Environmental Protection as Corporate Challenge

In accordance with the corporate values and goals of Danzer Group, environmental protection plays a key part in our sustainability management. Danzer Group introduced a worldwide Environmental and Safety Management System (ESMS) in 1994. The ESMS consists of an extensive catalogue of measures for all corporate levels and builds on the internationally acknowledged ISO 14001 standard.

Environmental and Safety Management System of Danzer Group

As part of its ESMS, Danzer Group has developed a number of measures for systematically recording environmental influences, assessing their effects and setting focal points for action. In addition, detailed specifications with regard to environmental protection and safety are intended to be introduced for all work procedures at Danzer. The ESMS contains stipulations for comprehensive reporting and inspection obligations. With the aid of this system, Danzer can furthermore monitor the introduction of all measures and adherence to the standards set previously. Thanks to the ESMS, environmental protection and safety are firmly anchored as permanent, systematic management tasks in the Group.

The concerns of environmental protection and safety are not only taken into consideration in the area of forest management, but also along the entire value chain, from logging through production up to sales. In order to provide lasting protection for our employees, the public and our ecosystem, the ESMS follows five guidelines which we have set down in our "Commitment to Your Safety, to Our Health, and the Habitat We Share".

ISO Standard and Independent Audit as Gauges of Environmental Management

The ESMS of Danzer Group is based on the internationally recognized ISO standard. It provides companies a framework for their environmental management system which must be filled in with specific measures. ISO Standard 14001:2004 defines its requirements for an environmental management system in six chapters (General Requirements, Environmental Policy, Planning, Implementation and Operation, Review, Management Assessment) with fifteen further subsections.

In the ESMS, Danzer Group defines, for instance, binding specifications for sustainable management of its own and other forests (including tropical rain forests), or the documentation of internal communications. Another important building block of the environmental management system is the set of guidelines for procuring African wood, which the new function of "Environmental Coordinator for Trade and Production in Africa" was created by the Group to implement.

Whenever we introduce and implement ESMS measures, we work together with independent experts such as the Swiss consultancy firm SGS. External auditors take a step-by-step approach in auditing our entire ESMS in order that we might receive the appropriate ISO certificates. ISO certificates are always awarded for a limited time only and must be renewed at regular intervals.