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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE PROTECTION 23

ENVIRONMENTAL MAN-

AGEMENT AND CLIMATE

PROTECTION

[GRI 103 ] The management is acutely conscious of its responsibility to effectively and sustainably reduce the
environmental impact from the business activities of the RAFI Group. This awareness spurred the company
management to implement an environmental management system according to ISO 14001 some 10 years
ago. RAFI undergoes regular certification processes, from which it derives its short and medium-term
environmental goals. When making any investments and when operating our plants, we pay close attention
to systematic improvement of energy efficiency and use regular reviews to evaluate our actions. In this
context, we are in 2023 introducing an energy management system certified according to ISO 50001 at
our European locations. We are committed to the climate protection goals and are taking effective
initiatives to reduce the greenhouse gases we emit on a lasting basis. A strategic near-term goal is
the establishment of a realistic roadmap to carbon neutrality. To ensure that information is exchanged
with the Board of Directors, overall responsibility for environmental protection as well as occupational health
and safety lies with the central department under direct management of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

3.1 Criteria and measures
[SDG 13, GRI 307 ] Protecting the envi- tential in transport and packaging. To do this, we in-
ronment and preventing environmental volve our suppliers and customers wherever possi-
pollution play an essential role for RAFI. ble in setting up transport and packaging systems
For this reason, environmental responsi- that conserve resources ( see 4.2).
bility, sustainable management, and con- To evaluate the defined environmental targets, RAFI
tinuous reduction of the consumption of resources collects data on the generation and consumption of
are key criteria in our corporate decision-making. To energy, heating, and cooling, as well as the recycling
embed these guiding principles in our daily business rate and the amount of waste generated ( see 3.2
activities and to make them measurable and verifi- and 4.1.1). The data is determined on a site-specific
able, we have implemented an environmental man- basis using calibrated measuring systems of the sup-
agement system in accordance with ISO 14001 at ply and disposal companies. We also use on-site
our locations worldwide. Within this framework, we measuring systems for detailed data collection and
define the environmental targets for materials and precise, local evaluation. [GRI 302-4 ] To improve
assign them to the relevant departments annually ( the energy balance of our buildings and production
see 3.2). For the systematic documentation and sites, we ensure all new buildings are designed ac-
more efficient use of energy flows, we are introduc- cording to today’s energy standards. We also equip
ing an energy management system certified accord- existing buildings with solutions that reduce con-
ing to ISO 50001 at our European production loca- sumption – such as by converting lighting systems to
tions in 2023. Environmental aspects are taken into energy-saving LED technology. In the selection and
account and investigated in the development of both qualification of our numerous suppliers, we take
RAFI products and custom products. We use recy- guidance from verifiable requirements such as the
cled or recyclable materials in production wherever ESG standards for sustainable corporate governance
possible ( see 4.1). In consultation with our stake- ( see 2.2.2).
holders, we seek to leverage additional savings po-