Since 2012, KHS, the Dortmund systems supplier to the beverage and liquid food industries, has taken part in the annual audit run by the internationally recognized certification platform EcoVadis for sustainability achievements. In the past, KHS won 7 silver and 2 bronze medals. But this year, it won its first Gold medal.
Kai Acker, CEO of KHS GmbH said, “With our first gold medal this year, EcoVadis has honored the KHS Group’s ever-growing commitment and certified our well-functioning system of sustainability management. The much-improved rating result is a clear manifestation of the continuous steps we’ve been taking in this field for many years now. We’ll be continuing to consistently pursue this policy with the aim of reaching net zero by 2045.”
The Gold award is meaningful for KHS as the rating is gaining significance in the context of ESG[1], while EcoVadis has also considerably broadened its assessment criteria. Furthermore, the French company has also toughened up its scoring system as of 1 January 2023 to include 4 central criteria of environment, ethics, sustainable procurement and labor law and human rights. KHS’ largest gain was in the sustainable procurement category, where it went up 20 points on the scoring system.
Compared to the last audit in 2022, KHS has improved by 12 points to 71 out of a possible total of 100. According to EcoVadis, KHS has made significant progress in all assessed categories.
KHS is also among the top 2% of manufacturers of general machinery in the EcoVadis rating. In the environment and sustainable procurement categories in particular, the Dortmund turnkey supplier is way above average for the industry. “Our positive rating sends an important signal to our customers and helps us to provide a credible response to the growing interest in sustainability assessments from the financial market. Our sustainability achievements demonstrate that we’re a reliable, future-proof partner,” added Acker.
Paris-based EcoVadis is one of the world’s key platforms for the assessment of corporate sustainability achievements. The EcoVadis database currently contains more than 115,000 assessed companies from 175 countries and 200 different sectors.
