Autoneum publishes Corporate Responsibility Report 2017

As market leader in acoustic and thermal management for vehicles, Autoneum aims also to become the Corporate Responsibility (CR) benchmark among its industry peers. In line with this commitment, the Company has again improved its environmental, social and ethical performance in 2017. The new Corporate Responsibility Report presents key activities and achievements of the past year and introduces the Corporate Responsibility Strategy 2025, a set of ambitious targets to be implemented across the Group.

Autoneum is firmly committed to protecting the natural environment and invests heavily in eco-efficient production processes. In 2017, due to a consistent implementation of energy-saving projects worldwide, the energy intensity of the Company’s production processes was further reduced by 3.4%, resulting also in a CO₂ emissions intensity reduction of 2.1%. At the same time, Autoneum continued to expand its recycling capacities thereby significantly increasing recycled waste volumes by 24.2%.

As a manufacturing company, employee health and safety are of critical importance for Autoneum. In 2017, the Company continued the roll-out of Behavior-Based Safety programs which resulted in a repeated improvement of key health and safety figures. In addition, the four Business Groups Europe, North America, Asia and SAMEA conducted a comprehensive assessment of workplace needs and identified 94 projects addressing workplace and machine safety, ergonomics, temperature, lighting, air quality and noise. These will be rolled out gradually in 2018.

Autoneum’s goal is to act as a good corporate citizen in all its relationships. In line with this commitment, the Company further expanded its compliance training activities in 2017, addressing topics such as the Code of Conduct and cybersecurity. In addition, the Company’s sites implemented close to 100 community projects across all Business Groups. Around 1100 employees played an active role as volunteers.

2017 was an important milestone for Autoneum: Based on a comprehensive screening of key CR fields of action, the Company launched the Corporate Responsibility Strategy 2025, a set of ambitious environmental, social and ethical targets to be implemented across the Group. Key examples include the commitment to increase the share of women in management positions to 30%, to ensure that all suppliers of Autoneum comply with the Code of Conduct for Suppliers and to reduce landfill waste intensity by 50%. A full overview of the targets is presented in the Corporate Responsibility Report 2017.

Autoneum offers a wide range of multifunctional and lightweight components for noise and heat protection which stand out due to their high content of recycled fibers and materials. Sustainability criteria are integrated in all stages of the innovation process and the eco-efficiency of products is continuously optimized. The Company’s components make a decisive contribution to the reduction of noise emissions and the weight of vehicles resulting in lower fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. In this way, Autoneum supports vehicle manufacturers in fulfilling increasingly tightening environmental regulations and in meeting the growing demand for environmentally-friendly vehicles.