Schüco publishes third sustainability report

With energy-efficient components that are adapted to climatic changes, the building sector can go a long way to helping ensure that climate protection targets are achieved worldwide. Schüco, a leading supplier of windows, doors and façade solutions, is continuously working to make its product portfolio and indeed its entire business more sustainable. The systems provider has recently published its third comprehensive report outlining its commitment to sustainability. 

The Schüco sustainability report 2019/20 has been produced in accordance with the internal guidelines established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), “core” option. This ensures the continuous, standardised and transparent reporting of its economic, ecological and social business activities. The data reported provides the basis for the company to identify key levers for change and measure its successes. The report also highlights potential challenges of the transformation towards greater sustainability and the solutions that the company has found in this area. 

Comprehensive sustainability strategy

Sustainability is the global challenge of our time. That’s why we want to actively take responsibility – for example, by using our products and services to contribute to the achievement of global climate protection goals and to protect resources – says Andreas Engelhardt, Managing Partner of Schüco International KG. – As a successful business enterprise, we have a duty to drive forward change and to be measured by our development of pioneering products and concepts.

In order to integrate sustainability across the whole company, in 2020 the Bielefeld-based business developed a target system, which takes into account the requirements of a wide range of sustainability indices. This has allowed the company to add the field of business development to its existing action areas of environment, products, supply chain, employees and company, as well as to back up all action options with quality and quantity indicators. The target system has also allowed Schüco to define focus projects for each of the action areas, which reflect the respective sustainability focus of the company. 

Ambitious climate protection goals 

One of the central focuses of the comprehensive Schüco sustainability strategy is climate protection. Together with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), the company has come up with a set of ambitious goals for reducing CO2 emissions that, in line with the Paris Agreement, aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. As part of its ‘Emission Zero’ focus project, Schüco has a specific goal to achieve climate neutrality throughout its entire value chain by 2040. By 2025, the company therefore aims to reduce its absolute CO2 emissions by 30 percent compared to the reference year 2018. 

The report shows that this will require quite a turnaround, as the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by Schüco worldwide, across all scopes, increased by around 5 percent in 2019. This development was primarily the result of the expansion of transport logistics due to company growth, as well as an increase in business travel due to a rise in the number of employees. The company still faces a major challenge in terms of breaking the link between company growth and CO2 emissions. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, global CO2 emissions at Schüco across all scopes fell by around 6 percent in 2020. 

Developing circular systems 

Another key issue is the responsible use of resources, which Schüco is promoting as part of its ‘Go circular’ focus project. The company is a pioneer in the construction industry when it comes to developing Cradle to Cradle (C2C) products. The contents of these products are free from pollutants and can therefore be stripped back down to their raw materials after their useful life, meaning they can then be turned into a new product. Schüco currently has a total of 55 C2C-certified aluminium systems in its portfolio. As a manufacturer of aluminium and PVC profiles, Schüco is also conscious of the ecological and social challenges that exist within the supply chain, and takes active measures to address such challenges. 

As well as the necessary reduction of greenhouse gases, Schüco is also committed to ensuring the protection of human rights and the environment along the entire supply chain. It is for this reason that the company has worked with WWF to draw up a Supplier Code of Conduct, based on established, internationally recognised standards such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This aims to encourage suppliers to adhere to specific ecological, legal, social and ethical requirements and has already been signed by the company’s most important German suppliers. 

The full 2019/20 sustainability report is available to download from www.schueco.de/sustainability.