Thousands of climate protesters around the world are calling for it: sustainability. “On the street”, this is understood to mean a paradigm shift in the management of natural resources and compliance at a minimum, or even toughening, of the climate objectives. For companies, sustainability includes people as well as the environment and the entire supply chain. 

Gold medal for corporate social responsibility 

The highest accolade from the independent inspection company Eco Vadis demonstrates that WEKA AG is making good progress with its sustainability strategy: WEKA AG has repeatedly received the gold medal and, with 67 points for its corporate social responsibility (CSR), reached the highest category.

Sustainable human resources policy: skilled employees in the future 

With six apprentices, the equivalent of one tenth of its workforce, Weka is committed to training: so that skilled employees will continue to be available on the labour market in the future. Training courses are a high priority and are supported by the company.

Sustainable procurement

Social, ethical and ecological criteria play an important role in procurement. The Weka code of conduct requires suppliers to observe human rights, the ban on child labour, fair remuneration and compliance with ecological principles, among other things. The key suppliers were also evaluated by Weka in 2019; all principal suppliers signed the code of conduct at the end of 2019. 72 percent of all of Weka’s suppliers are Swiss companies. Weka carried out separate surveys for products which are produced in countries which do not have the best reputation for ecology and social standards.

Environmental/climate protection: reducing greenhouse gases

Customers, investors and legislators have increased awareness of ecological sustainability. An optimal mix of energy efficiency and renewables becomes a critical factor for breaking the cost spiral or for gaining new competitive advantages. Weka concentrates on measures for reducing greenhouse gas. It predominantly uses electricity from hydropower, energy from the in-house wood chip heating, from solar panels and fuel. Power consumption fell by 3.2 percent in the reporting year, wood chip consumption fell by 0.8 percent. The solar panels provided the same amount of energy as the previous year.

The measures mentioned above increased energy efficiency by 4.5 percent in 2019. Measures for the reduction of the energy requirements for products and services, through the use of thin-walled and durable products or optimised packaging for example, also contributed to this.

With its sustainability management system, Weka strives to create a successful future for the generations to come, both in environmental protection and with regard to customer benefit.