Xella - Raport de sustenabilitate
BLOCK-BY-BLOCK
Our progress building a sustainable
company in the building materials sector
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
We are building a sustainable world. We are Xella.
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
2
Contents
Introduction
1.
Our approach
2.
Our people
Our environment
Looking ahead
Foreword from Chief
Executive Officer
Page 4
1.1
2.1
3.1
Page 78
About Xella and scope
of report
Page 6
1.2
Governance of ESG
Page 24
Our approach
to sustainable
production
Page 58
1.3
ESG strategy
Page 26
Energy and
emissions
Page 59
Key figures at a glance
Page 84
Highlights at-a-glance
Page 10
Finding solutions: From
medical centres to
modern living
Page 12
1.4
Doing business in
an ethical manner
Page 22
Collaborations
Page 30
2.2
2.3
2.4
Table of targets and
performance
Page 14
Putting science into
sustainability
Page 16
Safety as a value
Page 34
Recruitment and
retention of talent
Page 40
Benefiting from
workplace diversity
Page 44
R
esponsibility
across our value
chain
Page 47
Suppliers
Page 48
Customers
and clients
Page 50
2.5
Supporting local
communities
Page 54
3.
3.2
3.3
Waste & resources
management
Page 65
3.4
Water management
Page 70
3.5
Our products:
Sustainability built in
Page 73
4.
Updated targets
Page 80
GRI content index
Page 92
3
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
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5
In 2021, my first year as Xella’s Chief Executive Officer,
the ongoing pandemic and build-up to the COP26 summit
ensured that environmental and social challenges were never
far from the top of my inbox.
We still have a long way to go in
many areas, but it has been a year of
maturing and progression in many of
our sustainability efforts. We established
new ESG governance and recruited a
Chief Sustainability Officer, part of the
Executive Committee, and this is driving
action from how we work with suppliers
and customers, to how we produce our
products and the way we capture and
reuse our
material.
On climate, it was a year when the latest
assessment report from the scientists
of the IPCC demonstrated beyond a
shadow of a doubt the connection between
human activity and unprecedented global
warming. It is clear that climate change
is an enormous challenge for Xella, the
whole construction materials sector and
the building industry globally.
We reduced our CO2 emission intensity by
6.6% in 2021 vs 2019 (-8.6% on Building
Materials scope only) and made significant
progress in plans to install solar panels,
replace coal boilers or use more energy
efficient machines. But we also know that
progress must be meaningful, so have also
mapped our Scope 3 emissions –the most
significant chunk of our greenhouse gases
– and will put in place plans to reduce
these in the coming years.
Foreword from
Chief Executive Officer
To be meaningful, our progress must also
be cost-efficient: for us, our customers,
shareholders and all stakeholders. Hence
the growing impact of our digital
tools is a
greatly encouraging sign with an increase
in blue.sprint projects from 413 projects
in 2019 to around 976 in 2021. By using
our digital tools, customers typically save
around 20% of costs and approximately 3%
less materials.
Safety as a value
When it comes to sustainability our most
pressing challenge is to make sure we
have the mindset, technical excellence and
safety culture in place to ensure everyone
goes home safely at the end of the day.
In our line of work at our plants, safety
and care are a matter of great concern to
us. Because only a safe and a responsible
Xella is an excellent company. Hence it is
important to take the company’s safety
culture to the next level investing in a
safety leadership program that in 2021
dispensed over 2,850 individual hours of
safety training for senior leaders across
the Group.
“
From health and safety
to climate and the
environment we are
aware that Xella and our
wider sector must go far,
quickly.”
Christophe Clemente
Chief
Executive Officer, Xella Group
The program will extend to hundreds
more employees across all local
languages in 2022 as we are determined
to create a mindset at Xella where safety
is seen as a core value and everyone
can show leadership in their part of the
company.
From health and safety to climate and the
environment we are aware that Xella and
our wider sector must go far, quickly.
Collaboration is essential to achieving
that, and we are working in a spirit of
open collaboration with key suppliers,
academic institutions, our UN Global
Compact partners, and customers to find
new technologies and new systems that
can fundamentally change the way we
construct buildings. This will focus on our
Building Materials items in 2022 following
the sale of our URSA business.
At the time of writing and publishing this
report, with great concern we observe the
terrible events in Ukraine, which cause
more and more suffering.
Making faster, meaningful progress on
sustainability, that drives down
costs
for our customers as well as positive
environmental impacts for our planet will
remain critical to our business in the year
ahead.
We are firmly on the side of all those who
are suffering and continue to take steps
to support the safety of our employees in
all the countries affected by the invasion
of Ukraine.
Christophe Clemente
Chief Executive Officer, Xella Group
I would like to emphasize on this
occasion, that all of us at Xella, the
staff and the management, stand for
tolerance, freedom, and the right of selfdetermination of people. These are the
non-negotiable values we share.
More than ever, we believe that we need
to continue to progress on ESG and that
the fight against climate change remains
a priority.
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Figure 1
Xella Group
About Xella
Intermediate holding companies
(Owners of the Building Materials and Insulation Material business units)
Buildings Materials
We are a leading European building materials provider of
sustainab
le, efficient and affordable solutions. Xella Group’s
operational headquarters is based in Duisburg, Germany and
oversees 92 plants and sales subsidiaries in 25 countries.
As demonstrated in Figure 1, the Xella Group’s business
in 2021 was based on two pillars: Building Materials
(responsible for approximately 70% of Group revenue) and
Insulation Materials (approx 30% of revenue). As announced
in January 2022, the insulation business unit URSA including
13 production sites is in the process of being sold.
Insulation Materials
€1,698m
Consolidated revenue during the 2021
fiscal year.
