At GROHE, sustainability is a corporate value with a tradition and a future. The world's leading supplier of water fittings is committed to enhancing and optimizing sustainability at all its worldwide locations on an ongoing basis. Being an integral element of the company's growth strategy, sustainability forms part of all processes, activities and products. GROHE has now published its first Sustainability Report, which highlights not only the company's long-standing experience and expertise in this field but also its ability to innovate and its focus on the future. At the same time, GROHE is the first company in this industry to issue a declaration of conformity with the German Sustainability Code, thereby providing comprehensive insight into its activities in this field. As the market leader and pioneer in the water fittings industry, GROHE is setting global standards. The company assumes responsibility for the environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability and embraces challenges such as local water shortages, the move towards green energy and demographic change. This kind of commitment is also widely recognized outside the water fittings industry, as evidenced by the fact that GROHE was among the top 3 companies in the "Resource Efficiency" category of the 2014 German Sustainability Award and is one of four nominees in the "Germany's most sustainable large corporations" category of the 2015 Awards. The inaugural Sustainability Report marks a new milestone in the history of the company. It was prepared in accordance with the fourth and latest version of the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative. The GRI has developed a framework for sustainability reporting that is applied worldwide. Key sections of the report cover sustainable fields of activity, products and processes, employees, customers and suppliers as well as social responsibility. Among the examples presented in detail are the GROHE Blue water system designed to save up to 86 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, the GROHE Light alloy with a reduced lead content as well as the GROHE EcoJoy technologies, capable of reducing water consumption by as much as 50 percent. Other approaches go far beyond environmentally compatible production and sustainable products. These include the internal contest for the "GROHE SustainAbility Trophy", the GROHE Water & Energy Audits on green buildings and the cooperation with Don Bosco Mondo e.V., in the context of which GROHE offers qualified plumber training programmes for young people in developing countries. Based on the Sustainability Report, GROHE has also issued a declaration of compliance with the German Sustainability Code, which has been accepted in full. Comprising the core sections "Strategy", "Process Management", "Environment" and "Society", the declaration provides detailed information on the sanitary manufacturer's multi-faceted sustainable activities. The declaration includes both plain language explanations and the figures and numbers to back them up, thereby creating the highest possible level of transparency and comparability to promote general compliance with the sustainability principle and provide all stakeholders with meaningful decision-making aids. For detailed information, visit www.deutscher-nachhaltigkeitskodex.de. GROHE remains committed to the efficient use of resources, a healthy environment and a future with a high quality of life.
