Reporting the Essential

Trelleborg's Sustainability work focuses on aspects of sustainability that create long-term value, sharpen performance and really matter to our most important stakeholders – Customers, Employees and Shareholders. By asking our external and internal stakeholders what they consider essential, Trelleborg has identified the aspects of concern to feature in our reporting. 


Identifying sustainability concerns
Trelleborg carried out materiality surveys to identify stakeholders’ prime concerns within sustainability. The outcome highlights issues such as the use of hazardous chemicals, energy consumption and emissions to air and water, as well as the importance of a safe workplace and good relations with the community.

 

The aspects and KPIs of sustainability considered most important by external and internal stakeholders have been incorporated into our focus areas to guide performance and reporting.

Illustration of the globe

Stakeholder engagement focusing on the essential

The pandemic no longer disrupted Trelleborg in carrying out and developing stakeholder engagement in 2021, and more activities could be performed than the year before.

 

Trelleborg’s stakeholder engagement 2021
Engagement remained dominated by the key group “Shareholders and investors” with higher activity in the banking sector, and was stimulated by new elements, such as the new EU Taxonomy, and Trelleborg’s first issue of a green bond in August 2021. Activities among customers also increased with a high number of and more detailed surveys and questionnaires in the area.


Other areas that were mainly highlighted by the various stakeholders during the year were:

  • The company’s handling of climate change, including achieving climate targets
  • Circularity in materials handling and business models
  • Management of sustainability-related risk, including various types of climate risks

 

Materiality: Evaluation/analysis and new model
Trelleborg’s overall priorities for its sustainability activities were, as usual, evaluated. In October 2021, exercises were again conducted with about 40 students from Örebro University from the master’s program in Sustainable business, where they evaluated the content of Trelleborg’s latest Sustainability Report from the perspective of various key stakeholder groups. This took place as three-day workshops when the students were introduced to the report and then commented on and criticized the report. Common areas for views were raw materials/circularity, chemicals, diversity and inclusion and the supply chain.

 

The views collected from the stakeholder dialog, evaluation and the new risk analysis were addressed during work on the 2021 Sustainability Report.

 

Trelleborg prepared a new model during the year due to the future regulations on how materiality analysis are to be performed.

 

This new model is based on:

  • Identifying material sustainability aspects
  • Risks and impact of material aspects
  • Activities to address aspects

 

Identifying aspects. Materiality at a general level has been evaluated by Trelleborg since 2020 in accordance with the UN SDGs and two different dimensions:

  • How do Trelleborg’s operations impact people and environment?
  • How are Trelleborg’s business and operations impacted by sustainability issues?

 

Trelleborg’s risks and impact on people and the environment. Material aspects of Trelleborg’s risks and impact on the environment and people are described in the Sustainability Report together with preventive and corrective action.

 

Impact on business and operations. Material aspects of how sustainability issues impact Trelleborg’s business and operations via risks and other effects are presented in the sustainability report. The risk analysis – particularly the long-term – was improved in 2021 using a new climate-related scenario description according to the TCFD’s recommendations. The analysis incorporates both how transition risks and physical risks could impact business and the operations.

 

Climate change is high on Trelleborg’s strategic agenda, as it is for most manufacturing companies. The material aspects of climate change involve physical and business risks for the operations related to both preventive measures and climate adjustments, and reducing the climate impact of the operations across the entire value chain.

 

Activities carried out by Trelleborg have been clearly decentralized to the business area level based on the Protecting the Essential sustainability strategy as regards both tailoring the agenda and actual planning and implementation of improvement activities. Climate change can, for example, be divided into energy-related activities – meaning improved energy efficiency and transitioning the operations’ energy supply toward renewable energy sources – and materials activities, meaning primarily transitioning the operations’ materials supply toward greater circularity.

Sustainability framework

Internally, the basis of Trelleborg’s work on sustainability issues is the Group’s Code of Conduct, the content of which is built upon globally recognized guidelines such as UN Human Rights principles. 


Externally, the reporting on sustainability is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). From 2019, there are also clear references to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the 17 goals in Agenda 2030. 

Trelleborg and the value chain

In 2020, Trelleborg conducted its first assessment in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the area of sustainability-related risk along the value chain and own impact on surroundings. All 169 UN targets were assessed in relation to the risks and impact Trelleborg’s activities cause.


The image shows goals where risk/impact are considered high or medium-high, by weighing both the factors severity and likelihood of occurring.