≈69%
5,459
≈31%
1,764
22
79
19
13
of Groups 2021 revenue
7,224
Employees
92
plants in 25 countries
national subsidiaries
Subsidiaries location
and materials type
Calcium silicate
units
Autoclaved
Aerated concrete
Mineral insulation
boards
Large-scale wall
elements and
roofing panels
Mineral wool
XPS
Mortar
Terracotta
Lime
Headquarter
Sales offices
Building Materials
Sales offices
Ur
sa
Employees
Plants
of Groups 2021 revenue
national subsidiaries
Employees
Plants
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
Our materials
Xella is proud that, based on our wide
production network, we are able to ensure
close customer proximity, use local supply
chains and establish a highly resilient
value chain. This enables us to reduce
CO2 emissions due to short transportation
distances, be part of local economies
and jointly develop supply structures with
preferred local suppliers.
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Our high local sourcing content is key
to our company success. Locally in this
context means to purchase goods & services
in the country of our production sites.
We achieved a local source share of over
80% of our materials (86% if we consider
BM scope only). We are committed to
using local supply chains wherever
expedient and possible. Our sites are
also close to our customers, there’s only
210 km on average from AAC plants and
97 km for CSU plants.
Xella buildin
g materials are based on
natural mineral resources such as lime,
sand, cement and water. On average most
important raw materials are sourced less
than 80km from our plants.
As well as providing excellent levels of
insulation, noise absorption and fire safety,
all Xella Building Material products are
recyclable.
Scope of report
Building Materials
Autoclaved Aerated
Concrete (AAC)
Calcium
Silicate
9
Multipor
“In 2021 we produced enough AAC
to build 168 Empire State Buildings
– and every single cubic metre was
fully recyclable, with ultra-efficient
thermal insulation and optimal fire
protection. When it comes to Building
Materials, our philosophy is simple: If
it can’t be recycled, let’s not make it.”
Thomas Bois
Chief Executive Officer, Building Materials
Insulation
The performance data and related
information in this Sustainability Report
relates to the 2021 calendar year and
covers the operations of all parts of
Xella Group, unless otherwise stated,
and is current as
of December 31, 2021.
This report includes information on all
plants, offices and other operations
owned by Xella Group. Currency
amounts in this report are expressed in
Euros, unless otherwise indicated.
Part of the data used in this report has
been assured by independent external
auditors (PWC) with limited assurance.
This data is marked with a
in
relevant parts of this report including in
the Key Figures table and GRI Content
Index.
This report has been prepared in
accordance with the GRI Standards:
Core option. Further information is also
available on the Xella Sustainability
microsite:
Mortar
Glass Wool
XPS
www.sustainability.xella.com
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
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Our 2021
highlights
at-a-glance
GOVERNANCE
100%
Achieved target for 100% of
key suppliers to commit to our
Supplier Code of Conduct1.
C02
ESG targets such as CO2 emissions
intensity reduction included
as KPIs in our corporate loan
launched in January 2021.
220
220 clie
nts used digital tools in 2021
in Germany (up from 18 in 2018) –
saving approximately 7,500m³ of
potential residues materials which
may have been sent to landfill.
CS0
Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
hired and new ESG Department
being put in place.
SOCIAL
Supplier list as of 01/01/21.
Relevant suppliers defined as
providers of essential material,
where single country procurement
costs are over €50,000.
1
ENVIRONMENTAL
7,700t 3MW
Emission reductions corresponding
to an estimated 7,700 tons of CO2
emissions initiated in 2021 across
the two business units2 through
Capex projects.
Project development for three
photovoltaic plants with a planned
total capacity of more than 3
MW, which are planned to go into
operation in 2022.
800,000 170t
Approximately 800,000 pallets
were returned for re-use by our
pallet return service in Poland, now
starting in France too. Germany has
been offering this service for years.
170 tonnes of GHG emissions to be
saved/year by new solar panels at
Atella plant (Italy).
100%
2,000t
All products sold under the
Multipor brand will now have 100%
of CO2 emissions offset through
thepurchase of voluntary emission
reduction in cooperation with
ClimatePartner.
2,000 tons of AAC materials
collected from customers’ sites
by our “big bags” collections (in
Germany) in 2021 to reuse them in
our production to decrease use of
virgin raw materials.
EXTERNAL RECOGNITION
€2m
56
Spending on training reached €2
million in 2021, nearly €6 million
invested in training in last three
years.
Hospitals, kindergartens, police
stations and family houses among
56 projects constructed with Xella
Building Materials.
2,850 19%
Over 2,850 individual hours of
safety training for senior leaders.
11
Share of female managers up to
19%, aligned with target.
Flexible paternity leave introduced
for practically all staff, even if not
regulated for in their country of
operation.
Top industry rated by ESG
research firm Sustainalytics, and
ranked
as having lowest ESG risk
among peers (4th/127).
2
Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Xella France received the Nord
Isère award for Sustainable
Development for its new recipe
to reuse residue AAC powder
from production, reducing
sand consumption by 8%. The
equivalent of saving a truck a day
from traveling between the factory
and the quarry.
Our Atella plant in Italy obtained
C.A.M. (“Criteri Ambientali
Minimi”) certification for
creating mortars with minimum
environmental impact.
Xella Czech received the Best
Building Materials Manufacturer
2020 Award, thanks in large part to
the impressive energy-efficiency
of Ytong products.
CASE STUDY
FINDING SOLUTIONS:
FROM MEDICAL CENTRES
TO MODERN LIVING
As detailed throughout our Sustainability Report much of our ESG activity focuses on
managing our risks and minimizing environmental impacts. But at Xella we also take
great pride in knowing many of our products are helping build vital infrastructure
including cost-efficient housing, kinder
gartens and elderly care homes. This has been
especially prominent in the wake of Covid-19.
