Sustainable Involvement
For Aurubis, business success
and responsible conduct
go hand in hand
Hamburg Central Station, 6:30 a.m. Kirsten Kück, Sustainability Manager at Aurubis, waits for her train. She is on her way to a meeting with industry representatives. The topic of today’s discussion: sustainably sourcing and responsibly processing raw materials. She looks forward to the meeting despite the early start because these talks demonstrate the rising interest among a variety of business partners in the many facets of Aurubis’ sustainability activities. Apart from associations, NGOs, and the media, this dialogue increasingly involves investors, customers, and suppliers as well. It’s clear to the Sustainability Manager that a company like Aurubis has stronger competitive advantages when it acts responsibly and is known for this. Kirsten Kück has a lot to talk about.
Our Strategy for More Sustainability
Aurubis revised its Sustainability Strategy in 2018 and established new targets to be achieved by 2023. The Sustainability Strategy is a fixture of the Aurubis corporate strategy. It comprises the three areas of people, the environment, and the economy. These are then broken down into different sub-topics based on focus. The targets vary extensively, from increasing input of complex secondary raw materials to enhancing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions, as well as developing closed-loop systems. Nine targets were defined in total, which are in turn broken down into 27 measures. Aurubis’ objective with the targets is to expand its position as one of the world’s most environmentally friendly and energy-efficient copper smelters.
The topic of responsible sourcing is especially close to the Sustainability Manager’s heart. She knows that responsibility doesn’t end at the plant gates. If a company wants to be seen as a good neighbor or a reliable partner, it has to do its part. At Aurubis, this means continuing to manage its supply chains responsibly, together with the entire sector. It’s possible to implement uniformly high standards in social and environmental issues and anti-corruption in the entire supply chain, but only with a joint effort.
The Aurubis mission “Responsibly transforming raw materials into value to provide metals for an innovative world” was the basis for the new Sustainability Strategy. Aurubis is keen on highlighting its sustainability activities, especially as an energy-intensive company in the basic materials industry. The Group will continue to source raw materials from around the globe, both primary materials from mines and secondary materials from a wide range of recycling sources. Within the scope of the current Group strategy, Aurubis hopes to expand its multi-metal recycling in particular – for an even greater contribution to the circular economy.
“Aurubis intends to expand multi-metal recycling under the current Group strategy.”
A shared understanding
The new Sustainability Strategy is a joint achievement, having been developed by thirty employees from various departments and bodies, among them Accounting, different operating divisions, and the Works Council. Kirsten Kück enjoys this integrative aspect of her work. In her opinion, promoting sustainability requires close cooperation across departments. After all, only through teamwork can a shared understanding of what sustainability is be established and advanced.
Aurubis has systematically structured and expanded its sustainability activities in the past several years. Its involvement started with the first Sustainability Strategy in 2013 and continued with the steady expansion of reporting and participation in different rankings and initiatives such as CDP Climate Change, ISS oekom and EcoVadis.
For Kirsten Kück, the day ends where it started: in Hamburg. The meeting was intense but constructive. Although the day wore her out, she’s happy that the topic of sustainability is developing into a recurring point on the agenda in her dialogue with industry partners in Aurubis’ value chain.
