Stone-Ideas.com 
The aim is to present the company’s environmental and social policy
Sustainability reports are an issue that will also affect small and medium-sized companies in the stone sector. Not that they themselves have to compile such inventories of their business activities with regard to environmental impact or treatment of employees. But anyone who acts as a supplier to large construction companies, for example, will soon have to send them such information along with their stone deliveries.
The reason for our reporting is that the group of companies in the EU with such a reporting obligation will be extended from 2026. The legal basis for this is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Put simply, however, it only affects the really big companies. According to estimates, there are a maximum of 50,000 companies across all sectors in the EU.
However, because indirect repercussions are also to be expected for small and medium-sized companies, we are addressing the topic here.
This is because large companies will demand sustainability information from their suppliers. Experts talk it the trickle-down effect.
And: Financial companies will also need such reports from borrowers when granting loans.
The best way to get an idea is to browse through the kind of reports that are already available from large companies (see links below).
In the case of listed companies, the reports usually include:
* A mission statement from the executive level with a view to environmental and social issues;
* in-depth descriptions of, for example, CO2 emissions in business operations, resource management (water, waste management, raw materials), biodiversity on the company premises;
* comments on the working conditions of employees or the proportion of women and disabled people in the workforce;
* Commitment of the company to the location;
Statements on human rights in the workplace are expected above all from suppliers to North America and Europe.
As you can see: It’s about the entire supply chain. As far as possible, the statements should be backed up with figures. These can be found in the Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for the respective bricks.
It is particularly important for the sustainability report to provide an outlook on targets for the coming years and how to achieve them.
What to do?
Most of the information can easily be found in day-to-day operations by checking all processes for their ecological or social significance: Every new machine that is purchased these days has an energy-saving effect…
These observations can be recorded in keywords. This creates a collection of data that can be used to create a report if required.
A company can then adorn itself with such a self-portrayal of its own environmental and social standards.
The background to the sustainability reports and now the expansion to more companies is the EU’s “Green Deal.” Its aim is to make the economy climate-neutral by 2050 and at the same time keep it competitive.
We already described the implementation strategy in our report on the “taxonomy”: Only the top level of the economy, i.e. the large companies, are given legal requirements that they have to fulfill. However, they should provide impetus to suppliers at home and abroad.
Franchi Umberto Marmi, Italien, listed
Cosentino, Spain, Engineered Stone in particular
Polycor, natural stone, Canada: has reports on individual aspects, such as modern slavery, at the bottom of its website: Sustainable Minds Transparency Catalog
Franken-Schotter (German)
See also:
(16.09.2024, 09.16.2024)