The last eight years in Europe have been the warmest on record. We, being part of the construction industry, understand the urgent need for our businesses to adapt to climate change. That's why the Xella Group invested more than €2.8 million in environmental improvements in 2022. And Xella has submitted its 2030 CO2 emission reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative for validation. With this commitment, Xella aims to ensure that its reduction pathway, including emissions from its supply chain, is in line with the robust pathway recognized by climate scientists to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C (Paris Agreement).
Xella's ESG strategy is based on three pillars:
1. Xella is reducing CO2 emissions across all operations and along the full value chain.
We are continuously reducing our CO2 emissions - in 2022, by 8 percent vs. 2021, thanks to the deployment of several energy efficiency actions. This is in line with our goal to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions intensity by 30% by 2030 compared to 2019.
In addition, Scope 3 CO2 emissions have been assessed precisely in 2022, representing 84 percent of Xella’s total2 CO2 emissions.
When we completed the process of setting up a science-based target, we will also add an absolute reduction target for its Scope 3 emissions, beyond a more ambitious target for scope 1 and 2 emissions. We are also committed to find ways to decrease CO2 emissions in some categories of raw materials in the years ahead.
2. Xella is aiming to drive circularity
We are committed to further improving the circularity of our products and production. In 2022, we used 4 percent less input materials and sand consumption decreased thanks to an increased use of crushed return material from production. This is in line with our commitment to stop sending production waste to landfill by 2025 and is the first step in this strategy. It also includes the introduction of digital services such as Xella's blue.sprint digital solution, which helps reduce errors and optimize the use of products.
We are proud to rely on our own research & development facility Xella Technologie- & Forschungsgesellschaft mbH to develop new methods, formulas to make our products more sustainable and circular.
3. Xella is ensuring a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace
In 2022, we spent €4.1 million in health and safety improvements for our employees. We invested in trainings, including the further roll-out of a Total Safety Leadership Program (TSL), a Xella-wide program dedicated to empowering individuals to take personal responsibility for safety.
As there are still far more men than women working in the construction industry, we decided to change this. For many good reasons. It is important for the success of our company to remain an interesting and attractive employer for the best employees. And cultural diversity, different skills, experience, age groups and a balanced gender ratio provide the wealth of perspectives needed in the competitive construction industry. That's why we want to increase the proportion of women throughout the company and in management positions. By 2025, 25 percent of these positions are to be held by women. In 2022, the proportion of female managers across the Group rised to 20%.
Read more about how we are building a sustainable world and download our ESG report