OUR COMMITMENT FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.
We have turned our ambitions into defined goals.
SOCIAL
Sustainability begins with us. Our company is dedicated to promoting environmental awareness not only through our products but also through our most important resource: our employees.
Despite being a global business, we maintain deep local roots. As members of a community, we believe that it is our responsibility to take actions that protect our home and enable its community to thrive.
Schwan Cosmetics is dedicated to promoting inclusivity and diversity, striving to create opportunities for underrepresented groups.
Gender equality in leadership is a strategic goal for Schwan Cosmetics. One of the initiatives we employ to support women is MentorMe, Germany's leading professional mentoring program.
Our goal is to achieve equal pay for all genders by FY 2026/27, with 91% already achieved in FY 2022/23.
We prioritize employee training and development to empower our employees. Our regular training sessions cover essential areas such as safety, hygiene, environmental practices, and cyber security with a total of 67,809 hours of training conducted worldwide in FY 2022/23.
Our annual evaluations provide valuable feedback to employees, and we offer specialized leadership training programs. Our retirement plans have part-time options, and we offer flexible working opportunities to support employee well-being and productivity.
We support non-profit organizations, NGOs, and local community initiatives, while also promoting citizenship programs. Our employees engage in various activities, including initiatives to promote education and healthcare for children, as well as providing support for women and vulnerable groups.
ENVIRONMENT
Our goal is not only to improve our company and our products, but also to have a positive impact on the world as a whole. Through programs and actions that go beyond our business, we protect what is greater than what we produce.
That is why we are also members of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), which helps us monitor our ongoing efforts.
Our goal is to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. We will achieve this through a variety of measures to help reduce CO2 emissions, including regular reporting, decarbonization strategies and offsetting measures (Scope 1,2,3).
We actively monitor and manage water-related factors and continuously assess our water consumption. By the end of FY 2024/25, we aim to reduce total water consumption by 10%.
Our goal is to eliminate hazardous waste from landfills and reduce non-hazardous waste by the end of FY 2024/25 through the reduction, reuse, and recycling of materials.
Due to the nature and setup of our operations, Schwan Cosmetics has a low impact on biodiversity.
Our facilities are designed with sustainability in mind — compact size and height to minimize our physical presence. We prioritize efficient use of space, minimizing land use and avoiding unnecessary disruption to ecosystems. All our facilities are in areas specifically designated as commercial zones, which do not include areas with nature conservation requirements.
Schwan Cosmetics CR is committed to planting 1 tree for every million pencils produced. As part of this goal, the company has planted over 3,000 trees since 2017 and was awarded the “Golden Spade” by The Plant the Future initiative. Our employees and their families regularly participate in tree planting activities.
SUSTAINABLE SOURCING
Sustainability is not just about nature, but also about people. We ensure that everything that goes into our products meets our standards and aligns with our values.
By complying with all the legal requirements of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, or LkSG), we ensure that our Supplier Code of Conduct, Social Compliance, and Sustainable Sourcing standards are also implemented by our suppliers.
Suppliers located in high-risk countries must be members of the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI). This global coalition aims to create a fair, sustainable mica supply chain in Jharkhand and Bihar, India. Schwan Cosmetics has been a founding RMI member since 2016.
Palm oil is primarily produced in Malaysia and Indonesia. To ensure compliance with local social and environmental standards, our suppliers must demonstrate that their products are sustainably produced in accordance with the standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Compliance is verified in annual audits. Schwan Cosmetics currently uses 90% RSPO-certified raw materials and aims to reach 100% by the end of financial year 2024/25.
Wood has always been the material of choice for traditional sharpenable pencils. Wooden sharpenable cosmetic pencils still play an important role in our product range. As of this fiscal year, we have switched to 100% FSC and PEFS certified wood to ensure sustainability and responsible forestry.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
By transforming our portfolio into a clean and transparent one, we are developing the sustainable solutions of the future, without compromising on performance, including packaging, formula, and sampling processes.
Our sustainability objectives guide the development of new products that are aligned with our shared goals to make our portfolio sustainable.
Our approach to formula development focuses on the use of natural ingredients. We measure the amount of natural ingredients in our formulations using the Natural Origin Content (NOC) metric according to ISO 16128. Our goal is to achieve a NOC of 75% for all new formulations by the end of FY 2024/25.
We aim to offer 100% environmentally improved alternatives within our portfolio technologies by the end of FY 2027/28. This will involve reducing weight and size, providing refillable, rechargeable, and reusable packaging options, and using bio-based and recycled materials.
Our goal is to make sustainability customer-centric by allowing them to choose sustainable packaging options tailored to their needs.
Our goal is to reduce the amount of virgin fossil plastic used in our secondary packaging materials by 25% by the end of FY 2023/24. We plan to achieve this by either reducing the use of plastic or by replacing it with post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials. In addition, we aim to use 100% FSC-certified cardboard for our secondary packaging materials.