SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

Hard numbers and facts

We have assessed our operations against the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have concluded that our work contributes directly to 5 UN SDGs, listed below. Action is prioritized in these key areas, to further strengthen positive impacts and eliminate or minimize negative impacts:

Increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant vocational skills for future employment by employing apprentices and supporting them on the way to craft certification (target 4.4).

Reduce the number of unemployed youth through our apprenticeship programs (target 8.6), while preventing shadow work and promote labor rights and safe working environments across our operations and supply chain (target 8.8).

Contribute to upgrading our own operations and the broader surface treatment industry to become more sustainable, through increased resource efficiency, transition to clean energy in our vehicle fleet, and the use of lower-impact methods and materials in our daily work (target 9.4).

Promote sustainable consumption through waste reduction, reuse and recycling across our project sites (target 12.5), and support sustainable procurement practices through our Supplier Code of Conduct and supply chain due diligence (target 12.7).

Reduce our carbon footprint through the transition to electric vehicles, improved energy efficiency and better data on our full Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions, building awareness and capacity for climate action across our local companies and value chain (target 13.3).

* As an overall, when combining incineration and landfill. Individually, there has been a 7% increase in kg waste sent to incineration, and a 7% decrease in kg waste sent to landfill.
** HG will provide annual training on the CoC to all Group and service office staff. Given HG's decentralized model, service offices provide CoC training to all GMs, who in turn are accountable for ensuring, and confirming annually, that their staff have received training.
*** As defined by HG's Supplier Code of Conduct. Each service office is responsible for their own threshold of what constitutes a critical supplier. If a supplier has their own Code of Conduct, which sufficiently covers the requirements within HG's SCoC, they are considered to have signed it.