Toward a sustainable future: Autoneum publishes Corporate Responsibility Report 2021 and joins Science Based Targets initiative

With its Advance Sustainability Strategy 2025 launched in 2018, Autoneum defined ambitious goals in the areas of environment, society and governance. In the past year, significant quantitative and qualitative improvements were achieved, as shown in the Corporate Responsibility Report 2021 published today. For example, CO₂ emissions were reduced in 2021 and the proportion of reused production scrap (recycling) was significantly increased. In addition, Autoneum has joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Following Autoneum’s decision last year to extend its environmental targets with quantifiable targets for all direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and a time horizon to 2027, the Company has recently signed the declaration to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Autoneum acknowledges the urgent need for action and will submit its ambitious, science-based targets to the SBTi to reduce CO₂ emissions in the near term. In addition, Autoneum is reporting its Scope 3 emissions in full for the first time.

In line with the strategic goal of continuously reducing electricity purchases from fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energies, ten plants worldwide were converted to renewable energies in 2021. CEO Matthias Holzammer says: “We see our task of driving sustainability as a long-term commitment for the future. As we wish to contribute to the phaseout of fossil fuels, we are doing everything we can to accelerate the transition to renewable energies. In addition, we will certify all our plants to ISO 50001 (energy management) during 2022.”

In the past year, Autoneum again implemented a large number of projects in the areas of “Sustainable Products and Production Processes”, “Fair and Attractive Workplace”, “Good Corporate Citizenship” and “Responsible Supply Chain Management”: 29 eco-efficiency projects with a focus on materials efficiency and recycling contributed to more environmentally friendly production and correspondingly more sustainable components worldwide. The result was a significant reduction in waste and a further optimization of processes for a range of products. Moreover, new eco-efficient products were successfully launched on the market.

The challenges faced by the automotive industry in the last two years highlighted the importance of employee engagement. Autoneum takes the issue very seriously and has introduced new targets and measures related to employee engagement. Furthermore, at around 98%, a very high proportion of employees completed the corporate compliance trainings on the topics of Code of Conduct, data protection and cybersecurity. In the area of occupational health and safety, the accident frequency rate continued to decrease steadily by 17% as a result of Autoneum’s Zero Accident Policy. Furthermore, the number of sites conducting ergonomic assessments increased to 93.3% in 2021.

Finally, Autoneum’s employees have carried out an impressive number of 91 community engagement projects.

A complete overview of all targets and activities during the past year can be found in the Corporate Responsibility Report 2021 and is available at www.autoneum.com/corporate-responsibility.