Sustainability
Sustainability is a key aspect for us. On the one hand, because the responsible use of natural resources has been a fundamental aspect of our corporate philosophy for 100 years and all our products are based on natural, renewable raw materials. On the other hand, we are aware of our entrepreneurial responsibility and want to contribute to a sustainable economy. With all our decisions we take care not to lose sight of sustainability and to continue to improve in this respect.
For us, there are two fundamental aspects: Sustainable entrepreneurial actions and sustainable raw materials.
SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTION
We support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and want to contribute to achieve them.
Our focus is put on the following SDGs:
We are member of the Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI).
We signed the Responsible Care Global Charter of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).
Our R&D department continuously works on new, innovative solutions.
We support the research work at universities by research cooperations.
We determine the carbon footprint on corporate and product level.
Our climate protection strategy is oriented towards the science-based targets.
RESPONSIBLE CARE GLOBAL CHARTER
Responsible Care is the international, voluntary initiative of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). The Responsible Care Global Charter sets out the various aspects of responsible corporate governance to which the signing companies commit. Since 2018, we are a part of this initiative for sustainable corporate governance as well.
ECOVADIS
Our activities all around sustainability are evaluated on a yearly basis by EcoVadis since 2013. This rating gives us external feedback on how well we integrated sustainability within our entrepreneurial activities. With our last rating we achieved silver status again. Therefore, we are part of the 25% of top performing companies rated by EcoVadis.
Climate Protection Strategy
With our climate protection strategy we support the goals of the Paris Agreement and the EU Green Deal. We continuously work to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and will report on this transparently.
On our way to climate neutrality we have set ambitious quantitative goals. Following the science-based targets initiative (SBTi) we want to reduce our site related carbon emissions for Scope 1 and Scope 2 by
46 %, compared to base year 2019, until 2030. Furthermore, we also plan to measure and reduce the emissions from our supply chain (scope 3). With regard to our sites we have set ourselves the goal of achieving net zero emissions at our headquarters in Bad Münstereifel by 2035 and throughout the corporate group by 2050.
We record the emissions of our sites and calculate our Corporate Carbon Footprint every year. The calculation is based on the GHG Protocol Standard and includes Scope 1, 2 and 3. The calculation has been subject to an independent external review by the Nova institute.
Besides others, we have taken the following actions to reach our set goal:
- The Reduction of the site related direct emissions (Scope 1) through continuously improvement of our energy efficiency within the scope of our ISO 50001 certified energy management.
- The switch over of our corporate vehicles to electric cars. A big share of our newly registered cars already have an electric drive. We also support this change with a corresponding charging infrastructure at the site.
- The reduction of indirect emissions from energy supply by increasing the usage of renewable energy sources. We switched our whole energy supply to green power in 2023.
- The reduction of waste through an internal waste management and simultaneously supporting a circular economy.
Besides Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions we also take a look at the emissions and general environmental impact along out supply chain that are counted to Scope 3 (upstream). We have started calculating the Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) for our products and create Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs).
As an oleochemical company we already produce with bio based raw materials and are therefore often able to offer an emission reduced alternative to fossil based products. Additionally, we push the usage of sustainably certified material which provides a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to conventional types.
By switching from conventional to certified palm (kernel) oil and its derivatives we have already saved 22,000t CO2e emissions.*
Until 2030 we want to switch 100% of the palm (kernel) based raw materials to certified options. This would lead to an additional saving of 60,000t CO2e.
Besides that, we are looking to further increase the renewable share of our products. We continuously check on bio based, recycled or CO2 based alternatives for our few, not bio based raw materials.
(*Source: Study Schmidt, De Rosa 2019)
RENEWABLE CARBON INITIATIVE
The goal of Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) is to support the switch from fossil based to renewable carbon for organic chemicals and materials. We believe that the conversion to renewable carbon is only possible through close collaboration along the whole supply chain and therefore joined RCI in 2022.
PALM OIL SOURCING POLICY
Within our Palm Oil Sourcing Policy we acknowledge our role in the palm oil industry. We support the path to full sustainability and committed to participate this journey. At the same time, this policy as well as our Code of Conduct also apply as ethical guidelines for our suppliers.
Traceability
The traceability of palm oil is gaining in importance as well. Together with our suppliers we work to improve the traceability throughout the palm oil supply chain. The goal for the future would be the ability to trace the material back to the plantation.
The recent milling list can be found in our RSPO profile: Peter Greven GmbH & Co. KG.
RSPO CERTIFIED PALM OIL
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a non-profit organisation and developed international standards for sustainable palm oil. They implemented different certification schemes in order to make the transformation along the supply chain as transparent as possible.
Peter Greven Nederland was the first metallic soap producer to receive the RSPO SCCS certificate for the production of Mass Balance (MB) certified products in 2013.
Today all sites of Peter Greven Group are RSPO certified and offer Mass Balance (MB) certified products. Peter Greven Nederland additionally provides a bunch of RSPO Segregated (SG) certified products.
FONAP
The Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil (FONAP) pursues two main objectives: On the one hand, they want to increase the use of sustainably produced palm oil by the voluntary commitment of the member companies. On the other hand, they aim to develop and optimise accepted certification schemes, such as RSPO.
Since 2017, also derivative manufacturers like us are able to participate the FONAP as a “Supporter”. We immediately seized this opportunity and are a supporter of FONAP with Peter Greven Nederland, our subsidiary for Life Science, since that time.
