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Scholle IPN European Manufacturing Site Awarded Gold Medal from EcoVadis

January 26, 2022

Scholle IPN is proud to share that our Jellinghaus plant in the Netherlands received a gold medal from EcoVadis. EcoVadis is a sustainability assessment tool that rates a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how well they’ve incorporated the values of their CSR into their workflow. Over 85,000 companies in 160 countries turn to EcoVadis to gauge their sustainability performance.

Our gold medal designation puts the Jellinghaus plant in the top 5% of all companies assessed by EcoVadis. That means our practices and policies demonstrate a proactive approach to responsible sourcing and that our commitment to sustainability is demonstrably robust.

Ecovadis Award

Sustainability in Action

We worked with EcoVadis to evaluate Scholle IPN’s sustainability infrastructure. We understand that simply writing down our views on sustainability isn’t enough, so we asked EcoVadis to come in and make sure our stated values aligned with our practices. EcoVadis developed an assessment tool specific to the Jellinghaus plant, and gave us a score based on four key metrics:
Ecovadis Score

  • Environment
  • Labor & Human Rights
  • Ethics
  • Sustainable Procurement

“I am extremely proud of our plant and our EcoVadis results,” says Dane Huveneers, HR advisor at Jellinghaus. “We’ve been working with EcoVadis for several years. We’re seeing a shift in demand in terms of CSR systems and we’re aiming to be a lead example of sustainability and corporate responsibility.”

Previously, the Jellinghaus plant was awarded a silver medal, putting the plant in the top 15% of all businesses evaluated by EcoVadis. This year we decided to take our commitment to the next level, working diligently to improve internal systems and educate ourselves on industry best practices. “Finally, after long months of collecting data and improving our policies and matching them to actionable items,” says Huveneers, “we were able to jump from the top 15% to the top 5%.”

Exceeding Customer Expectations

EcoVadis reports are used by companies looking to build new partnerships. According to the HEC Sustainable Procurement Benchmark, “91% of companies take sustainability criteria into account in purchasing decisions.” Working with EcoVadis has helped us in two ways: one, we were able to take their feedback and make meaningful improvements; two, we can show our customers that our commitment to sustainability is tangible and quantifiable. This certification gives customers a clear measure of how we implement sustainable ideas into our business.

Like many of the certifications our plants have received in the last few years, our EcoVadis assessment was voluntary. The reason we decided this was important is because sustainability is such a vital part of what we do at Scholle IPN. We want to make sure we’re doing things right and can communicate that to our customers.

Huveneers hopes that the Jellinghaus plant will continue to work and improve its sustainability practices. “We’re going for the prestigious platinum medal next time and hope that we’ll continue to learn more about building sustainable systems and aid our other Dutch and global facilities in doing the same.”