Sustainability
We protect lives worldwide.
Sustainability - where we stand today
Our sustainability report documents the progress of our transformation and highlights the actions we are currently taking to make us even more sustainable. To ensure a high standard, our sustainability report follows the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), as one of the world's leading frameworks.The current report is available for download here.
Selected actions
We are convinced that environmental sustainability always goes hand in hand with social and economic sustainability. We pursue this holistic approach with a wide range of actions:
Sustainability strategy
At schülke, we follow a comprehensive sustainability strategy that we have implemented throughout the entire company. This includes actively driving the implementation of the strategy with our own Chief Sustainability Officer, an ESG & Sustainability Manager, as well as sustainability champions in each business unit.
Science-based targets
When it comes to climate protection, we want to set ourselves ambitious targets and since June 2022 have been registered as a participating company, which is visible to everyone on the internet, by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, we are using an internationally recognized science-based approach to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement. Participation in the Science Based Target Initiative demonstrates our clear commitment to contributing to climate protection and for us this is the strongest lever of our environmental sustainability activities today.
Circular Economy
In order to avoid waste along the value chain, we optimize the design of our packaging, adapt sizes, and increasingly use recycled and recyclable materials where the regulatory framework for product protection and patient safety permits.
Supply chains
In a globalized world, our responsibility does not end at the boundaries of our own factory premises. We are therefore developing reliable criteria for the selection of our suppliers, thereby promoting their own transformation.
Diversity
The diversity of our employees is an asset that helps us achieve our sustainability goals. We have therefore signed the Diversity Charter and developed a Diversity Roadmap to further strengthen diversity in our company by 2025.
Our Sustainability Charta
Thinking ahead and acting responsibly
Our mission #weprotectlivesworldwide is based on a holistic, sustainable approach. Together with our business partners we are able to make a big difference to protect people and the environment. With a clear vision towards a more sustainable future, we strive to act responsibly, sustainably and consciously in everything we do.
Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
Our behavior and working methods are based on the highest ethical standards. Regular compliance and ethics training on key topics such as the code of conduct, anti-bribery and cyber security are a matter of course for us at schülke. We attempt to do business with third parties who act responsibly by adhering to the principles of our Supplier Code of Conduct.
Guidelines and certificates
Energy efficiency
In recent years, we have already implemented numerous largescale, but also singular measures to advance climate protection at schülke. At many office locations as well as at our largest production site in Germany, the energy supply was switched to green electricity, thus increasing the share of green electricity in the purchased electricity mix.
schülke is a participating company in the Science Based Targets Initiative
With a clear focus on advancing our activities for climate protection and using an internationally recognized science-based approach, schülke has now made a public commitment to make an active contribution. Since June 23, 2022, we have been registered as a participating company in the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
(https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action)
The initiative is backed by the organizations CDP, United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The initiative defines best science-based practices and independent assessment of the participating companies. schülke is thus one of one of 3,547 companies worldwide that are currently part of the initiative (as of August 17, 2022). Our participation in this initiative demonstrates our clear commitment to improved climate protection.
Inclusion & Diversity
At schülke, we purposefully create a corporate culture that integrates people with different backgrounds and perspectives. In doing so, we apply a multidimensional understanding of diversity, which includes age, gender, gender and sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, worldview and disability. Diversity offers great opportunities for us to develop further with; respect, cultural diversity, openness and transparency supporting our interactions with one another. In January 2021, we therefore signed the Diversity Charter. This is an employer initiative to promote diversity in companies , whose aim is to “advance the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work in Germany”.
Health & Safety
It goes without saying that compliance with occupational environmental legislation is a top priority for us. Our central reporting system of safety deviations helps us to continuously improve in this important area.
Mobility
With the goal of continuously minimizing our CO2 -footprint, schülke has developed a mobility concept that includes the revision of the business travel policy. With the introduction of the JobRad in 2021 and the establishment of a nextbike station in 2022, we have implemented further projects from our mobility concept in order to offer all employees at our Norderstedt location an ecologically valuable alternative means of transportation and at the same time improve our connectivity.
Product responsibility
Our products help protect people from infections worldwide. Last year alone, we helped protect patients and healthcare professionals from hospital-acquired infections with more than 3 billion product applications.
We pursue the goal of sustainably optimizing our product portfolio through the use of recyclable materials and packaging, while maintaining consistently high product quality and safety. By optimizing wipe material, for example, we have succeeded in saving around 18 percent PET in our mikrozid® AF Jumbo wipes, which corresponds to an annual saving of 45 tons of PET for this product alone.
We have optimized the packaging of our schülke wipes safe & easy bagless in such a way that, in addition to simplified handling, we have achieved a recyclability of 99.5 percent. The very good recyclability has been confirmed by the leading international laboratory group Eurofins Scientific.
The schülke octenisan® set is available in new, sustainable packaging. The product is no longer available in a plastic bag but in a 100 percent recyclable folding cardboard box and is produced locally.
