolyGrail 2.0, which promotes better recycling infrastructure. 

For all areas mentioned in the materiality matrix, there are concrete measures or plans in place to enable us to further develop in these important topics. 

Know more about our materiality matrix here.