Trainees pave the way for a sustainable KAMAX
At the beginning of this year, the first sustainability report of the KAMAX Group was published. It was a first small greenfield milestone in which had already been announced that there would be a full sustainability strategy. The route to this is now set, and the current group of trainees has already taken the first steps on this path.
So far, sustainability has not been at the top of the agenda at KAMAX, but this does not mean that the individual locations have not taken any initiatives. On the contrary, there have been and still are numerous measures at almost all plants that go beyond legal requirements. For example, the new plant, that is being built in Jintan (China), is specifically designed to save carbon dioxide and use regenerative energies. In April, the country’s head of state announced that China aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2060. But our customers are planning to do so much sooner. Major car manufacturers like Daimler are already calling for climate neutrality by 2038 – and they will most likely expect their suppliers to do the same. It is therefore time for us to take significantly more initiative than the laws of the respective countries require. This is now to be implemented in a 3-phase project.
Phase 1 (COMPLETED)
In the first step, our trainees Barbara Clark, Johannes Schwalm, Felix Kratschmar and Raed Wasseghi conducted a competitive analysis and worked out what our customers’ current and future requirements are. At the same time, the four young talents conducted interviews with plant managers and local managers at all locations to record the company’s sustainability efforts in bundled form and rank them in comparison with our competitors. The result: KAMAX is doing more than many other competitors, but the major suppliers are far ahead.
Measures in the area of sustainability by KAMAX and selected competitors in comparison
Phase 2 (in the process of implementation)
Materiality analyses are currently being conducted to determine which projects and measures make sense for our company. Where can we achieve a comparatively large sustainability effect with simple means? What should we focus on? The schedule provides for final decisions on future targets by January 2022.
Phase 3 (in planning)
This is where things get serious: An organizational structure in the area of sustainability is to be created at a global level. Fixed guidelines, regular reporting, a sustainability report adapted to international standards and a long-term strategy are the focus here. A new team for this task has already been put together from existing KAMAX employees. They will tackle this ambitious goal by mid-2022.
What is meant by sustainabilty?
Employee Matters
Diversity/Inclusion, Occupational Health and Safety, Employer Attractiveness, Health/Social Issues, Training/Education, etc.
Environmental Topics
Energy, GHG Emissions, Water, Wastewater, Waste, Biodiversity, Air Quality, Material/Chemicals, Local Pollution Product End-Of-Life, etc.
Social Matters
Business Continuity, Data Protection/Privacy, Quality of Products, Customer Health/ Safety, Community Engagement, Donations/Sponsoring etc.
Human Rights
Child Labor, Forced Labor, Collective Bargaining, Security Practices, Non-Discrimination, Harassment, Working Conditions, etc.
Compliance
Compliance, Anti-Corruption, Anti-Competitive Behavior, Fraud, Facilitation Payments, Political Contributions, etc.
Supply Chain
Environmental Management in Supply Chain, Human Rights in Supply Chain, etc.
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KXpress · 2021 | 02