Hospital-building
One consequence of the coronavirus
pandemic, among a host of others,
has been to spotlight the vital need for
sufficient hospital infrastructure. Since
2020, Xella’s products and services
have helped in the construction of an
array of medical facilities in various
locations.
In Taranto, Italy, we are involved in
the construction of the “San Cataldo”
hospital, which at 160,000m2 hosts
70 outpatient clinics, 28 diagnostic
rooms, 19 surgery rooms and 715
beds. We helped the developers choose
Ytong autoclaved aerated concrete
for constructing the exterior walls of
the hospital buildings as its optimal
thermal insulation and fire resistance
properties mean no further insulating
material was required.
URSA EURASIA material helped
establish 16 new medical centres
to help respond to the pandemic in
Russia and in December 2020, the
Enfermera Isabel Zendal Hospital in
Madrid opene
d its doors. On the roof of
the new building, we provided 6,000m2
of URSA XPS NIII L, guaranteeing firstrate strength and durability.
Meeting the challenges
of modern urban
planning
Our digital tools and materials are
also helping urban planners to meet
modern challenges such as how to
house more residents while at the
same time creating livable living
space for singles, families, and senior
citizens in fast growing cities.
In 2021, for example a major part of
the “Pod Pekrsko gorco” residential
complex in Maribor, Slovenia was
constructed. This project will help
solve the housing shortage in
eastern Slovenia while also offering
assisted living flats for the elderly
and neighborhood facilities such as a
kindergarten, day center, bars, a skate
park, basketball court and several
playgrounds. The project is scheduled
for completion in 2022.
715
beds in the new San Cataldo
hospital in Italy
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Table of targets and
performance
Core target
SDG
2020 figure
2021 progress
Trend
98%
100%
Achieved
Zero cases of fraud, bribery and anti-competitive practices.
zero
zero
Achieved
Roll out updated whistle-blower system in 2021.
Not applicable
Achieved
Achieved
Set up ESG Steering Committee and dedicated ESG Department by end of 2021.
Not applicable
Achieved
On track
Reduce lost-time injury frequency rate by 40%
(down to 5.0) by 2025.
8.8
8.8
Underperforming
Reach 25% share of female managers by 2025.
18%
19%
On track
Increase annual training hours per employee by 10% by 2025.
10.4 hrs
16.3 hrs
Overperforming
Reduce CO2 emissions intensity by 30% by 2030 (scope 1 and 2).
-3.9%
-6.6%
On track
Increase use of recycled and reprocessed materials in mineral wool insulation
products to 80% by 2030.
72%
73.2%
Overperforming
Increase use of recycled and reprocessed materials in XPS production to 50% by 2030.
41%
41.8%
On track
Governance
100% of relevant suppliers to comp
ly with Supplier Code of Conduct by 2021.
We consider a relevant supplier to be any supplier that is based in one of the defined procurement countries
and from which we source defined goods and services at a value of over €50,000 per year.
Social
Environmental
The baseline of targets is 2019.
15
CASE STUDY
PUTTING SCIENCE INTO
SUSTAINABILITY
At Xella we seek to be honest and hard-headed about the challenges we face
in a rapidly-changing world. The construction and building industry accounts
for up to 38% of global CO2 emissions, and as the world seeks to meet the
Paris Agreement goals we recognize it brings fresh risks to our company from
more extreme weather, to increasing pressure from regulators, shareholders
and civil society.
To plan for the future, we are the
only major building materials
company to run our own research
institute: Xella Technologie-und
Forschungsgesellschaft (T&F).
⋅
Creating the future
At two locations, and with an expert
33-person team of scienti
sts,
mineralogists, chemists and
technicians, T&F analyzes and
experiments with the chemical
structures of building materials and
systems to optimize their sustainability,
cost efficiency and quality. In 2021,
Xella invested over €5 million in T&F.
It is also an accredited testing center
and responsible for product safety and
quality control, ensuring our products
comply with the relevant regulation for
the European market. For example,
it tests which products are best for
withstanding earthquakes or extreme
weather.
Some of T&F’s areas of innovation in
2021 included:
⋅
Increasing recycling rates: One
of the key questions T&F seeks
to answer is how to increase the
amount of old recycled sorted
waste in our new products as
possible, without compromising
on quality. If we get this right,
with 20% of AAC coming from
demolition waste, this could save
around 200,000 tons of AAC in
Germany alone going to landfill.
Currently our AAC products contain
around 10% of scraps material
(AAC
materials or residues from
production or sort-clean cutoffs
from construction sites) but T&F
scientists in 2021 found a way to
double this to 20% without any
reduction in other qualities such
as load-bearing capacity and levels
of insulation. Next step is to test
the recipe at an industrial level in
Freistett plant, Germany.
⋅
Building a circular economy:
What other alternative uses might
exist for our products at the end
of their life on a construction site?
For example, we already convert
leftover AAC granules into Silikalzit
– a leading brand of cat litter in
Germany. The T&F team are now
working on other potential uses
for AAC leftovers or recycled AAC
waste including work to add it to
wooden ceilings to improve fire
safety, to turn it into fertiliser, or
to convert it into a new type of
binder to replace cement. The
latter project is being run with the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
receiving funding from the German
Federal Ministry of Education and
Research.
Alternative
products: We wouldn’t
be Xella if we didn’t also address
the question of the building
materials of the future. It may
be some time before we can
develop building materials without
high-emitting inputs like cement
or lime but it is something our
scientists are looking at now. For
example, T&F is looking at low-CO2
alternatives such as using hemp
and bamboo as raw materials –
working with colleagues in Canada
and India respectively on different
studies. There is still a long way to
go before market application but it
is an exciting area of development.
“Through science
and technology, and
in a spirit of open
collaboration, we are
pushing the boundaries
of what is possible and
searching for recipes to
make the sustainable
building materials of
the future.”
