Vapo´s Corporate Responsibility Report

Vapo Group has published its first Corporate Responsibility Report based on the GRI framework that covers all of the Group’s operating countries

In 2019, Vapo Group updated its sustainability strategy (including the long-term goals) and highlighted taking care of the environment and taking care of the employee well-being as the key objectives. The sustainability objectives and actions have been defined in accordance with the special characteristics of each business and linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Vapo Groups key sustainability themes

The report includes a materiality analysis carried out in the late 2019, which was based on 50 stakeholder interviews. The interviews covered all of the Group’s operating countries. The analysis was conducted by Gaia Consulting. According to the stakeholders, Vapo Group’s key sustainability themes are as follows:

• Supporting transition towards a carbon-neutral society
• Development of sustainable harvesting methods and returning peat bogs into natural state
• Supporting biodiversity and using natural resources sustainably
• Minimizing harmful impacts to water sources and enhancing water-use efficiency

The report provides comprehensive information on progress in these areas and the Group’s long-term goals.

Kekkilä-BVB and the Sustainability roadmap

Kekkilä Oy and the Netherlands-based BVB Substrates merged at the beginning of 2019 to form Kekkilä-BVB Oy. As part of the integration process, the newly established company Kekkilä-BVB started to create a sustainability roadmap, presented in May 2019. The company’s most important sustainability target is to achieve net positivity by 2030. This means that the company will give the world more than it takes from it in the form of various natural resources. Progress towards this target will be monitored by net impact model developed by The Upright Project. This net impact model measures companies’ overall sustainability with respect to the environment, health, society and knowledge. The current situation concerning Vapo Group and its business areas can be viewed online at www.uprightproject.com.

Go to Kekkilä-BVB Sustainability Roadmap.

The full Corporate Responsibility Report from Vapo can be read and downloaded at www.vapo.com/en/responsibility.