Sustainable Development for Bolton Adhesives means doing good and prosperous business, respecting the rights of the people involved in our value chains, the communities around us and protecting the resources of the Earth, thanks to which our business itself stems.
Driven by our will, people and brands, we strive for healthy and sustainable growth to guarantee the prosperity of current and future generations.
That’s why we believe that our business development has to respect the people and the planet, imagining new solutions for the future and doing better in our daily actions.
The Bolton Sustainable Development Strategy sets priority areas we want to focus on in the next years, clearly underlines high-level commitments in the long term and sets precise targets in the short and medium term. It has been adopted by Bolton Adhesives.
Our Sustainable Development Strategy is built on 3 pillars:
Our branded products touch the lives of millions of people every day and, through our brands, we create value that is shared for the benefit of People and the Nature.
The majority of our products are manufactured in our own factories in Germany and the Netherlands. We are aware of our social responsibility towards our employees, our business partners and the communities around us. We support an active participation of our employees.
In 2023, we have started to leverage our influence for sustainable supply chains by collaborating with Ecovadis the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. We will progressively assess our strategic suppliers against their environmental and social performances and provide them guidance on how to improve in the areas of ‘Environment’, ‘Labor & Human Rights’, ‘Ethics’, and ‘Sustainable Procurement’.
To support the supply chain transparency also for our customers, both our productions sites in Bühl (Germany) as well as Goes (The Netherlands) were also assessed via EcoVadis in 2023. Both sites have earned a gold medal, attaining a score of 72 out of 100. This achievement places us in the top 5% of companies evaluated by EcoVadis.
Our activities are based on relevant laws, regulations and agreements on occupational health & safety and environmental protection. We are daily committed to systematically reducing risks in everything we do. In this context, we can ensure safe and sustainable workplaces that respect people and the surrounding ecosystem and offer opportunities for growth and development.
To meet these requirements in the long term, we are committed to operating an Integrated Management System in accordance with the international standards 9001, 14001 and 45001. We are also committed to continuous improvement of our environmental performance and to a zero-accident-policy.
We feel the urgent responsibility to contribute to tackling the global warming. We believe that everyone has a part to play in making a positive impact. That’s why we aim to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and do our best to protect the natural ecosystem on which are business depends. In 2024, we have published our second Corporate Carbon Footprint, which has been 3rd party audited and represents a robust baseline for setting a clear decarbonization strategy with concrete mitigation actions.
Since 2017 we have reduced our CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2)* by 42%. We have switched to 100% renewable electric energy as of 2022 in all our production sites and warehouses in Germany and the Netherlands as well as in our headquarter in Rotterdam. 77% of our waste is recycled or recovered, thus following our aim to create zero waste to landfill. We apply a strict water management with closed-loop cooling cycles to keep the water intensity** at a low level. We are also committed to sourcing our raw materials from suppliers as close to our production sites as possible. To date, we have around 300 raw material suppliers, 96% of which are based in Europe.
* 2023 compared to 2017.
** Water intensity index related to finished product = water withdrawal/tons products produced = 0,64 in 2023
We develop high-quality products for different target groups. From the youngest pupils at school to professionals in the field, we offer suitable adhesive solutions.
We continuously aim to improve our products and offer innovative and sustainable solutions in order to meet the needs of our customers and end-users as well as of future generations.
In 2023 20% of our revenue was made with Sustainable Products*, aiming to reach a level of 40% by 2030.
*definition of sustainable products according to BA internal Portfolio Sustainability Assessment (PSA), which is based on the methodological guide published by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
One example is our ReNATURE product line, which is made from particularly sustainable formulations and packaging. They have been awarded with the Green Brands Award Germany.
Our Wood Max Adhesives are the next generation wood construction adhesives: Thanks to their innovative BA polymer technology they are extremely strong (110kg/cm2) and water resistant (D4 quality according to EN 204) but much safer in use as they are PU and solvent free, so you do not have to wear gloves during usage. They also release only very low emissions to the air (tested VOC A+).
Our Griffon HBS-200® Liquid Rubber, a universal, durable, waterproof, airtight and protective coating for all indoor and outdoor surfaces. Used by professionals in the construction sector, it allows the reduction of energy consumption in buildings. Its durability of at least 20 years makes it highly sustainable. Furthermore, by switching to a packaging made from 95% recycled material (buckets) or >80% recycled material (cartridges) we could even further reduce the environmental footprint of these products.
We are committed to follow an approach that starts with the overarching aim to rethink and redesign our packaging (and products when needed) in line with the principles of a circular economy through innovation and taking inspiration from market best practices.
Our approach starts by giving priority to the use of less packaging and materials, then increasing the level of circularity of our packs or keeping resources in the loop as long as possible and engaging consumers in recycling, composting or, if applicable, reusing our packaging. This approach will be applied to all our packaging starting with those with the highest sale volumes.
We are also committed to proactively engage with our key internal and external stakeholders, both upstream and downstream to make this approach work, because we are aware of the need to have the whole packaging value chain working in the same direction and with the same approach to maximize results. For more information see our “Packaging Policy”
We strive to minimize health and safety risks for consumers and employees, as well as environmental and social risks resulting from raw materials and formulations, both in existing products and during our innovation and development process. All our products and technologies are carefully tested to ensure their safety both for our health and the environment. For more information see our “Policy on ingredients and raw materials”
Additionally, we have set a target to increase the circularity of our ingredients reaching a level of 22% in 2023 and aiming to reach 50% ingredients from circular sources (intended as renewable/bio-based, recycled/regenerated/upcycled, coming from abundant minerals and biomass balance certified ingredients) by 2030.
We value diversity and are actively working to increase the representation of women in management positions. Currently 23% of our management positions are held by women, our target being to achieve 25% within 2025.
We actively involve our employees in designing the roadmaps. This is why we conducted a survey on equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) for the first time in 2023. We also regularly measure the level of employee satisfaction through a second Great Place to Work (GPTW) survey. Both surveys provided valuable insights for our future measures to create a more inclusive and fairer workplace and improve satisfaction levels.
At the same time we are committed to promote new consumption patterns and a more sustainable lifestyle, in which the life of objects is extended and the resources available are used more wisely. With our campaign “Waste? Just Fix It!” we aim to make consumers more aware of the need to extend the life cycle of a product and to show how broken items can be repaired quickly and durably using our adhesive products.
The campaign includes a partnership with Repair Café International Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to minimize waste, use resources responsibly and connect people in new and exciting ways.
Download our latest Sustainability report, our policies and discover more about our commitments.
ISO 9001:2015
(quality).
ISO 14001:2015
(environment).
ISO 45001:2018
(occupational health and safety).
We wish to engage in open dialogue with all stakeholders.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Bolton Adhesives
Adriaan Volker Huis
14th Floor
Oostmaaslaan 67
3063 AN Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)88 3 235 700
E-mail: info@boltonadhesives.com