Torsten Schoch
Chief Executive Officer,
Xella Technologie- und
Forschungsgesellschaft mbH
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A circular
mindset
3 - Operations
As-well as implementing e
nergy saving
initiatives to cut direct and indirect CO2
emissions intensity by 30% by 2030, all plants
work to collect and reuse residues from
production. In the Novo Mesto factory (Slovenia)
more than 73% of the leftovers internally
generated in the plant are reintroduced into
production.
3
2
30%
Innovating to use less materials,
and less energy.
of our direct CO2 emissions intensity will
be cut by 2030.
1 - Raw materials
4 - Digital Planning Tools
We use natural mineral resources such as
sand, lime, cement and water. On average
most important raw materials are sourced
less than 80km from our plants.
We use digital modelling with our
customers to save resources and decrease
the amount of cutting residues and project
time. On average our digital tools save
3% of scrap materials and take 20% off
construction costs.
<80km
20%
from our plants, is the distance most of our
raw materials are sourced from.
4
1
2 - R&D
of construction costs are saved with our
digital tools.
5
- Reuse
Our research teams find new ways to
make our products, experimenting with
alternative raw materials or recipes that
accommodate more recycled inputs. In
2021 we found a way to double (to 20%)
the amount of AAC powder, coming from
leftovers and residues, in our recipe.
We work with clients and partners through
schemes like Xella ‘big bag’ collections to
ensure as much cutting residue is sent back
from a construction site for reuse, rather
than sent to landfill.
67%
20%
of AAC powder coming from leftovers and
residues in our recipe is achievable.
5
of wood pallets delivered in France in 2021
have been reused.
19
1.
Our
Approach
“Conducting our business ethically, in a way
that is not just about legal compliance but
about making Xella a good corporate citizen,
is the foundation stone of our reputation as an
employer, partner and responsible company.
Our new whistleblowing policy this year is a
good example of this”
Frank Fuchs
Group Head of Compliance
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USTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
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1.1
Doing business in
an ethical manner
Complying with the law, acting in a responsible way and staying
true to our company values are principles that underpin all our
day-to-day business.
As set out in our Code of Conduct, we
have zero tolerance for fraud, bribery
and any type of anti-competitive activity
or discriminatory and unethical behavior.
All relevant Xella employees are trained
in and must adhere to the Code, and it
is available in at least 17 languages. Our
culture of compliance is also reflected in
our corporate values [Figure 2] which urge
all Xella employees to take responsibility for
what they do and work to create sustainable
value.
Training to ensure compliance with all
our guidelines is a standard part of the
onboarding process for all employees and
we offer regular refresher training. For
example, 2021 saw refresher trainings for
certain employee groups on competition law
and our anti-bribery guideline
. In total at
least 8816 hours of training (of which 7117
hours for the Building Materials BU) were
provided on compliance-related topics and
our guidelines.
Led by our Head of Group Compliance, and
with local compliance delegates reporting
to the central compliance team, we are
constantly monitoring our environment,
screening for new relevant regulations
across our countries of operation, reviewing
our goals and adjusting and updating our
guidelines where necessary. We strive
for highest standards in dialogue with
our stakeholders, and with a quarterly
compliance reporting to the Executive
Committee.
Areas of particular attention in 2021
included:
⋅ Whistleblowing: We completed
a comprehensive upgrade to our
Whistleblowing process in 2021 to ensure
all parties now have an external party to
report to who can be approached in the
local language of the respective Xella
company. In total we received 9 reports
last year of suspected violations of
guidelines via our system which were al
l
fully processed as of 31 December 2021.
⋅ Data privacy: Xella has a Group-wide
Data Protection Policy to ensure all
employees actively participate in data
and information protection compliance,
for example by handling and storing
data correctly. This is supervised and
supported by a Data Protection team
on Group level and local data protection
coordinators. We aim to continuously
improve and keep up-to-date our
technical and organizational measures
and our data protection and information
security guidelines to ensure compliance
with the changing legislation across the
countries in which we are present. We
provide relevant employees with training
on data protection and information
security.
⋅ Supplier Code of Conduct: A key push
this year was work to ensure all suppliers
adopted our Suppliers Code of Conduct,
committing them to responsible business
conduct such as the elimination of
discrimination, child labour, conflicts of
interest and other unethical practices.
This was suc
cessful with 100% of
relevant suppliers (as of the 2020
supplier list) adopting the code. For more
information see chapter 2.4.
8,816
compliance training hours delivered
in 2021.
Figure 2
Xella corporate values
RESPONSIBILITY
Standing by
decisions.
Being bold and
taking the lead.
PROFESSIONALISM
Xella
values
DIALOG, OPENNESS,
AND APPRECIATION
Leading with respect.
Shaping ideas in
dialog.
⋅ Political contributions: Donations to
politicians, political parties, or political
groups by the Xella Group are generally
prohibited; this also includes payments
to public employees and civil servants.
We made zero political donations last
year. In 2021 we published our position
on this matter in a respective policy,
summarizing statements from our rules
of procedure and anti-bribery guidelines.
⋅ Tax: We fully comply with the relevant
tax requirements in the countries in
which we operate. In all operating
countries taxes are reported regularly
through the disclosure of the financial
statements according to local GAAP
and consolidated financial statements.
Further national tax reporting, in
particular tax returns, claims, elections,
transfer pricing documentation and
payments are prepared in a professional
manner and filed punctually by each
entity. Additionally, Xella Group prepares
transfer pricing documentation
(Masterfile) and Country-by-Country
reporting on a yearly basis according to
the OECD guidelines.
⋅ Compliance Management System:
In 2021 we started a project with the
support of an expert consultant company
to upgrade our Compliance Management
System to reflect the increased attention
to Compliance of management and
in general. Based on the analysis that
was almost completed by year-end
2021, 2022 will see the re-design and
implementation of the different modules
first on holding level, followed by
successive rollouts into our operating
entities.
