COMPO publishes its first sustainability declaration for all German sites. With the declaration in accordance with the standard of the German Sustainability Code (DNK), another important milestone in the company-wide ESG programme has been reached. It comprehensively and transparently shows the principles of ecological, social and societal business activities and developments in the course of responsible and sustainable corporate management and underlines the aspiration of green leadership.

Sustainable and responsible solutions have been firmly rooted at COMPO for many years. Long before sustainability became a topic that was present in society as a whole, COMPO launched its first organic products on the market  This was quickly followed by the launch and consistent expansion of the full range of organic products, also at the European level. "COMPO transferred its commitment to sustainability and all related activities into an overarching sustainability strategy at an early stage on the basis of a comprehensive, company-wide process," reports Stephan Engster, CEO of COMPO. As a further consistent step, the first DNK declaration, which is based on the performance indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), is now being published. "Just like the quality of products and complementary services, COMPO also has the highest standards for its company-wide sustainability commitment. To guarantee connectivity, transparency and comparability, COMPO's sustainability strategy is based on the transparency standard of the DNK," explains Stephan Engster. With its own publication platform, the DNK also ensures a high level of visibility and comparability of the company-wide sustainability standards. "We create maximum transparency for our trading partners and customers," says Stephan Engster.

The overriding framework for action in COMPO's DNK declaration is provided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Within the framework of a materiality analysis, COMPO has identified the SDGs that are important to it and has set ambitious targets for the coming years. For example, COMPO is consistently switching to more organic products, reducing transport routes through regional sourcing and at the same time driving forward the decarbonisation of its own sites. “Through resource-conserving production and a sustainable product range, we enable consumers to live responsibly and are continuously expanding our responsibility as the industry’s “green leader””, Stephan Engster adds a further strategic goal. In doing so, the leading supplier of branded products for plants in the home and garden in Europe sets out how sustainability is anchored in the corporate culture.

COMPO's Code of Conduct establishes responsible action and sustainable management as central demands for COMPO at all levels along the entire value chain - from regional raw materials that originate from the circular economy wherever possible, a elaborated decentralisation strategy and a packaging concept that has won many awards, to a broad product range and supplementary services for retailers and consumers.

"From the decentralisation strategy for potting soils, which reduces transport emissions by more than 60 per cent, the öko balance assortment, which is 100 per cent in line with the principles of the circular economy, to the switch to green electricity at all German sites, with which the electricity purchased has been CO₂ -neutral since 2023, COMPO has already achieved many important milestones to date, with which we are continuously reducing our ecological footprint and steadily growing our positive handprint," Stephan Engster is pleased to say. "In this way, we are also helping our trading partners to reduce their CO₂ emissions."

With the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions as far as possible in the medium and long term, COMPO carried out a complete and comprehensive corporate carbon footprint (CCF) calculation of all international COMPO production sites in accordance with the internationally recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) as part of the sustainability strategy process. Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as well as selected Scope 3 categories, which were defined at the beginning according to the principle of materiality, were taken into account. Only complete transparency about the status quo of the company creates the prerequisites for subsequently identifying the main drivers of CO₂ emissions.

In addition, the responsibilities and structures for the consistent pursuit of the issue of sustainability within COMPO have been reorganised. A cross-functional and cross-company core team covers all business areas and fields relevant to the sustainability strategy. "The establishment of the ESG House of Competence is an important step towards doing justice to the strategic importance of sustainability at COMPO and jointly implementing ambitious short-term and long-term goals," emphasises Peter Bali, Head of Corporate Development. It accompanies and coordinates the sustainability activities in the individual business units. "We are convinced: Green Leadership, as we live it as a company, is always the manifestation of shared responsibility - for our customers, our employees and nature. It is also reflected positively in the company's key figures," Anton Staals, CFO of COMPO, sums it up.

 

COMPO's DNK declaration is available for download here: