Our sustainability course
The transformation process
Our vision and our mission (see intro) summarise the three central pillars of sustainability – environment, people and sustainable economic activity – in clear statements. They serve as a compass for us, pointing the way forward for our sustainability strategy and the transformation process we have embarked upon – both internally and externally. At the same time, they provide the framework for the areas of activity on which we are focusing and that are essential to our company.
Identification
of material sustainability topics
The pursuit of greater sustainability has been a part of Jokey’s DNA since its inception. We began promoting a circular economy early on, for example by reprocessing our own production waste when manufacturing plastic packaging. Or by using recycled buckets, which we first launched on the market in 1991 – at that time with insufficient market acceptance. In the noughties, we drafted our first internal sustainability strategy, which we have since continued to develop in the form of the Jokey Eco Concept. At its core, it has always been about energy efficiency, resource-saving production and promoting a genuine circular economy. To this end, we have increasingly networked with other players with our expertise. We got involved early on in all areas where collection systems, recycling management and the assumption of 360° responsibility beyond our own products were actively being developed – in Germany and worldwide. For example, we joined the Eco-Design for Plastic Packaging Round Table in 2014. With the aim of making plastic packaging recyclable while at the same time meeting the challenge of ensuring supplies to an increasing number of people worldwide.
Constant dialogue with a large number of network partners, initiatives and industry associations has repeatedly shown us how important joint action and thinking outside the box are in order to be able to address sustainability issues and the fields of action that arise from them. After all, products can only be successful if the issues of climate protection, environmental protection, the circular economy and social responsibility are incorporated along the entire value chain.
In April 2022, all Jokey employees throughout the group received a strategy paper entitled “The future beyond tomorrow”. It sets out Jokey’s sustainability course up to 2030. This also includes the specific targets defined together with WWF Germany to achieve the 1.5°C target of the Paris Climate Agreement and balance sheet climate neutrality in the long term. All the work packages launched together with WWF Germany have now been implemented, and the respective progress is determined in regular meetings. We are currently working with the NGO to develop possible new training programmes on the topic of sustainability for our Jokey Academy, which are designed to further raise our employees’ awareness. Furthermore, we are actively promoting a functioning plastic recycling economy together. We have already initiated individual projects in some areas. In addition, we have started a WWF Germany-supported coaching programme on biodiversity and water risks along our supply chains.
The objectives listed in the following topics are constantly reviewed. In doing so, we continue to focus on the central areas of action for us across the group, which are primarily based on the effects of our economic activities. In accordance with the Universal Standards 2021 of the Global Reporting Initiative, we have recorded and presented the topics relevant to us along our value chain in detail. Five topics form the basis for measuring progress:
- Climate and energy
- Resources and circular economy
- Product benefits and design
- People at Jokey
- Sustainable procurement
Which SDGs can we contribute to
Overview of sustainability goals
We identify and address the key areas for action based on the 2030 Agenda, the programme for the future adopted by the United Nations to promote the SDGs. It is aimed at all stakeholders in the international community from the fields of politics, business, science and civil society, calling on them to align their actions and activities with economic, ecological and social aspects. Industrialised and emerging countries play a pioneering role in achieving sustainability goals. Jokey is guided by these SDGs, will gradually integrate them into its holistic sustainability strategy and record its progress in various reporting formats. Initially, we are focusing on the following sustainability goals (SDGs):
SDG 3: Here, the health and well-being of all people is the central concern. Plastic packaging supports these aspects because it protects food and other valuable goods, such as those from the healthcare sector, from spoilage, damage and contamination. Quality and hygiene remain guaranteed even over long transport distances. Hazardous goods are also safely sealed in plastic packaging – for the protection of people and the environment. In our day-to-day work, we contribute to this SDG with our high standards of occupational safety and production conditions (see also under People at Jokey) and continuously develop measures to improve them.
- For example, Jokey UK now has five MHFA first aiders. They have been trained as part of the “Mental Health First Aid” programme. The aim is to identify mental health problems in employees at an early stage so that support and assistance can be provided.
- In addition, ISO 45001 certification for all Jokey plants is planned as part of the Vision 0-0-0, which also includes the introduction of an occupational health and safety management programme.
SDG 4: Access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities create the basis for sustainable development. Jokey places a high value on high-quality training and continuing education.
- The Jokey Sustainability Course 2030, implemented during the reporting period, has since been accompanied by numerous employee training courses at the Jokey Academy, which was also launched in 2022. These courses communicate and deepen the sustainability topics addressed.
- Donations also go to educational projects, preferably in the regions where our plants are located.
- A long-term donation project was initiated in 2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal (see also under Our sustainability engagement). It aims to provide access to education for children and young people from poor, underprivileged families. In an initial step, Jokey has taken on both school sponsorships and donations, among other things, for purchases and improvements to the school infrastructure.
SDG 5: We strive for gender equality in principle in all Jokey plants. In recent years, we have been able to fill some central management positions with women (see also Business metrics overview). Overall, we still see potential here.
- Diversity is not only appreciated at Jokey, but explicitly desired. That is why we have explicitly included this concern in our Code of Conduct, which will be implemented in 2023.
- Awareness training courses, which have been launched at Jokey Ibérica, for example, are a further measure on the topic of gender equality.
SDG 8: Sustainable economic growth, full employment and decent work for all – as an internationally operating family business, we have anchored these aspects in our corporate values. Among other things, this is demonstrated by our commitment to the Global Compact, Sedex auditing in accordance with SMETA and our supplier assessment since 2022.
- We submitted an annual progress report (Communication on Progress/CoP) for the first time during the reporting period as part of our membership of Global Compact Deutschland. We also fulfilled this obligation in 2023 (see under Our sustainability engagement).
SDG 9: Jokey relies on innovation to promote stable infrastructures and sustainable industrialisation. Whether climate targets, 360° projects such as Closed Loops or our Eco Design, which is geared towards a circular economy – all fields of action of the Jokey Eco Concept contribute to this SDG, because it stands for a future-proof and sustainable business model.
- In 2024, we updated the Eco Concept: Version 4.0 contains five additional fields of action and includes the new Eco Digital pillar.
- We are in close contact with key suppliers and network partners to jointly drive forward innovations and the expansion of sustainable infrastructures. For example, in the 2022 reporting period, we launched a new closed-loop project for non-food packaging in Germany together with a waste disposal company (see also Eco Concept > Secondary raw materials).
- Also in 2022, we launched a joint research project with the Institute for Plastics and Circular Economy (IKK) to explore ways of extracting and reusing recycled polypropylene (rPP) from food-grade rigid packaging (see also Eco Concept > New plastics for food packaging).
- As part of this research project, a further closed loop has been developed in cooperation with a German waste management company. The aim is to establish a closed-loop system exclusively in the food sector.
- Our research and development department is continuously exploring ways to further reduce our ecological footprint. For example, Jokey Ibérica has recently introduced new, rectangular containers for the food industry that require less raw material input and thus additionally save weight.
SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production – Jokey is committed to the circular economy, which we want to promote worldwide wherever possible. All fields of action of our Eco Concept are geared to this (see Eco Concept). At the strategy level, we are contributing to a CO2 reduction path by 2030. Eco Resources and Eco Design create the conditions for closed loops at the product level.
- In 2023, we expanded our portfolio to include the reusable service packaging division. With our own brand KeepIn, we offer service packaging for the to-go sector. In spring 2023, Jokey Ibérica started delivering recyclable reusable packaging for the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
- In 2023, Jokey Poland received its first orders from ten major customers in the non-food industry for plastic buckets containing PCR.
- In addition, we have implemented internal Eco-Design guidelines for our products throughout the group.
- A “Customer Sustainability Guide” is to be rolled out at the end of 2024.
- In addition, we want to achieve the highest level of security and transparency with a constant stream of new certifications and re-certifications.
SDG 13: Measures to combat climate change and its effects – the Jokey Eco Concept, with its fields of action geared towards CO2 reduction and a circular economy, contributes to this SDG, as does our entire sustainability strategy with its targets up to 2030.
- During the reporting period, Jokey signed the Commitment Letter of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
- In 2023, we submitted our interim targets, the near-term targets, to the SBTi for assessment and validation (see also under Our sustainability engagement).
- The switch to green electricity saves additional CO2 emissions: Since the beginning of 2023, Jokey Beograd has converted the energy supply of the entire plant to green electricity, and in 2024, the plant’s own photovoltaic power plant is to be added.
- Jokey Ibérica also received a new photovoltaic system in 2023.
- Some Jokey plants have switched to all-electric injection moulding machines as part of our Vision 0-0-0, significantly reducing their energy requirements.
- We continue to implement sustainability in our own company with many small steps and ideas: for example, all Jokey Poland employees have been given reusable water bottles. This has reduced the annual consumption of disposable plastic cups by approximately 100,000 units.
- At our German locations, all employees who own a company vehicle have received recommendations for reducing CO2.
