“Environment” as a part of corporate responsibility

The careful management of resources and consistent compliance with environmental guidelines are an essential part of our corporate philosophy. For this reason, environment is a principle focus of corporate responsibility in the voestalpine Group.

But what do we mean by corporate responsibility (CR)?

The term describes the Group’s responsibility for the impact and influence that its business activities have on the company, its employees, the nature, and the economic environment. At voestalpine corporate responsibility is an important element in the corporate culture, and an integral part of Group strategy. Environment & energy is also a cornerstone of the Group’s twelve defined strategic principles (Effective Energy and Environmental Management).

voestalpine and the environment

The areas of Employees, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship, Research & Development, Procurement & Raw Materials Purchasing, Health & Safety, Corporate Governance and Compliance, and Environment in particular, are at the core of the Group’s corporate responsibility, with principle focuses including climate and energy policy, emissions, life cycle assessment (LCA), etc.

In 2016 voestalpine was also the first steel producing company to be awarded the Green Brands seal for its consistent ecological and sustainable action (see this article), while the Group’s sustainability rating was raised to “A” by MSCI ESG Research in September 2017. One of the other factors in this rating was significant progress in the areas of Sustainable Procurement, Health & Safety, and Environment.

Cooperation with the specialist departments

Corporate responsibility plays an essential role in all areas of a company. Therefore, there is regular coordination between the specialist departments on general sustainability topics, as well as on current events related to corporate responsibility. Contact with the experts in the Environment department is particularly intensive as there are a whole range of challenges in this area which need to be mastered, particularly for a global Group with a large number of production sites. The constant flow of queries from stakeholders (analysts, investors, customers) regarding environmental performance and CR are also dealt with in close coordination with the Environment department.

Corporate Responsibility Report with sustainability figures

The voestalpine CR report, previously published every second year but now an annual fixture, dedicates an entire, detailed section to the subject of the environment. The new report will appear in late autumn 2018. There is also a CR factsheet which includes a summary of the topics and is published in 14 languages.

• You’ll find all other aspects of the subject of CSR at: www.voestalpine.com/cr
• More information to the topic environment: www.voestalpine.com/environment