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GRI 2: General Disclosures

GRI 2-12 – Role of the highest governance body in overseeing the management of impacts GRI 2-13 – Delegation of responsibility for managing impacts GRI 2-14 – Role of the highest governance body in sustainability reporting GRI 2-23 – Policy commitments GRI 2-24 – Embedding policy commitments

Sustainability management

Clearly assigned responsibilities, implemented with dedication

Our sustainability managers are the first point of contact for questions about sustainability at Interzero. They coordinate sustainability activities and drive the implementation of sustainability targets in the various company divisions. They report to the Executive Management, which is responsible for implementing the material sustainability topics.

GRI 2: General Disclosures

GRI 2-12 – Role of the highest governance body in overseeing the management of impacts

Responsible management, sustainable strategy and decision-making, and an open corporate culture guide day-to-day actions taken by the entire management team. The Executive Management of Interzero Holding GmbH & Co. KG makes key operating decisions within the Interzero Group. A few especially relevant measures require the consent of the Advisory Board of Interzero Holding GmbH & Co. KG. Examples include strategic decisions, actions with Group-wide relevance and decisions about business transactions exceeding specific thresholds. The Advisory Board provides the Executive Management with support and advice on all major strategic issues. The Executive Management reports regularly to both the Advisory Board and shareholders.

The Executive Management is also jointly responsible for implementing material sustainability topics. Sebastiaan Krol, in particular, is responsible for the topic of sustainability. Sustainability managers who coordinate sustainability issues and work to implement sustainability goals within different parts of the company report to him. These managers receive support from colleagues in distribution, digital transformation, media, employees, compliance, supply chain and environment as they implement the focal points of the sustainability strategy.

Sustainability organisation

GRI 2-13 – Delegation of responsibility for managing impacts

Information on delegating responsibility for managing impacts can be found under GRI 2-12.

GRI 2-14 – Role of the highest governance body in sustainability reporting

The Sustainability Report is released by the Executive Management of Interzero Holding GmbH & Co. KG.

GRI 2-23 – Policy commitments

Interzero’s actions are based on various internal and external regulations and policies. In addition to requiring legally impeccable conduct, Interzero has implemented its own ambitious policies in order to live up to the image it has of itself as a sustainable, responsible and future-oriented business.

Human rights
Interzero works with its managers to promote dignified and respectful interaction in the workplace. The company respects internationally recognised human rights and is committed to the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

From 2024, Interzero will be subject to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG). The company will not only fulfil its reporting obligations, but above all meet its responsibilities along the entire supply chain. Interzero is currently setting up internal processes to ensure compliance with the LkSG.

Interzero supports compliance with human and labour rights, including through its compliance officer and the ombudsman office. The company does not tolerate behaviour that undermines these rights.

Interzero does not accept the illegal employment of minors. Furthermore, Interzero complies with all statutory regulations on fair working conditions, working hours and the protection of privacy. Our policies for maintaining labour and social standards as well as human rights are set out in the Code of Conduct. Interzero expects its business partners to observe comparable social standards (see GRI 414). This applies in particular to human rights, compliance with the law, the protection of minors, dealing with employees, equal opportunity, health and safety in the workplace, wages and social benefits.

Sustainability strategy
Interzero's sustainability strategy highlights the four action areas in which the company can make the greatest contribution to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while at the same time continuing to develop its business with a focus on customers and the market. Interzero is committed to growth through strategic initiatives that ensure that resources, knowledge, talents and ideas are not wasted.

Interzero’s sustainability management supplements the integrated management system that comprises the processes and workflows for quality, the environment, and occupational safety and health. The basis for expanding the integrated management system to include additional sustainability aspects is provided by the international standard on the social responsibility of organisations (ISO 26000).

zero waste solutions: our sustainability strategy

You can find our sustainability programme for the strategy here:
Sustainability programme

no waste of ideas

no waste of resources

zero waste solutions

Innovations are the lifeblood of successful transformation processes. We try out every idea that brings us closer to our goal of closed loops – even if we risk failure by doing so. This is the only way to create the kind of disruptive changes that our linear economy needs.

We provide our customers with support for their efforts to professionalise their sustainable practices and integrate sustainability into their reporting processes by fully exhausting the digitalisation potential of our services

We extend product lifetimes by tapping into new markets and expanding the business models we have developed for them to achieve an annual revenue growth with these models.

To ensure that manufacturers and retail can use resources more efficiently than before, we work with our customers to develop new design-for-recycling approaches.

We believe that resource usage is future-oriented only if it involves absolutely no waste at all. This is why we work on new ways of closing material loops every day.

To rid the planet of plastic waste in the long term, we develop new upcycling solutions for plastics. We also improve the quality and quantity of our recycling raw materials that we offer to manufacturers for use in their production processes.

If global warming is to be kept under the limit of two degrees Celsius, global resource consumption must become decoupled from economic growth. This is why we are developing new material and logistics loops with which we intend to save at least 5 million tonnes of resources and 800,000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents annually.