SDG 14: We have joined various initiatives to protect the oceans, seas and their resources, including Waste Free Oceans (see also Measures and projects to promote the circular economy). With group-wide initiatives such as “Zero Pellet Loss” or the annual Jokey Cleanup Day, we want to sensitise and actively support our employees, their private environment, but also the public, to the topic of waste avoidance.
- In spring 2023, we aligned the date of our annual waste collection campaign with World Cleanup Day and extended it to all Jokey plants worldwide for the first time. In doing so, we are taking a stand against the littering of our planet.
SDG 17: Global partnerships are essential to continually reinvigorate sustainable development. We believe that the ecological and social challenges can only be solved through the interaction of all members of the value chain. What applies to Jokey Werke also applies to our networks: they are geared towards diversity. We are therefore open to those who think differently and seek dialogue with critical stakeholders as well – including a strategic partnership with WWF Germany.
- For example, we have undergone multiple sustainability assessments by external partners. In 2023, Jokey underwent a group-wide sustainability rating by the Eco Vadis rating platform for the first time, after the German plants had already completed the rating. For this, we were awarded the bronze rank at the beginning of 2024.
- During the reporting period, various customer surveys and interviews on sustainability assessments also took place.
- Also in 2022, the Jokey sales team travelled around Sweden with our mobile showroom and our partner Tara Pac to inform customers about the topics of sustainability and recycling, PCR in the non-food sector, and chemical recyclates for the food sector.
The Jokey Eco Concept 4.0
Our sustainability programme
Since 2017, we have developed our own sustainability programme, which also serves as an action plan on the road to maximum CO2 reduction. As a work-in-progress project, we are systematically expanding it. It is now available in its fourth generation as Eco Concept 4.0. Since the first edition of the Eco Concept, Jokey has continuously developed its products, also in close cooperation with its customers, to meet the requirements of the circular economy. Likewise, in cooperation with WWF Germany, we have set ourselves the long-term goal of achieving the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. These renewed ambitions for more climate protection and responsibility towards people and nature are reflected in our mission and vision as well as in a constantly expanding Jokey Eco Concept. This holistic programme contributes to further reducing our environmental footprint from production to the end consumer. In 2024, we expanded the Jokey Eco Concept to include fields of action related to digitalisation. It is currently based on four pillars: Eco Strategy, Eco Digital, Eco Resources and Eco Design.
The first three fields of action relate to the assumption of product responsibility. Our goal is to develop a maximum CO2 reduction path as a company and to actively implement it by 2030 as an interim goal. To this end, we have launched numerous measures. The four new fields of action relate to the topic of digitalisation. They show how the digitalisation of our packaging promotes the circular economy and how digital tools help us to save energy and resources along the entire value chain. We are already setting the course for the rapidly growing exchange of huge amounts of data through increasing networking, while also keeping security and data protection in mind. The other fields of action of the Eco Concept describe at the product level the preventive contribution that the material and design of Jokey packaging already make to solving environmental problems and developing environmentally friendly technologies.
The complete Jokey Eco Concept with detailed descriptions of all 14 fields of action can be found here.
Our goals
differentiated by field of action
With the strategic and transformative partnership with WWF Germany, we are sending a strong signal that we will work together to achieve the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement in the long term and actively promote a circular economy for plastics with a focus on packaging. The Jokey Eco Concept contains our complete sustainability programme and is based on four pillars:
Its fields of action provide us with orientation for continuously adapting our products to the requirements of a sustainable circular economy. This enables us to constantly reduce the ecological footprint from production to the end consumer. We have defined specific goals for the pillars Eco Strategy, Eco Resources and Eco Design.
Eco Strategy
Jokey’s goals in the area of “Eco Strategy” at a glance
- Circular thinking and awareness raising for holistic ecological sustainability throughout the Jokey Group
- Transformation of all relevant production processes and infrastructures to use circular raw materials
- Support in the development of an effective circular economy
Eco Resources
Jokey’s goals in the area of “Eco Resources” at a glance
- In the long term, the use of new plastics only where ecologically sensible alternatives are lacking
- All raw materials used for packaging must be able to be assigned to a recyclable collection stream
- Exchange or replacement of auxiliary and operating materials with circular alternatives
Eco Design
Jokey’s goals in the area of “Eco Design” at a glance
- Discontinuation of ecologically unsound product solutions in the medium term, alternatively development of reuse solutions
- All products are fully recyclable in a technically sound manner while maintaining high quality standards