Handle with Care: Sustainability Interim Report 2018

Sustainability is a central element in CWS-boco’s business model and corporate strategy. The measures in this area extend across all company departments. The service provider of professional textile services and washroom hygiene solutions has been documenting the measures and their effectiveness since 2013. The latest results can now be found in the 2018 Sustainability Interim Report.

Central organisation for QESH

Safety and quality are key components of the Group’s sustainability strategy. That is why, in 2017, CWS-boco established a central organisation for Quality, Environment, Safety and Health (QESH), with the aim of exceeding the internal and external requirements in the fields of health & safety, compliance and corporate responsibility.

There is a particular focus here on occupational health and safety. Together with the TÜV Rheinland occupational health service and the Freiburg research centre for occupational sciences (FFAW), the Group has analysed and minimised the challenges faced by staff at three pilot sites. The experience gained from this project will now be channelled into systematically further optimising occupational health and safety across the group over the next three years.

Sustainable production

When producing and developing new products, the CWS-boco Group takes social, ecological and economic aspects into account. The company purchased in excess of 529 tonnes of certified Fairtrade cotton for workwear in 2017 making it the largest provider of Fairtrade cotton workwear in Germany and thus also ones of the largest in Europe. Overall, the share of Fairtrade cotton has been increased from 9.5% in 2016 to 19.6%.

The CWS-boco Group also ensures sustainability in terms of consumption, for example via the efficient use of resources such as water and energy. The changeover from oil to biogas, for example, led to a 60% drop in oil consumption in 2017. At the same time, CO2 emissions fell from 56,789 t in 2016 to 52,593 t.

Three Gold awards in succession

Our commitment to sustainability has also been acknowledged by external experts. We have been awarded gold in the EcoVadis ranking for our ecological and social sustainability for the third time in a row. CWS-boco Deutschland GmbH is among the top 3% of tested companies worldwide across all sectors.

“With this report, CWS-boco gives insight into its three areas of activity Customer & Employee, Products & Origin, Laundry & Logistics for the sixth time. With it, we reveal our business activities in the non-financial field too and create transparency about our actions. This also shows that we take corporate responsibility seriously and that we develop and drive sustainable concepts along our supply chain systematically,” explained Dr. Maren Otte, Head of Corporate Communications & Responsibility at CWS-boco International.