Corporate responsibility: A living tradition

“Sustainability”, according to Dr. Michael Otto, chairman of the board of the Otto Group, to which Hermes belongs, “holds great relevance for the economic viability and future competitiveness of a company”.

That is why, since Hermes was founded, sustainability has been a permanent, indelible corporate principle for it. Economic growth must conserve natural resources and further social progress. That applies today, as well as for future generations – and for the entire Hermes group.

Environmental management

Since then, Hermes has had professional environmental management. The subsequent projects and their results demostrate that projects than benefit mankind and the environment can also save costs, increase productivity and strengthen the company’s profile.Since 1999, Hermes has had this systematic environmental management approch independently tested according to ISO norm 14001.

In addition, the main Hermes companies, which are active in 22 countries, have also appointed sustainability coordinators. Together, they make up the Corporate Reponsibility Network (CR Network). These coordinators help ensure the internal exchange of ideas and information and, in quarterly meetings, bundle the individual companies’ various activities.

Furthermore,leading managers from Hermes are members of an environmental board, established in 2008, that meets every two months. This body makes common decisions about important environmental and social measures.

The core goals

Hermes’ environmental management has given rise to three core goals:

1. To successively reduce CO2 emissions
2. To use resources sustainably
3. To ensure high social standards throughout the logistics chain

The guidelines

So as to continually work towards these goals, to reach them, and to develop them further, mandatory guidelines were established for company’s everyday operations. They read as follows:

• We monitor and regularly assess our relevant effects on the environment.
• We take environmental perspectives into account in making our business decisions.
• We ensure a process of continually improving our environmental performance by monitoring the goals that we have set for ourselves and by introducing corrective measures if necessary.
• As a logistics provider, we are aware of our responsibility to structure our operations in an environmentally friendly way. Therefore, the technically and logistically optimising our shipments is an important component of our environmental work.
• We ensure that we sparingly use the world’s scarce energy and water resources. We also set priorities where waste is concerned. First avoid, then reduce, then recycle.
• We consider observing environmental rules and regulations to be second nature. This also applies to all of the other enviromental challenges that we have set for ourselves.
• We encourage enviromental awareness among our employees through encouragement, information, and appropriate training measures.
• We cultivate open and serious dialogue with our customers, public authorities and the general public to improve mutual understanding.
• Our cooperation with clients and contractors includes the requirement that our contractual partners behave in an environmentally friendly way.

The Organisation

In regard to data managment is concerned, all three sustainibility areas are concentrated in the sustainibility coordination unit of Hermes, which in turn is the interface to the corporate responsibility management of the Otto Group.

Hermes also employs nine internal safety inspectors whose job is to check and ensure that quality, security, safety and enviromental protection standards are observed at each facility and worksite. Every year, different Hermes branches and one HUB are selected to have their environmental criteria extensively tested as part of an audit.

Corporate Communications, which is part of Hermes Europe, is responsible for sustainability-related communications for the entire Hermes group.