For the fourth consecutive year, AIMPLAS presented its sustainability report, prepared in accordance with GRI standards, in which it takes stock of its activity in 2022 based on ESG criteria and renews its commitment to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact and the SDGs.
AIMPLAS’ ESG report highlights some of the centre’s milestones, which include obtaining the REDUZCO seal, calculating its SROI, which indicated a social impact estimated at €665 million, its governance strategy, and its implementation of an integrated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) model.
AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, has published its fourth sustainability report, drawn up in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most recognized, most prestigious and strictest international standard for reports on sustainability issued by organizations and businesses.
The publication reviews AIMPLAS’ activity and key milestones in 2022 regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, as well as the centre’s renewed commitment to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Also included in this report is the calculation of AIMPLAS’ social return on investment (SROI) in 2022. This figure was calculated by an independent body for the fourth year in a row and indicates that AIMPLAS activities in 2022 had a social impact quantified at €665 million, of which, €431.6 million had an impact on the SDGs and €294.6 million on the circular economy.
The REDUZCO seal
In terms of environmental sustainability, AIMPLAS boasts a long history of implementing measures that minimize the environmental impact of its activities. A chief goal of these activities is actually taking care of the environment and making tools available to members of the plastics industry so they can do the same. One of the 2022 milestones highlighted in the report was receiving the REDUZCO seal for the first time by meeting the requirement of registering its carbon footprint for the fourth consecutive year in the registry of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
AIMPLAS has continued to reduce its carbon footprint (from 384 tonnes of CO2 in 2020 to 53 tonnes in 2022), a reduction of 83% since 2019, the year in which AIMPLAS started calculating its carbon footprint.
AIMPLAS had originally set the goal of reducing its carbon emissions in 2022 by 5%, but by the end of 2022, it had significantly outstripped this goal and reduced them by 37.12%, an achievement that reflects the hard work of everyone at the centre.
The 4th Equality Plan
In terms of social impact, AIMPLAS continues to focus on talent, defending equality and protecting health, although it also participates in several philanthropic actions and promotes volunteering among its staff.
In the area of equality, the actions included in the 3rd Equality Plan on gender diversity were implemented throughout 2022 and work began on the 4th Equality Plan with a focus on SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 8 (Decent work), SDG 10 (Reduced inequality) and, of course, SDG 5 (Gender equality). The wage gap between men and women has also been reduced in favour of women by 8% since 2020. Specific actions have likewise continued to be implemented to favour generational, functional and cultural diversity, and a diversity committee was created exclusively to support diversity measures.
Once again, a great place to work
For the second time, AIMPLAS obtained Great Place to Work certification, with a Trust Index of 85, awarded by the Great Place to Work® Institute. This score is well above the general average index of 62, and above the average index of 79 for organizations of a similar size and the average index of 72 for manufacturing organizations.
In 2022, more than 3,100 companies relied on AIMPLAS to carry out their R&D projects, develop technological services and implement educational activities; in addition, AIMPLAS now has a total of 789 member companies, all of which helped increase turnover by 10%.
To improve the excellence of relations with these companies, AIMPLAS also started up a strategic Customer Experience project in 2022, which began with the diagnostic phase of analysing client perceptions of AIMPLAS. The aim was to identify potential points of improvement and achieve customer experience excellence.
In terms of governance, AIMPLAS exceeded the legal requirements and implemented the Governance, Risk and Compliance Model, and successfully completed its Integrated Management System project. The project helps improve efficiency and take advantage of process and operations synergies. Along these lines, in 2022, the centre was awarded certifications in accordance with the standards ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management) and UNE 166002 (R&D&I management).
On preparing the report
According to Joaquín Sánchez, head of the report project and Project Manager at Ângela Impact Economy, the consulting and reporting partner chosen by AIMPLAS to undertake this corporate sustainability challenge, “AIMPLAS’ greatest commitment is its anticipation of the demands and future of sustainability reporting, along with digitizing the process and its data. AIMPLAS has used the data management software DatÂie Sustainability Analytics to organize all its information on social and environmental sustainability to be ready for future requirements. This digitization ensured that preparation of the sustainability report was an efficient, reliable process, starting with identification, calculation and entry of the necessary data, and selecting the right metrics and indicators to provide different stages of monitoring and verification”.