Aside from executing before-mentioned
project, the Compliance organization of Xella
will, in 2022, conti
nue to monitor legislative
procedures as well as the development of
risk factors and focus areas, to adjust our
Compliance Management System timely and
efficiently and react to potential incidents.
E.g., despite the Dec 17, 2021 deadline,
only very few countries have adapted
yet the EU Whistleblower Directive into
national law; we expect that in some cases
we will need to adjust our Whistleblowing
procedures accordingly.
Striving for
excellence.
Working to the
highest standards.
23
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1.2
Governance of ESG
Successful management of sustainability issues is core
to the success of our business, so responsibility for ESG
management starts at the top.
The Xella Executive Committee (ExCom),
which includes our Chief Executive Officer,
CFO and CSO is formally responsible for
setting and implementing the sustainability
strategy including meeting relevant targets.
They report all ESG-related decisions to
our Board. The ExCom is supported in its
decisions b
y an ESG Steering Committee,
lead by the CSO, which includes experts
from across the Group’s business units. The
Committee meets monthly and conveys its
decisions across the organization and, when
relevant, externally.
The Chief Sustainability Officer leads a
dedicated ESG Department, created in
2021, to support the work of the ESG
Committee. This team coordinates
all sustainability measures and their
implementation as an interface between
the central functions and the national
companies. They also develop and
continuously review the sustainability
targets, which includes discussions on
potentially linking them to executive
remuneration.
⋅ Monitoring the environmental impact
The Chief Sustainability Officer is also a
permanent member of the Capex Board
and of the Innovation Steering Committee to
ensure ESG is part of the decisions criteria
inside Xella Group.
⋅ Identify current and emerging ESG
Sustainability-linked loan
⋅ Track performance and progress against
In Januar
y 2021 our main Group financing
agreement, the Senior Facilities Agreement
(SFA) launched, and included three ESG
KPIs as margin relevant ESG triggers.
Responsibilities of the ESG Steering
Committee include:
of Xella’s products and manufacturing
processes
matters that may impact the company,
track regulatory developments, and
make recommendations
our established ESG goals
⋅ Develop ESG policies, programs
and initiatives, and monitor their
implementation
⋅ Maintain regular dialogue with relevant
stakeholders including discussion of
their priorities and suggestions
⋅ Monitor the overall development of
the ESG strategy and adjust individual
measures as necessary to achieve the
defined goals
Governance and compliance are the direct
responsibility of the Xella Group CFO,
who is also a member of the Executive
Committee.
The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) who
was appointed in 2021, is member of ExCom
and chairs the ESG Steering Committee.
The three KPIs are our targets to
reduce
CO2 emission intensity, increase glass
wool recycled input, and increase annual
training hours. For each KPI, we have set
annual target levels for the term of the SFA
(until 2028) which provide an improvement
path for each of the agreed KPIs and would
trigger additional interest expenses if
milestones are not met.
The compliance or non-compliance with
each of the three ESG KPI targets has to
be annually confirmed in form of an ESG
Compliance Certificate.
Figure 3
ESG Governance at Xella
Executive Committee
ESG Committee
Chaired by Chief
Sustainability Officer
Input from core functions
ESG Department
Input from core functions
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
26
Figure 4
Xella’s ESG Roadmap
1.3
Our ESG Strategy
1
SHARPEN OUR
ESG FOCUS
From water to waste, fire safety to worker safety there are
a vast array of sustainability issues which a construction
materials company such as Xella must be mindful of. In 2020
we undertook a major exercise to sharpen our ESG fo
cus,
creating our ESG roadmap (Figure 4) to map the journey
towards our ambitious goals.
This included undertaking a materiality assessment and
stakeholder engagement exercise with over 100 internal and
external stakeholders to establish our priority areas of focus.
Our focus in 2021, and throughout 2022, is to continue
to develop and mature our practices to implement this
strategy and respond to the priorities it focused on. We also
recognize that a key part of our governance improvements
in 2022 must be to uplift the quality of our data in areas such
as water management and Scope 3 emissions.
“It is our mission to design
energy-efficient, costeffective and sustainable
construction, housing
and living … and by
setting clear targets on
CO2 emissions, resource
conservation, diversity and
equal opportunities, our
ESG Strategy provides the
blueprint to achieve that
mission.”
2
SET TARGETS
TO MEASURE
OURSELVES BY
3
INITIATIVES TO
ACHIEVE TARGETS
Phase 1 - COMPLETED
Engaged sta
keholders, conducted
a materiality assessment, and
commissioned an external sustainability
ratings agency to assess our ESG risk.
Phase 2 - COMPLETED
We set short and medium targets on
a range of environmental, social and
governance priorities.
Phase 3 - WE ARE HERE
We have implemented a wide set of
governance, social and environmental
initiatives to achieve our targets as
described in this report.
Cecile Fages
Chief Sustainability and
Communications Officer
4
ACHIEVE OUR ESG
AMBITIONS
Phase 4 - STAND BY
We continue to work towards our
ambitious targets including best-in-class
ESG governance, a zero-harm workplace
and establishing Xella as a thought-leader
in circular economy practices.
XELLA
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28
ESG priorities
Energy efficiency of our
production
6.6% reduction on CO2 intensity in scope 1 and 2 emissions this
year through purchase of green power and energy savings plan.
Regulatory compliance
Complying with the la
w, acting in a responsible way, and staying
true to our company values are principles that underpin all our
day-to-day business.
Fair and competitive
conduct
Complying with the law, acting in a responsible way and staying
true to our company values are principles that underpin all our
day-to-day business.
Corporate ethics
Complying with the law, acting in a responsible way and staying
true to our company values are principles that underpin all our
day-to-day business.
