Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) at BARTEC

Why are the areas of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) important for BARTEC and how do they fit in with the company's goals and values?

Taking responsibility in every area of activity has been an integral part of BARTEC's DNA since the company was founded. In the development and manufacturing of explosion-proof technology, protecting people, the environment, and assets is always our top priority. It is both a guiding principle and our core business. This is omnipresent in practice. It starts with individual employees paying attention to saving electricity consumption and ideally permeates all value-added processes, such as purchasing, development, production and sales.

As the new ESG-Manager at BARTEC, what is your vision for the future development of the company's ESG initiatives?

​​​​​​​There are already some good approaches, projects and initiatives. From a global perspective, BARTEC entities are still very heterogeneous in specific areas of organizational structure. Here we want to extend transferable best practice examples from individual companies to others and in this way harmonize processes in a meaningful way, but also retain and efficiently use positive special features. We want to continue to take clear steps towards a sustainable future. In concrete terms, this initially means establishing processes to meet the reporting requirements of the EU's Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD). To this end, we are currently pooling a great deal of background information from various BARTEC companies and locations to evaluate this in a targeted manner with the necessary specialist colleagues and to formulate further ambitious and achievable goals for ONEBARTEC.

Can you tell us about your new role as ESG-Manager at BARTEC and what responsibilities and challenges that entails?

My task is to implement the complex and extensive requirements arising from EU regulations in close cooperation with my colleagues and using their specialist knowledge from the various departments and locations. The interdisciplinary nature of the task is not fundamentally new to me. As Legal Counsel, interdisciplinary exchange - be it when drafting an individual agreement or carrying out a joint risk assessment - is a regular part of the job. However, the scope of the project, the number of stakeholders involved and the central responsibility for it are a new challenge that I am very happy to take on. I am grateful and pleased that BARTEC has placed this trust in me and awarded me with this task.

In which areas is BARTEC planning to strengthen its ESG initiatives or develop new initiatives? Can you tell us about the status of ESG projects at BARTEC and what progress has been made so far?

BARTEC plans to strengthen its initiatives in the full range of topics E, S and G - i.e. Environment, Social and Governance - and to develop new initiatives. In the area of governance, BARTEC has long had strict rules on business practices, responsibility towards employees and product quality standards. A new Code of Conduct for suppliers and business partners in supplier management has also been in use since last year. This sets out the minimum requirements in areas E, S and G - for example for our suppliers and their suppliers. Furthermore, there has already been a preliminary study on the main effects of climate change on BARTEC's business activities and vice versa. This study provides an initial overview of the status quo and thus provides a starting point for further considerations and measures. Recently, the central site in Bad Mergentheim switched to a new, sustainable packaging method (mentioned in Newsletter 01/24). In the context of social responsibility, I immediately think of the long-standing “Creative Minds” program, in which BARTEC supports pupils from the region with their creative ideas. Various studies on potential sustainability investments have also been carried out. The focus here is on the energy supply options, primarily for energy-intensive production sites. As mentioned above, we collect information from the Group on a large scale to use the consolidated knowledge to create an overarching report and jointly define a target horizon. To take one example: Based on the energy management system in Bad Mergentheim, we have prepared templates for reporting relevant data on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for all sites. This information will be a key factor in determining a reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions.

How does BARTEC plan to strengthen or expand cooperation with partners, suppliers and other stakeholders in ESG?

In addition to internationally recognized standards, we also focus on the special needs and requirements of our investors and clients in this context. The implementation of EU regulations is not only a major challenge, but also an equally great opportunity for further development and orientation for the future. The business branch, which is closely linked to the oil industry, will be subject to major changes in the long term. Entirely new business areas will be developed, for example in connection with liquefied natural gas (“LNG”). Our suppliers play a central role here, upstream in the figurative flow of value creation, so that the range of information exchange must be expanded quickly and intensively. The necessary structures and tools for supplier management are currently being expanded and integrated.

Does BARTEC's ESG strategy influence employee loyalty and motivation?

In my opinion, a meaningful ESG strategy can only have positive effects in terms of motivating and retaining employees. We create a common understanding of the reality we face, both outside BARTEC in the form of the environment and regulations, customers, suppliers and other partners, and within BARTEC in the form of the central collection and communication of relevant information. In this way, we ensure a common vision in line with ONEBARTEC. The better the employees can form a positive picture of the future of BARTEC and their involvement in it, the more motivated they will be to provide long-term support. I am convinced that with this new task we will be able to inspire many existing and future employees for BARTEC.