ege takes corporate social responsibility seriously
ege has published its first CSR report which, in a readable language, presents a nuanced picture of the Danish company’s CSR strategy. The report is an outspoken description of ege’s work focusing on environment, employees, safety and health.
Ethical account
A CSR report is somehow an ethical account, in which the company takes responsibility for its actions by upright accounting for positive and negative facts related to the company’s work. In words and numbers ege lays out anything from emissions, consumption, work related accidents and staff turnover to values, environmental certificates, benefits and charity. “If we are to preserve the planet so that future generations can live here too, it is imperative that we, as a company, assume responsibility for the way we act”, ege’s CEO Svend Aage Færch Nielsen explains. “The CSR report helps render visible what we do well and how we can become better. Such an acknowledgement is necessary to ensure that it will happen”.
It is not new to ege to work this way. The company already publishes an Environmental report as well as a Greenhouse gas account, but the CSR report is different in expression and contents. By use of words, numbers, graphics and images it presents a clear picture of a company working dedicated to create the best possible conditions for the environment, employees, safety and health.
A natural step that obligates
ege’s commitment is underlined by the fact that the company on May 1st 2010 officially joined Global Compact – the UN’s guidelines for companies to work for a higher degree of sustainability. The Global Compact consists of 10 principles in human rights, labour rights, environment and anti-corruption, which ege thereby has committed to advance within their sphere of influence. Among others by making the principles part of ege’s strategy, culture and day-to-day operations.
“ege’s core value is ‘Respect for people and the environment’. This means that a large number of CSR activities are already firmly anchored in ege’s corporate philosophy and operations”, Svend Aage Færch Nielsen continues. “The publication of the CSR report is a natural continuation of our other activities, and with this we have declared the objective of contributing to a more sustainable world by continually improving how we handle environmental, social and financial challenges for the benefit of future generations”.
The tangible result is that ambitions have been set to work more with areas like animal welfare, charity, control of suppliers, cradle-to-cradle certification and CO2-lifecycle analysis.
About CSR
CSR is short for Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR is all about results, initiatives and opportunities for improvement, seen in relation to environmental, social and financial challenges involved in sustainability and social responsibility. ege’s CSR report, which is among the first ones in the business, is made according to the GRI, Global Reporting Initiative, system. GRI is a set of guidelines for reporting of sustainability ensuring that the reporting is systematised and well-documented.
“CSR has become an important parameter in modern business conduct. It gives stakeholders an opportunity to assess the companies in new ways, and it promotes an openness and responsibility which ege approves of”, Svend Aage Færch Nielsen concludes.
Read and download ege’s CSR report at www.egecarpet.com or send Environmental Manager Jan Ladefoged a request for the report on e-mail: jlj@ege.dk
If you have questions or would like further information, please contact: PR and Communication Officer Dorthe Kallestrup, phone no: +45 97 11 74 57. E-mail: dak@ege.dk
egetæpper a/s, Industrivej Nord 25, DK-7400 Herning, Phone: 45 97 11 88 11, www.egecarpet.com
