Gränges achieved good sustainability progress in 2019

Gränges raised the ambitions for sustainability in 2019 by implementing its group-wide sustainability framework across the operations and aligning the regional strategies with the global long-term sustainability targets which were launched in March 2019. Good progress was achieved on many of Gränges’ sustainability priorities, including a record-low safety accident rate, increased share of sourced recycled aluminium, reduced total carbon emissions as well as a very high participation rate in the group-wide Code of Conduct and anti-corruption trainings. Actions to speed up the development of broader and more sustainable customer offerings have also been taken.

Key achievements 2019

• Record-low safety accident rate with a 28 per cent reduction in Total Recordable Rate to 4.4 recordable accidents per million hours worked (6.1). Severity Rate was reduced by 14 per cent to 142 lost workdays per million hours worked (165).
• Increased share of sourced recycled aluminium with an improvement of 3 percentage points to 19.8 per cent (16.7) of total sourced metal inputs.
• Reduced total carbon emissions intensity by 6 percent to 11.3 tonnes CO₂e/tonne (12.0) driven mainly by lower emissions from purchased materials and services, which in turn were reduced by 7 per cent as a result of the increased share of sourced recycled aluminium. Carbon emissions intensity from own operations and purchased energy increased to 0.82 tonnes CO₂e/tonne (0.76) driven by higher energy intensity.
• Very high training participation in the two group-wide online trainings in ethical business practices. 100 per cent of all white-collar employees completed the anti-corruption training and 99 per cent of all employees completed the Code of Conduct training. 
• Expanded Supplier Code of Conduct commitment among significant suppliers¹⁾, with 154 suppliers (137) signing commitment to Gränges’ Supplier Code of Conduct or were assessed to have equivalent standards in place which are in line with Gränges’ sustainability requirements. This corresponded to 99 per cent (98) of the total purchase value from significant suppliers.
• Life-cycle assessment (LCA) pre-study conducted, to build the foundation for how to achieve verified sustainability information on Gränges’ products. From 2020, the company plans to start communicating products’ sustainability performance from a life-cycle perspective, including the products’ environmental impact.
• Membership in the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), and ASI Performance Standard certification achieved for the Shanghai plant in July.

1) Suppliers with a purchase value above SEK 5 million, CNY 5 million or USD 0.5 million.

“I’m very satisfied to see the good progress on many of our sustainability priorities for 2019. This demonstrates the strength of our structured way of working when integrating sustainability aspects across our operations and value chain. I’m also pleased to see that we have intensified the development of broader and more sustainable offerings, as we see that our customers are increasingly recognizing the importance of using sustainable materials. We continuously develop sustainable offerings that create tangible business and sustainability benefits and value for our customers”, says Gränges’ CEO Johan Menckel.

A full overview of Gränges’ 2025 sustainability targets can be found on the company’s website: www.granges.com/sustainability/framework-and-targets/.

Gränges’ annual report for 2019, including the sustainability report which outlines the sustainability performance and long-term targets, is from today available on the company’s website: www.granges.com/investors/reports-and-presentations. 

For further information, please contact:
Sofia Hedevåg, VP Sustainability
sofia.hedevag@granges.com,  tel: +46 733 03 79 79

Johan Dufvenmark, VP Group Treasury & Investor Relations
johan.dufvenmark@granges.com, tel: +46 705 97 43 75

About Gränges 
Gränges is a leading global supplier of rolled aluminium products for heat exchanger applications and other niche markets. In materials for brazed heat exchangers Gränges is the global leader with a market share of approximately 20 per cent. The company develops, produces and markets advanced materials that enhance efficiency in the customer manufacturing process and the performance of the final products. The company’s geographical markets are Europe, Asia and the Americas. Its production facilities are located in Sweden, China and the United States, and have a combined annual capacity of 460,000 metric tonnes. Gränges has 1,800 employees and net sales of SEK 12 billion. The share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. More information on Gränges is available at www.granges.com.