Azelis, a leading innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, has been awarded the high score of 77/100 by EcoVadis®, a well-known source of corporate sustainability evaluations.
Read: May 2023 Issue of Food InfoTech Magazine.
This qualifies Azelis for Gold and it is the industry’s top score. Sustainalytics has ranked Azelis with the No. 1 rating in the industry in terms of sustainability performance.
In addition to receiving a rating from EcoVadis®, Azelis collaborates with EcoVadis® to conduct supplier assessments. This partnership enables Azelis to evaluate its business partners’ environmental, social, and governance practices, ultimately fostering sustainability across the chemical industry supply chain. EcoVadis® assesses and ranks firms’ environmental, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement performance.
Since 2015, Azelis has undergone assessments by EcoVadis®, and in 2021, it became the first global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry to achieve the prestigious Platinum recognition from EcoVadis®. For this year’s revised questionnaire, Azelis missed one point in achieving the recently rescaled Platinum rating.
As part of its ongoing commitment to enhance sustainability, Azelis has outlined various measures it intends to implement. One notable initiative is the allocation of a substantial annual budget starting from 2023, specifically dedicated to supporting climate change mitigation projects. Through a range of actions, such as the installation of solar panels, enhancing insulation, and acquiring energy-efficient equipment and lighting, Azelis aims to decrease Scope 1 and 2 emissions across its laboratories, offices, and other facilities. These are just a few examples of the measures the company intends to take to achieve this goal.
Maria Almenar, Group Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) and Sustainability Director, comments, “We’re proud to see that our sustainability performance has been evaluated so positively, although it was just not high enough this time to meet the recently rescaled Platinum criteria. Good sustainability standards have become a must in every industry, and this is speeding up the need to transition to a sustainable business model. Our industry is also confronted with increasingly high reporting standards, both for our financial and non-financial data, following the adoption of the EU CSRD Directive. Sustainability is part of our monthly performance review cycle, and all our financial controllers have sustainability KPIs as part of their annual objectives. We continuously measure our sustainability performance and have it audited by an independent auditor so that we can continue to set the pace for sustainability in our industry.”
Dr. Hans Joachim Müller, Azelis Chief Executive Officer, adds, “At a time when sustainability is a determining factor for our principals and customers, our high EcoVadis® score helps position Azelis as a premium player. As the shift to sustainability accelerates, we want to be the first company our stakeholders call. I am grateful for our amazing Azelis family that tirelessly commits to our ‘Action 2025’ sustainability ambitions, boosting my confidence that we will continue to take the necessary steps in becoming the better version of ourselves every day. Meeting even higher criteria for Platinum is only an additional incentive for us to keep the good pace in sustainability, and I am positive we will get it again.”
Azelis recently published its 2022 Sustainability Report, outlining the company’s worldwide sustainability initiatives and the advancements made towards achieving its 2025 sustainability objectives outlined in Action 2025. The report serves as a comprehensive documentation of Azelis’ commitment to sustainability and its progress in meeting the stated goals.