Leonhard Kurz receive bronze medal by EcoVadis

Leonhard Kurz has achieved above-average results in the current EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment Report in all four audited areas – environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement earning the company the bronze medal.

Leonhard Kurz has achieved above-average results in the current EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment Report earning the company the bronze medal
The environmental experts at EcoVadis, a provider of sustainability ratings, praised the fact that ‘Leonhard Kurz is actively working on further improving its sustainability management system’. 
 
Ralph Hopfensitz, Senior Vice President at Kurz, explained: ‘This award is an important milestone for us. With our vision “Be a green leader”, we strive to put our own products and production on a green foundation. This also signals to our customers that we are the right partner for meeting the increasing demands on sustainable surface finishing.’ 
 
As sustainable business management can be multifaceted, EcoVadis has defined four core issues to examine as part of its extensive company reviews. These are Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. Within these four dimensions, energy requirements and emissions are reviewed, for example, and the materials used and product lifetimes are also analyzed. In addition, the focus is on protecting employees and their working conditions, on complying with anti-corruption regulations, and on other partners along the value chain. 
 
Environmental aspects and human rights are particularly important in the EcoVadis ranking - they are given special weight and therefore have a significant impact on the overall result. Kurz received a good rating for its numerous sustainability initiatives that it has driven forward in recent years.    
 
As a family-owned company with locations all over the world, Kurz invests heavily in its sustainability strategy. The aim is to assume social responsibility and meet the increasing demands of partners and customers alike. To this end, products, processes, and the company itself are being made even more sustainable.  
 
Kurz is committed to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, among others, and provided information for the first time about the current status of their implementation in a sustainability report published in 2022. A new photovoltaic system was also put into operation this year at the company's site in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Bavaria, following two years of planning and construction. In total, around 14 million kilowatt hours of electricity will be produced there in an environmentally friendly manner, which in turn covers a quarter of the local demand. Further photovoltaic systems are already being planned at the headquarters in Fürth.  
 
In terms of its products, Kurz has only recently introduced Recosys take-back and recycling program. This gives customers the opportunity to return any residual materials to Kurz, which are then processed into new raw materials in the company's own recycling center. Another environmental innovation is Recopound recycled granulate made from customer PET production waste. By using the recycled material, up to 40 percent CO 2 can be saved compared to new material. The declared aim for the future is to reuse the recycled PET carrier for the production of new transfer carriers.