EcoVadis Platinum again for Holmen's paper mills
The EcoVadis Platinum medal shows that Holmen's paper mills Braviken and Hallsta are ranked as top 1% in the world regarding environmental and social responsibility. We were awarded the highest possible medal from EcoVadis for the seventh year in a row.
We are in the top 1%
Over 100,000 companies, from more than 200 industries and in over 175 countries, have been assessed. EcoVadis’ audit covers all dimensions of sustainability from environmental impact to business ethics and labour and human rights. Both our paper mills, Braviken and Hallsta, were awarded the Platinum medal again in 2023.
The criteria for reaching platinum, which is the highest level, are getting sharper every year, because EcoVadis aims to spur the development in all participating companies, and they only award it to the top 1%. EcoVadis is the world’s largest independent supplier of sustainability audits and the number of assessed companies increases steadily. The assessment is normally made once per year. Holmen's paper mills were assessed in November 2023.
What is Ecovadis?
EcoVadis is a global provider of business sustainability ratings. They provide tools and intelligence for companies who want to monitor and improve within sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Since the organisation was established in 2007, EcoVadis has grown steadily, using independent international experts to assess defined criteria from companies participating in the audit.
EcoVadis' methodology is aligned with international standards. Their assessment tool is universal, so it can be used to compare companies within defined sectors, but also to show how different sectors or geographical areas compare to each other. Most importantly, EcoVadis provides an independent rating of the supplier, that facilitates and supports buying decisions.
What is measured with Ecovadis' scorecards?
EcoVadis’ assessment tool is a set of industry-independent scores that can be applied to all suppliers. The overall score (0-100) reflects the quality of the company's sustainability management system. The scorecards provide detailed insight into environmental, social, and ethical risks across 200 purchasing categories and 160 countries. Scoring is made within the following categories:
Environment
Within EcoVadis' category Environment, factors regarding company operations, such as energy consumption, green-house-gas emissions, water use, impact on biodiversity and material waste are included. Product factors are also assessed, such as the use of the product, the product end-of-life, the customers’ health and safety, and an overview over environmental services and advocacy.
Labour and human rights
Within the category Labour and human rights, EcoVadis assesses employee health and safety, working conditions and career management and training. They also look into human rights, ensuring preventive work against child labour, forced labour, human trafficking, discrimination and harassment.
Ethics
Ethics includes working against corruption and anti-competitive practises. Working with responsible information management is also important for the score in this category.
Sustainable procurement
The Sustainable procurement scoring category secures that the right environmental and social practises are upheld not only by the company but also by its suppliers.
About the scoring criteria
The four categories cover sustainability and social responsibility in a wide and well-defined sense. Through the fourth category, the validation includes the company's whole supply chain. For every criterium, the company has to ensure policies and proof of action to live up to the promises made, together with transparent reporting of the results and adjustments. The validation is made by independent analytics.
Why does Holmen submit to this kind of third party assessment?
“This top ranking by EcoVadis is a strong sales argument for choosing our products and offer”, says Linda Magnusson, sustainability manager at Holmen Board and Paper, “especially since we now have got it seven years in a row.” She continues, “Platinum is a quality stamp, and it proves that you can buy from us or use our papers with confidence and a clear conscience.”
Sustainability is very important for buyers. As many as 91% of the world’s companies take sustainability criteria into account in purchasing decisions, according to HEC Sustainable Procurement Benchmark.
Holmen’s vision is to be the most sustainable supplier of paper – today and tomorrow. “The EcoVadis assessment proves that our long, well-structured improvement work has led to great results within all areas of sustainability. We have our operations under control, and we know this effort is shared throughout the whole organization”, explains Linda Magnusson.
The improvement work is constantly ongoing. “We also value getting this third-party view on how we make progression comparison to global sustainability development. Working sustainably includes being able to act early on topics and issues that are on their way to become more relevant for the future”, she concludes.