Our guiding principles for a sustainable development
Supporting social engagement and developing a sensitivity for the environment are important tasks for an enterprise. They have an important share in actively and permanently securing the corporation’s readiness for the future. Steilmann has developed a set of guidelines to inform both employees and customers about the Group’s policy in this respect.
2. Ambient Effects
Our objective is to reduce or to avoid environmental pollution in all areas along the textile production chain as well as over the whole life-cycle of our products. This shall be achieved under consideration of an efficient, intelligent, and conscious use of resources. Wherever possible, recycling principles will be considered.
3. Consumer Protection (Product Safety)
The origin of the materials to be processed and their effects on humans and environment are strictly controlled beyond the existing legislation. By this, we contribute to the improvement of health and consumer protection.
4. Public Information
Both by general coverage in the media and publication of our business reports, environment reports and declarations, and persistency reports we inform our employees, customers and suppliers as well as an interested public about the latest developments in our activities concerning ambient protection, social engagement, and business.
5. Research
Our know-how in environmental matters is constantly growing. We initiate and collaborate in research projects or participate in the research activities of other institutions or associations such as the European Union. We support strategic alliances with regard to ambient matters and consider the co-operation with national and international organisations for environment protection to be of paramount importance.
6. Co-operation
Through the transfer of knowledge and technology, our know-how is made available to production sites and suppliers abroad. We support the development of a market and environment-oriented business management as well as vocational instruction and training, especially in Eastern Europe.
7. Environmental Management
Our ecological and ambient situation is continuously improved with the help of an efficient environmental management system. Regular internal audits—among others—help advancing the development of our environmental programmes.
8. Customers and Suppliers
Work processes with our customers and suppliers are kept transparent. This allows us to set new social, environmental, and economic standards in product development, production, and distribution right down to product care and final disposal.
9. Integrated Social Responsibility
Of course, respecting elementary human and employees’ rights is a prerequisite for us and for any of our partnerships. These standards are laid down explicitly in the Steilmann Code of Conduct, the compliance with which is controlled on a regular basis.
10. Quality
The demands on the quality of our products are high, and we not only want to to maintain that standard of quality, but to improve it continually with the help of our quality management system. Through process-oriented innovation we develop new and above all persistent design and product evaluation standards. With our continuous improvements on the quality of our products we fulfill our customers’ expectations.
11. Investments
In all our economic and managerial decisions about architecture, equipment and tooling, ecological criteria are considered. Care and modernisation of our buildings and plants are as much part of these considerations as is a persistent future-oriented investment policy.
