Guala Closures Group, world leader in the production of closures for the spirits, and aluminium closures for wine, water, and oil markets, presents “Sustainable Together 2030”, its new 2023-2030 sustainability programme. This sets clear and ambitious corporate objectives involving three primary areas: Environment, People and Governance.
“We are very proud of the path towards a sustainable approach undertaken by the company in recent years and made public with the preparation of the Sustainable Development Report – now in its twelfth edition – which will be released in the next days,” says Paolo Lavazza, Quality and Sustainability Director of Guala Closures Group. “The excellent goals achieved in 2022, described in detail in the Sustainable Development Report – and also reported in the 2022 Annual Report – in fact show particularly important information: despite the global challenges that have characterized the last few years, from the pandemic to the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, sustainability has represented and represents a priority for Guala Closures. A commitment that involves everyone – from employees to workers in the supply chain – and represents a determining challenge for the production industry of closures for beverages and spirits.”
Environment
The Group's fight against climate change translates into the reduction of CO2 emissions and energy consumption, and water resources and waste production efficiency. In 2022, the Group reduced both Scope 1 emissions (those generated directly by the company) and Scope 2 emissions (those deriving from the energy purchased and consumed by the company) compared to the previous year respectively by 12.6% and 19.1%. In parallel, the percentage of electricity from renewable sources has reached 42% of the total electricity consumed.
But Guala Closures always looks to the future: by 2030, the Group undertakes to reduce absolute emissions of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gases by 44% compared to 2020, and to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions deriving from purchased goods and services and from fuel and energy-related activities by 25%, for every million closures produced. The 2030 commitments have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as meeting the more ambitious target of limiting global temperature increase to 1.5°C, as set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. In this context, Lavazza continues, “We are planning energy efficiency projects, such as heat recovery afterburners and new lithography lines with UV light drying instead of traditional ovens and we have plans for the production and purchase of renewable energy.”
Finally, the efficiency improvement of water consumption implemented by Guala Closures – which focused in particular on the cooling systems of plastic molding presses – made it possible in 2020 to achieve the water reduction target of the 2016-2022 strategy. By 2030, the Group is committed to further reducing total water intensity by 15% and by 25% in countries where available resources are lower.
People
The “zero accident culture” is a top priority: to achieve this goal, the Group is adopting a rigorous approach and tools to avoid potential risks such as near-miss mapping, audits, injury analysis, training and certification of the health and safety management systems. The Group aims at obtaining by 2030 the important international ISO 45001 certification for all its plants, located on five continents.
The “Sustainable Together 2030” plan also aims to foster a corporate culture based on inclusion, diversity, and equal gender opportunities. As regards gender equality, in 2022 the percentage of women employed by the Group increased to reach 24.5%, while the percentage of women holding leadership positions rose from 20.8% (2020) to 22.8% (2022). As early as January of this year, the Group has promoted a series of activities – from initiatives aimed at supporting parenthood to professional growth programs dedicated to women in the company – to continue this virtuous path.
Governance
The last part of “Sustainable Together 2030” is dedicated to the theme of Governance: in this area Guala Closures undertakes to encourage sustainable development along the entire production chain, as well as spreading its ethical principles with its industrial partners all over the world.
For this reason, for the first time, the Group has included two specific and tangible “responsible governance” targets in its new 2023-2030 sustainability strategy. The first one envisages the promotion of integrity and responsibility values along the entire supply chain, starting with the assessment and monitoring of the sustainability performance of its suppliers through the use of ESG rating platforms. The second target concerns the commitment of its strategic suppliers who will have to sign the Group's new Code of Ethics.
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