Waste prevention
Working with clients and partners through schemes like Xella ‘big
bags’ to ensure as many clean leftovers or production residues are
sent back for reusing rather than sent to landfill.
Sustainable financial
performance
We believe that sustainability is inherently interconnected with
cost-efficiency. For example through our increased use of digital
tools, we are reducing leftovers and saving construction time for
customers.
Low-carbon product
portfolio
Investment in R&D through T&F, working o
n three different pillars:
1. Increasing use of recycled waste from demolition in recipes;
2. Change of lime and cement for lower CO2 footprint, and
3. Carbonatation.
Xella materiality matrix for 2021
Energy efficiency of our products
Circular economy
Carbon emissions
Energy efficiency of our production
Waste management
Low-carbon product portfolio
Innovation and research
Handling of hazardous substances
Plastic and packaging
Air quality
Water management
Social
2
3
7
9
10
11
13
15
19
24
Customer experience and
satisfaction
Regulatory compliance
Fair and competitive conduct
Corporate ethics
Sustainable financial performance
Transparency and reporting
Corporate governance
Responsibility in the supply chain
2
5
15
22
16
20
19
25
24
23
17
18
12
11
10
9
13
1
6
8
7
4
14
21
Low
Product quality and safety
Occupational safety and health
Acquisition, training, and
retention of talent
17 Access to affordable housing
22 Working conditions and standards
25 Diversity and inclus
ion
1
3
High
4
5
6
8
12
14
16
18
20
21
23
Governance
Impact of Xella’s business activity on aspects
of ESG and on stakeholders
Environmental
Low
Impact on Xella’s business model
High
ESG Priorities
How we responded in 2021
Occupational health
and safety
Adopting safety as a core value for our company, with over 2,850
individual hours of safety training for our senior leadership team
via the Total Safety Leadership program.
Innovation and research
– R&D
Investment in R&D through T&F.
Energy efficiency of our
products
We strive to ensure our products have energy-efficiency and
sustainability built in.
Transparency and
reporting
Publication of second Annual Sustainability Report, based on GRI
reporting framework
Circular economy
73.2% of mineral wool and 41.8% of XPS products now made
from recycled or reprocessed materials (glass for mineral wool).
See Chapter 3 for details of our cradle-to-cradle approach and
waste prevention.
Product quality and safety
Ensu
ring the highest safety standards and certifications in areas
including fire resistant materials.
Carbon emissions
6.6% reduction on CO2 intensity in scope 1 and 2 emissions this year
through energy savings plan and purchase of green power.
Access to affordable
housing
We contributed to many projects in 2021 which included social or
affordable housing as an element. See ‘Sustainably accomodating
students in Kassel’ as an example.
Acquisition, training,
and retention of talent
We provide fair, performance-based remuneration, a nondiscriminatory working environment and high-quality training.
Customer experience and
satisfaction
We aspire to the highest level of customer satisfaction.
29
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SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
30
Some of the associations and initiatives which
we collaborated with in 2021 include:
Collaborations
The urgency and complexity of sustainability issues such
as climate change present an enormous challenge for the
construction sector as a whole and we r
ecognize that to
act with the depth and speed required we must work with a
wide range of initiatives and partnerships to build a climatefriendly construction industry.
Sustainability initiatives
XELLA JOINED THE UN
GLOBAL COMPACT IN
JANUARY 2021
German Sustainable
Building Council (DNGB)
“
“We wholeheartedly
support the ten principles
of the UN Global Compact
and want to work together
to make an impact. Both
through energy-efficient,
sustainable products as
well as through resourcesaving and CO2-reduced
production processes and
responsible and ethically
sound actions.”
Christophe Clemente
Chief Executive Officer of the Xella
Group
UN Global Compact
White Material
Construction Association
European Calcium Silicate
Producers Association
(ECSPA)
National Mineral Building
Product Producers
Association
Building initiatives
GIH e. V. “The National
Stakeholder Group for
Energy Advisers”
German Industry Initiative
for Energy Efficiency
(DENEFF)
European Aerated
Autoclave
d Concrete
Association
(EAACA)
German Society for
Masonry and Housing
Construction
German Masonry
Committee
2.
Our people
“Our people are the heart of Xella. We
want all employees to feel respected, well
compensated, and trained to perform their
job in the best way. Most of all, we want our
staff and contractors to return home safe and
healthy at the end of every day.”
Dr. Christiane Schlüter
Head of People and Organizational Development
Our talented workforce is a fundamental element of our competitive advantage
and long-term success. We aim to provide them with a healthy, safe, and diverse
working environment and to offer fair wages and opportunities for growth and
development. We want them to be proud to work for Xella.
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34
2.1
Safety as a value
Our policies and processes
A core corporate value for Xella is for workers to return
home from work as safe and healthy as when they arrived.
Our facilities a
re dynamic working
environments with several potential
areas of risk whether from use of heavy
machinery, working at heights or trips
and falls. We manage safety risk. We work
every day to not only implement robust
safety standards and procedures but
also to instill the safety mindset that can
achieve our target of zero accidents at our
plants.
Our Group Directive on Health &
Safety sets out the policies and control
mechanisms we have in place including
very regular risk assessments, the
provision of personal protective
equipment, use of containments for
hazardous substances, training, incident
investigation procedures and auditing.
Our Group-wide health and safety
management (EHS) system follows
international OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001
structure, and is supported by a Corporate
EHS department, reporting to the Chief
Technical Officer, and EHS managers in all
countries.
Our safety system is based on three
pillars which we work to improve
simultaneously:
⋅ Organization: Our ‘Safe W
ork.
