WIKUS Earns EcoVadis Certification Once Again: More Sustainability in the Global Supply Chain

WIKUS-Sägenfabrik Wilhelm H. Kullmann GmbH Co. KG has once again been awarded the bronze label by the globally recognized CSR rating agency EcoVadis in 2023, once again proving itself to be a sustainable partner for customers and suppliers with an improved overall score out of almost 100,000 companies evaluated.

January 15, 2024: On October 30, 2023, the rating agency EcoVadis awarded WIKUS the bronze medal for sustainable and ethical business and procurement activities in the interests of customers and the environment for the second time since 2021. The platform gave WIKUS a better rating than 56% of the approximately 100,000 companies participating worldwide. The rating focuses on the areas corresponding to the ESG aspects of environmental, social, and governance.

“In all four categories of environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement, WIKUS performed above the industry average,” says Niklas Rohde, expert for management systems and quality management at WIKUS. “Receiving our second EcoVadis medal in a row makes us proud and reassures us and, above all, our customers and partners that we are on the right track.”

A win for the environment and customers

Sustainable business practices in all areas of the company are part of WIKUS’ strategy. The company is currently working towards achieving certification in accordance with the DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system in the coming year.

The criteria for a positive assessment by EcoVadis are, in particular, the anchoring of CSR principles in the company, regular independent audits, and the setting, tracking, and active communication of progress towards the company’s own sustainability goals (SDGs, Sustainability Development Goals).

“This is something WIKUS always has in mind. Compared to 2021, we were able to improve our overall EcoVadis score to 53 points in 2023, with the largest increase in points in the area of environment,” adds Rohde

With this award, EcoVadis is primarily recognizing the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) at WIKUS in its entirety, from applicant management and employee health protection to a more sustainable supply chain. “It is important to us that we also support our customers in achieving their sustainability goals,” says Tobias Blumenstein, Key Account Manager International at WIKUS. “We are also implementing measures to increase sustainability at our site in Spangenberg. For example, we have been using renewable energies there for almost 15 years with our photovoltaic system, which produces around 340,000 kWh of electrical energy per year. This saves us around 235.9 tons of CO² per year. EcoVadis also acknowledged our measures to reduce our natural gas consumption. In 2022, we were able to reduce this by around 31% compared to the previous year by building a local heating pipeline, among other measures.”

About EvoVadis

EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of sustainability ratings for companies, was founded in 2007 and has a global network of more than 100,000 rated companies (as of 2023). EcoVadis supports these companies in monitoring their CSR scorecards and the environmental, ethical , and social practices of their suppliers in more than 175 countries. The EcoVadis rating is thus one of the world's most important indicators for evaluating sustainability as well as environmental and social practices in companies and is based on international CSR standards, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Global Compact principles, the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Global Reporting Initiative, the ISO 26000 standard, and the CERES principles.