To achieve significant reductions to the per capita environmental impact, especially in urban areas, we also take an integrated approach to waste prevention and to achieving a substantial increase in recycling rates.

Our employees and their capabilities lie at the heart of our expertise as an environmental services provider. In order to make sure they can perform at their best for our customers every day, we need to provide for and guarantee their health and safety, motivation and career development.

We want to promote the physical and mental health of our employees while reducing our sickness, accident and staff turnover rates to below the averages for the industry. This is why we provide a safe, value-oriented and innovative working environment that actively supports personal development.

We want to guarantee full and effective participation to absolutely everyone at all levels of our company – and independently of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or social status. This is why we ensure that equal opportunities are truly equal for all (potential) employees within our company.

In order to develop a comprehensive circular economy, we have to share our experience and knowledge – and not only with our customers, but with all areas of business and society at large. This is the only sure way to raise awareness about the ecological and economic benefits of efficient closed-loop management.

We see it as our duty to promote sustainable lifestyles and patterns of consumption. In this context, we act as an intermediary to ensure that knowledge about the closed-loop solutions economy is established in education, politics, business and civil society.

We want to develop and (internationally) scale up approaches and standards for circular economy solutions suitable for any industry. To do so, we are working closely with our partners, stakeholders, suppliers and customers. At the same time, we give our employees the creative space they need to participate in relevant initiatives for developing solutions in the circular economy.

no waste of talent

no waste of knowledge

Internal rules of conduct
The company's Code of Conduct governs the daily actions of all Interzero employees. It covers our corporate values and rules of conduct as well as the ethical, moral and legal obligations of all employees and managers. Sustainability is anchored as a key topic in the Code of Conduct, which also a commitment we make to business partners and the general public: to be responsible and environmentally aware in all of our dealings. The Code is regularly reviewed and updated as necessary. The Code of Conduct is currently being revised; the current report remains valid until the updates are finalised.

Internal policies
Interzero's corporate culture and our motto 'we are one' play a decisive role in the workplace. These were developed by Interzero employees in an all-inclusive process to which everyone – regardless of their job role, location, age or affiliations – was invited to contribute. They are based on the values of respect, communication and responsibility. In 2018, Interzero put its corporate culture on a new foundation by means of a competence model. This provides a shared understanding of our vision and values and guidance for employees throughout the company. Due to the company’s reorganisation, work is underway to successively transfer these approaches to the new corporate framework.

Education and awareness
Promoting environmentally-aware employee behaviour is an effective lever of Interzero’s application of the precautionary principle. Here, Interzero is careful to provide a comprehensive background on environmentally relevant topics. The aim is to motivate and enable staff to make a personal contribution to environmental protection and resource efficiency both in the workplace and at home.

This is achieved primarily by job-related training, professional development and internal employee communications. Our sustainability ambassadors play a key role as multipliers: they are responsible within their departments for gathering information on all aspects of sustainability and undertake projects promoting environmentally-aware behaviour. The standards that all our employees must follow are also set down in the Code of Conduct.

The company’s environment programme also requires all sites to work continuously towards improving their environmental performance. In the reporting period, all sites were also required to focus on mobility as a general topic, with the introduction of the “company bike” model being a particular point of emphasis.

GRI 2-24 – Embedding policy commitments

To implement its sustainability strategy, Interzero has defined specific targets and key figures for each strategic point of focus. The resulting sustainability programme includes high-level tasks applicable to all company divisions. It is revised annually as necessary. This means that Interzero integrates the concept of sustainability into all business processes. The sustainability management team uses these goals to guide its activities and measures its successes.

Interzero considers itself responsible for implementing measures to avoid risks to the environment and to its employees and for being prepared for emergencies. When problems arise, they must be resolved as quickly as possible to prevent or minimise harm. Interzero is currently setting up internal processes to ensure compliance with the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG).

Management systems
One of the areas in which Interzero meets its responsibilities is in the implementation of management systems. Because the work undertaken by Interzero's various companies and sites is often very different, their management systems also have to comply with quite different external requirements. All of our companies have implemented management systems appropriate for the work they carry out – for example, based on legal requirements or the expectations of stakeholders. In order to meet external transparency requirements, the management systems of our companies are certified in accordance with the relevant international or national standards.

Certifications include:

ISO 9001 (quality management)
ISO 14001 (environmental management)
ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management system)
ISO 50001 (energy management)
ISO 22000 (food safety)
ISO 27001 (information security)
Efb certification (waste management company)

The companies' certifications are monitored and verified annually by external audits. The certificates may be viewed on the websites of Interzero and the individual companies.

Risk early warning system
In 2018, Interzero introduced a proprietary tool to improve the effectiveness of the risk early warning system throughout the Group. The process and reporting lines are set out in an appropriate guideline.

For Interzero, sustainability is at the core of its corporate strategy. The company therefore assumes responsibility in all areas – for dealing with customers, partners and employees as well as with society and the environment. As a result, our sustainability strategy has a clear vision with clear goals against which our success can be measured.