Safe Life.’ vision sets out rules and
guidelines for keeping employees
in all facets of our business safe
including production, administration
and sales. We also organize to ensure
that specific training is given to all
employees. In 2021 we also continued
to roll out seven of our ten ‘Life Saving
Rules’, providing guidance to all
employees on how to manage the most
significant hazards, such as lock out
tag out, use of mobile equipment or
safe driving. We will continue the rollout in the future.
⋅ Technical: We carry out technical
assessments, led by local specialized
engineering companies to ensure that
all technology is maximized to protect
health and safety and that equipment
complies with local safety standards
and cross-border legislation such as
the EU Machinery Directive.
“We want to create a
culture at Xella where
safety is a core value,
and everyone can show
leadership in their part of
the company. Safety is the
first item on the agenda at
our Board meetings
and
we want it at the forefront
of all employees’ minds
whether plant manager,
machine operator or
driver.”
Christophe Clemente
Chief Executive Officer of the Xella
Group
⋅ Culture: Ultimately, we want to embed
a deep culture of safety across the
Group and provide training and support
to encourage employees to take
responsibility to constantly ensure that
the right equipment, environment and
procedures are in place to do the
job safely.
Key data in this section has been
independently audited.
35
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
Our overriding goal is to reduce the
number of accidents to zero in the long
term. We have medium-term targets to
reduce accident frequency3 (LTIFR) by 40%
by the end of 20254.
But we do not judge performance just
on ‘lagging’ indicators such as these
(i.e. measuring incidents that have
already happened), we have also started
using since 2020 leading indicators that
measure visible and felt leadership – for
example tracking the number of safet
y
walks performed by leadership.
36
Our ten life saving rules
If an occupational accident occurs,
despite all safety precautions, we analyze
the root causes of the accident and
communicate lessons learnt across the
entire organization, including all plant
managers to prevent a similar incident
occurring elsewhere. We also encourage
business partners, contractors, and third
parties to adopt our safety rules.
1. TRAFFIC ROUTE CONCEPT
Procedure for regulating internal traffic by means of
road marking, signs and pedestrian routes.
“You can’t create safety
from behind a desk. You
need rules, regulations
and technical equipment
but most of all you need
people taking personal
responsibility for it every
day.”
Tomasz Wiśniewski
Chief Technology Officer
North East Europe
2020
2019
2018
2017
Procedure for informing and instructing transports
on the Xella premises. This governs contractual
safety regulations, local instruction signage of dropoff locations and the authorization of
our employees.
3. ELECTRICAL SAFETY
Since beginning new safety
programs in 2017 LTIFR
has reduced:
2021
2. EXTERNAL TRANSPORTS
Procedures for handling electrical work and
installations. In particular: Qualifications of
electricians, tools, inspection of electrical
installations, execution of electrical work.
8.8
8.9
4. MOBILE EQUIPMENT
The process inclides the requirements for safely
operation and handling of mobile equipment (e.g.
forklifts, crames, wheel loaders).
12.7
Based on a 2019 baseline.
5
N/A.
6
N/A.
7. WORKING AT HEIGHTS
Procedure describes the technical, organisational
and personal safety precautions required when
working at height.
8. MACHINES SAFETY
Procedure describes the safeguarding of plant and
machinery using technical protective equipment and
the safe use of thus protective equipment.
9. CONFINED SPACES
This procedure describes how to work safely in
confined spaces (e.g. autoclaves, silos, mills,
sewers and shafts) and provides important
instructions
for preparation and execution.
19
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (Number of
recordable work-related injuries / Number of
hours worked x 1,000,000).
4
Procedure describes the technical equipment and
condition of vehicles and safe behaviour when using
vehicles for work purposes.
8.8
5. LOCKOUT/TAGOUT
3
6. SAFE DRIVING
A method of working safely on or in plant areas
or machines by blocking all energy sources and
securing them with personal locks and tags.
So that unintentional start-up is impossible.
10. HAZARDOUS MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
Procedure for handling, using and storing substance
with hazardous characteristics for humans and the
environment (e.g.aluminium, oils, dusts).
Roll out started in 2017
To be rolled out
XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021
ABOUT XELLA
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
38
CASE STUDY
ACHIEVING ZERO
IN TUZLA7
PERFORMANCE
IN 2021
The ongoing Covid-19
pandemic has meant a
continued focus on industrialquality hygiene standards
across all our plants with local
ma
nagement responsible for
escalating measures (such as
only allowing entry to those
vaccinated, recently recovered
or testing negative) based on
conditions or requirements in
their country or region.
Unfortunately, the year 2021 was
negatively marked by a fatal accident
which occurred at the glass wool
production plant in Serpukhov, Russia.
Due to a failure to apply the prescribed
“Lock out, Tag out“procedure after
stopping a mixer, a 55-year-old colleague
of ours, a technician on the plant, died
while carrying out maintenance work.
This is a dramatic event, and we deeply
regret the loss of our employee, and our
thoughts are with the family and relatives.
The subsequent careful and thorough
investigation revealed technical,
procedural and behavorial shortcomings
that were immediately resolved and
corrected. The incident was shared with
all Group employees with the clear intent
of raising awareness of all employees
of safety as a value and to check for
any possible similarities in th
e different
factories. The event also triggered a deep
reflection on the need to evolve the safety
culture in the company with the initiatives
launched in the second half of the year.
We invested close to €7 million into safety
in 2021 to protect equipment and increase
training. Most prominently, our Total
Safety Leadership program, organised
with the support of RMS Switzerland Sarl,
has trained the entire senior leadership
team, over 120 executives including
ExCom members, plant managers and
regional heads in how to take a leadership
role in safety and to empower personal
responsibility in others across the factory
floor.
Over 2,850 individual hours of safety
training has been provided for our
senior leadership team via Total Safety
leadership (TSL) and other programs.
We have also made participation in the
TSL program compulsory for all new
managerial functions.
