CSR strategies

In recent years, automotive suppliers have been adopting a product life cycle approach, paying attention to CSR issues at all stages of their supply chain.

From an environmental point of view, the key issue is the reduction of the carbon footprint and the relatively long service life of the industry's products. The very use of a car has the greatest impact on the environment. This clearly shows that improvements are worth making, especially during the design phase (e.g. using light materials, improving fuel efficiency, inventing new energy sources).

One of the effective CSR initiatives is, for example, the implementation of management in line with the idea of a green supply chain (GSCM), which refers to the integration of environmental aspects into the entire value chain.

Therefore, being aware of the potential of sustainable business (e.g. the possibility of increasing economic, social and environmental results) many companies from the automotive sector try to implement CSR programs to integrate environmental and social aspects not only into their supply chain but also into the business strategy and directly into the organizational culture of the company.

See how we do it at Knauf Group!

The Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy is a comprehensive plan that modern companies use to design, implement and analyze their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

All CSR activities have an impact on the financial performance of companies, brand reputation, cost savings and customer loyalty, but most of all, they aim to have a positive impact on the local community, sustainable supply chains and climate change. Therefore, managing directors develop a strategic CSR plan and are required to educate employees and other stakeholders about initiatives for sustainable development and social and environmental benefits.

See how our managing directors and project teams develop a strategic CSR plan and engage and educate employees, customers and other stakeholders on initiatives for sustainable development, social and environmental benefits.

In 2021, growth was strong on most of our markets, following 2020, a year that was shaken by the health crisis. We have made considerable efforts to adapt ourselves to the uncertain and fluctuating world economic and geopolitical environment. 

New laws are being applied in many countries, and we have taken appropriate actions to remain compliant. 

As a reference supplier, Knauf Industries has set up the organisation and processes needed to meet the customers’ considerable expectations in terms of sustainable development. 

We are working on defining the best strategy for the next decade. It was also necessary to clarify our guiding vision and the mission that we want to accomplish every day for our stakeholders.

Our vision is audacious:
Reducing the weight on our planet. This is our ambition. It is based on our convictions, our driving forces, what we are and what we are doing.

Our company is developing lightweight protection and insulation products, and our commitment is to reduce their direct and indirect impact on the environment. Our mission will contribute to this through our day-to-day actions: reinventing old methods, and reinventing both ourselves and our everyday work.

As Kurt Münder, CEO of Knauf Industries said:
“We have defined an objective of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, by 2030.”

After undertaking a CSR diagnosis, we applied the principles of the United Nations Global Compact to carry our initiative through into the long term.

In 2020, despite the context of the Covid-19 pandemic which was a big challenge of corporate social responsibility for lots of industries, we did not review our CSR plans and budgets. We continued to structure our CSR approach, define our priority issues, and involve our teams and stakeholders. But this is still just the beginning of our CSR efforts. We want to anchor this strategy to give life to new ideas, to innovate, and to continue to create shared value together in our territories.

The corporate social responsibility issues and challenges that we took into account were:

• Integrating CSR strategy into our activities and businesses
• Guaranteeing health, safety and well-being at work
• Recovering materials at the end of their life
• Protecting the health and safety of consumers and local communities
• Reducing our consumption and emissions

We invite you to read how our responsibility applies to our teams, our markets, our territories, and our environment, all at the same time.

• CSR Mission
  CSR organisation and actions have been defined by the Knauf Industries Management Committee and monitored by a Steering Committee since 2019. A group of “CSR Mission” Ambassadors, comprising around thirty volunteer employees from various company departments and countries, is now fully familiar with CSR. In 2021, these Ambassadors contributed to the definition of three policies: CSR, Social and Environmental.
  Their missions are assigned depending on their skills, feelings and motivations:
  - Propose actions related to strategic challenges and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
  - Be an internal and/or external communicator for Knauf Industries’ initiatives and CSR policy.
  - Contribute to the reporting related to our commitment to the Global Compact and trade organisations.
  - Contribute to continuous improvement projects on social, ethical, environmental or responsible purchasing subjects.


• Signing the United Nations Global Compact
  Since 2019, Knauf Industries has been committed, via the United Nations Global Compact, to the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals to transform the world, collected in the 2030 Agenda.

“Our three policies, CSR, social and environmental, confirm Knauf Industries’ commitment to sustainable development and define quantified objectives for 2025.”
Gilles Istin, Sales, Marketing, innovation and CSR director, Knauf Industries

• In France, in partnership with Michelin and Pyrowave, we are planning to speed up the development of the EPS chemical recycling activity through an economically viable plant that would produce monomer styrene.
• In Brazil, at São Paulo, Knauf Isopor^® is contributing to the development of EPS recycling through collection points throughout the city, in partnership with the NGO Plastivida, the distribution chain Pão de Açúcar (Casino group) and the platform B2blue. 
• In Brazil, at Joinville in one of the biggest business parks in South America, Knauf Isopor^® is driving the Isopor^® Amigo project, the two main objectives of which are to inform and to promote EPS recycling, through collection points. The national association Abiplast is contributing to the promotion of this concept throughout the country.
• In Brazil, partnerships have also been set up with industrial companies for the collection of EPS, and our Brazilian smartphone application Reciclando Isopor^® locates the nearest collection point.
• In Spain, jointly with other companies, Knauf Industries is part of the Eco-EPS network, coordinated by the National Association for Expanded Polystyrene (ANAPE). Our plants in Villafranca Del Penedes, Zaragoza, Aoiz and Esquiroz (in the Aragon region and in Navarre) are contributing to the recycling of collected EPS.

The central buyers, located in France, Poland, and Brazil, are aware of competition law, and two of them are “Mission CSR” ambassadors. In each country, the sites are responsible for groups of additional purchases, in compliance with the principles of business ethics. To be clear with our suppliers, to make them aware of our expectations and to build mutual trust, we have implemented a “Responsible Purchasing Charter” covering environmental, social, and ethical issues.

Our suppliers are also obliged to observe a Code of Conduct. We carry out regular qualification audits, we respect payment deadlines, and we favor suppliers located in Europe for our European sites, for example.

What is more, early in 2020, Knauf Industries launched a consultation with its internal and external stakeholders. To enrich its thought process and offer stakeholders the opportunity to make their expectations, inspirations, and proposals for the future, a questionnaire was posted online, and interviews were conducted. These allowed everyone to get to know each other better and build trust, share expertise, consider synergies, identify weak signals, define the most relevant CSR issues, and build a solid action plan. The external stakeholders and employee feedback, which is very important for every CSR project, enable us to implement better sustainability initiatives and make additional value for our clients.

Because Knauf Industries is the specialist partner for custom products and solutions, co-development is often key in this collaboration. It enables us to better respond to regulatory changes and to the increasing influence of the end consumer.

Guaranteeing food safety or safe industrial products, being able to depend on a reliable partner and constant product quality, with minimum environmental impact, are the priority expectations of our customers. 

The Knauf Industries health and safety policy concerns all company activities and all persons present on all sites. All QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety and Environment) managers refer to it. The unique risk evaluation document (URED) is drawn up in consultation with the teams; it incorporates a risk evaluation and a procedure for the prevention of psycho-social risks.

Below, we describe some of the CSR activities which we develop in this sector.

• ISO 14001
  Compliance of our management system with the environmental regulatory requirements in each country.
• REDcert² and ISCC PLUS
  Compliance of our management system and our products obtained from biomass with the requirements related to renewable energy sources and the circular economy.
• ICPE classification
  Compliance of our French factories with the requirements of the French environmental code.

See more: Quality systems certification for 0 defects

That is why every Knauf Industries site creates an annual improvement plan, which also focuses on the teams, customer satisfaction, quality, and costs. Not only CSR leaders but all the participants are the drivers of the continuous improvement processes, supported by the QHSE Managers. Regular management reviews help to ensure that our management system remains relevant, adequate, and efficient.

The continuous improvement process consists of regular efforts to improve products, services, internal processes and CSR initiatives. Knauf Industries relies on a benchmark common to all divisions of the Knauf Group. It describes the behaviors that are required for the continuous improvement framework to succeed.

The collection and consolidation of data already take place on the French sites and will be gradually deployed worldwide to make competitive advantage in social and environmental challenges. The reduction of material in both weight and volume is one of our eco-design rules. Waste is shredded to the desired particle size and then reintroduced into our production stream.

From 2012 to 2019, we reduced our electricity consumption by 15% on all our sites in France. This improvement was possible thanks to many actions including modification of our facilities, the purchase of more energy-efficient equipment (compressors, refrigeration units, motors), as well as the renewal of our computer hardware, reducing the number of printers, and printing less.

Knauf Industries has made also made other successful CSR initiatives like a voluntary commitment to Operation Clean Sweep, whose aim is to prevent plastic particles from being lost in the environment or contaminating the aquatic environment. This action is deployed on all twenty Knauf Industries French sites, where they have been fully integrated into the organization; especially into their “5S” approach.

The industrial facilities, tools and methods have been adapted to contain the plastic pellets and polystyrene beads within the boundaries of the production sites. In parallel, employees and external partners have been trained and given responsibility for the prevention, cleaning, and elimination of losses during processing and transportation operations.

The Executive Committee, the Steering Committee, and the 35 Ambassadors of Knauf Industries actively participated in the strategic analysis and drafting of the CSR approach described in this Report. They were supported by external experts from Stepping Stones and Atelier Christelle Paris, who ensured observance of the CSR and reporting laws and the principles of responsible communication.