Siegwerk has taken its commitment to sustainability to a new level. The printing ink manufacturer has published its first-ever “Sustainability Report,” based on the international GRI standard, which lays a new basis for evaluating its sustainable actions.

“We want to become the world’s leading manufacturer of packaging inks and are doing our utmost every day to attain this status. To achieve this objective, we have committed to a process of permanent evolution, which always factors in the needs of current and future generations,” explains Herbert Forker, CEO of Siegwerk. 

Up until now, Siegwerk has publicized its sustainability approach in the form of information brochures provided to anybody interested in this topic. “By launching the Sustainability Report we want to provide even greater transparency and enter into an open dialog with our stakeholders. That is the only way to boost the company’s future viability and to improve our performance even more,” Forker adds.

The sustainability program described in the report is based on a materiality analysis of relevant fields of activity conducted by an international team of Siegwerk executives together with Chemie, the German chemical industry’s sustainability initiative. A new mission statement, which in turn will align with Siegwerk’s sustainability strategy in the future, was drafted based on the results of the analysis. The mission statement incorporates four dimensions: 1) customers as partners, innovation as driver, 2) employees as the key to success, 3) sustainable economic success and 4) responsibility for environment and society. The company views dealing in extensive depth with these issues as vital for lasting profitable growth. At Siegwerk sustainability is interpreted as an attitude in line with the company’s “Ink, Heart & Soul” philosophy and is put into practice every day. Siegwerk has already won awards for its social commitment and sustainable corporate management.

“We want to continue to promote sustainability at Siegwerk and make it measurable,” says Forker. “For that reason, we keep on adding tangible goals to our program. They apply to all our subsidiaries worldwide and are a benchmark for the sustainability of our actions. This is the only way we can regularly check whether we are maintaining our course or whether we have to readjust.”

Continuous enhancement of the sustainability strategy is clearly driven by the company’s owners and management to get Siegwerk fit to face the future. New targets and key figures are continuously being added to the sustainability program.