A second phase of the program in 2022
will train a further batch of trainers
across all our regions meaning the
program
can be deployed in local
languages and reach over 500 further
second line managers including
production managers, maintenance
managers and shift leaders.
Globally, safety-at-works trainings
represented close to 49,000 hours for
Xella in 2021 (+6% on 2020).
Apart from the tragic fatality, with regard
to the frequency of Lost Time Incidents
(LTIFR), 2021 followed in the footsteps of
2020. The impact of Covid-19 in terms of
daily operational management of both
plants and people, partially diverted the
focus away from safety topics, leading to
a stagnation of the progress achieved in
previous years in terms of implementation
of and compliance with rules and
procedures. We have continued to invest
in technical safety but it proved difficult to
impact on behavioral aspects. Hence the
re-launch for an evolution of the safety
culture in Xella in the final part of the year.
€7m
We invested close to €7 million into safety
in 2021 to protect equipment and increase
training.
49,000h
Globally
, safety-at-works trainings
represented close to 49 000 hours for
Xella in 2021.
“I am determined to lead by example
and encourage all workers to take
responsibility to show leadership
themselves.”
Xella’s Tuzla plant in Bosnia
& Herzegovina (BH) employs
approximately 35 employees on the
factory floor producing up to 130,000m3
of Ytong AAC products. Most
impressively in 2021 experienced plant
manager Edina Osmancevic oversaw a
year of zero lost time injuries.
“Effective safety management needs
visible leadership on the ground every
day and real engagement from the
workforce that brings safety rules to
life,” explains Edina.
Employees at the Tuzla plant for
example will see their plant manager
walk through the factory throughout
the day stopping to ask what safety
risks they can perceive and whether
any improvements need to be realized.
Edina explains, “Our focus is on
prevention and participation. For
example ensuring everyone has the
correct Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) or that a safety fence is secure.
But a big part is making sure that we
operate with a “safety first” mentality.
I often encourage conversation about
safety risks with factory employees.
For example, if I talk about the crane, I
don’t only talk with the crane operator
but I look to engage any worker who
may be in the proximate vicinity. I
am determined to lead by example
and encourage all workers to take
responsibility and show leadership on
safety themselves.”
Training for employees of the Tuzla
plant has included both general
courses such as ‘slip, trip and fall’ or
‘working at heights’ training, as well
as technical training for example on
specific machinery. All staff receive
relevant safety training including
office-based administrators and it is
compulsory for key training courses to
be refreshed annually.
Key to the success of this training,
according to Tuzla’s plant manager, is
to make it participatory. “We ensure
that this is not a passive situatio
n
of a teacher talking and a student
quietly listening. In each session we
encourage employees to speak up
and talk about real-life scenarios of
relevance and to give their opinion
about how to manage potential risks.”
At Tuzla all technical meetings
start with a short safety discussion,
including for example reviewing any
lessons learnt from near misses or
incidents at other Xella plants. “We
cannot leave the issue of safety to a
safety officer,” concludes Edina “each
of us must be safety-minded as an
individual.”
7
Not included in audit review
00
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40
2.2
Recruitment and
retention of talent
Our policies and processes
A talented, efficient, and committed workforce is the basis for
our success. To recruit and retain the best people we provide
fair, performance-based remuneration, a non-discriminatory
working environment, high-quality training and flexible
options for balancing work and family life.
We ar
e particularly proud of our retention
rate, which in Germany, for example, was
at 90.6% in 2021.
Upskilling our workforce through training
is a key plank of our human capital
management and we have set a core KPI
to increase annual training hours per
employee by 10% year-on-year by 2025.
Ongoing communications between
management and employees is key to
our approach. Alongside a bi-/triennial
employee satisfaction survey, employees
receive the offer of individual support
and development. We aim for equal pay
and we pay at least minimum wage in
all countries in which we operate with
performance-related bonus structures.
Additionally, employees get benefits such
as bike leasing, healthcare options and
opportunities for different working time
models to maximize work-life balance and
to access support to help with elderly or
childcare.
The importance of inclusion to our
employees is also reflected in our Xella
Emergency Fund, created in a joint
initiative by the management, the works
counc
ils and the Human Resources
Department, which supports employees
and their families in case of need or times
of hardships. In addition, the Emergency
Fund may also support external aid
projects outside Xella.
Xella is committed to respecting labor
rights principles as laid down in UN
Global Compact and ILO’s fundamental
conventions and to providing Freedom of
Association, with our guidelines available
online.
“Given the continued
shortage of skilled
workers to fill demand
in the construction
industry across Europe it
is no surprise that talent
recruitment and retention
showed as a highpriority in our materiality
assessment.”
Dr. Michael Leicht
Chief Human Resources Officer &
Chief Digital Officer
“My first child, Adam,
was born in May 2021
and I have been really
grateful for the flexibility
URSA/Xella have shown,
enabling me to combine
my life situation and work
duties. I have 16 weeks
of paid paternity leave as
of Spanish law and am
using the majority of this
flexibly to com
ils and the Human Resources
Department, which supports employees
and their families in case of need or times
of hardships. In addition, the Emergency
Fund may also support external aid
projects outside Xella.
Xella is committed to respecting labor
rights principles as laid down in UN
Global Compact and ILO’s fundamental
conventions and to providing Freedom of
Association, with our guidelines available
online.
“Given the continued
shortage of skilled
workers to fill demand
in the construction
industry across Europe it
is no surprise that talent
recruitment and retention
showed as a highpriority in our materiality
assessment.”
Dr. Michael Leicht
Chief Human Resources Officer &
Chief Digital Officer
“My first child, Adam,
was born in May 2021
and I have been really
grateful for the flexibility
URSA/Xella have shown,
enabling me to combine
my life situation and work
duties. I have 16 weeks
of paid paternity leave as
of Spanish law and am
using the majority of this
flexibly to com
... ascunde