Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitskodex - Depth of the Value Chain

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The value chain extends from raw material production and creation of the actual product or service through to its recycling after use or end of service. While some of this value added occurs within your company, other aspects of value added are outside of your company’s direct control. Assuming responsibility here and actively influencing the value chain in the interests of sustainable development can offer new opportunities on the one hand (e.g. in terms of product development) and can avoid risks on the other. Public reaction to scandals in the supply chain in the past has clearly shown that negative impacts in the value chain can also harm companies’ reputations.

What needs to be borne in mind?
Even if the creation of your products/services involves only a few stages which you perhaps primarily handle yourself and do so exclusively in Germany, we would ask that you give as specific an account of your company’s value chain as possible. When doing so, consider also purchased base materials, products and services such as IT, office materials and outsourced customer service.
In describing your value chain, you lay the foundations for the details of the criteria that follow. Therefore, if in doubt, when describing your service provision process err on the side of providing more detail rather than less. In particular, criterion 10 regarding innovation and product management relates to innovation processes all along the value chain to reduce the negative impacts of your products and services and to make a positive contribution to sustainable development. Wherever possible, reference your core business activities in your description, i.e. the business fields that represent your company’s key value drivers.
Please note when describing your company’s communication of problems with suppliers, service companies or other business partners throughout the value chain that how you answer this question can vary depending on your company’s sector and size. Regular frank discussions can serve as an answer here, as can more formal communication based on codes of conduct and auditing procedures.

Aspect 1:
Describe the steps that your products/services go through in the value chain (e.g. from the purchasing of raw materials to service performance or recycling).

Aspect 2:
State which sustainability aspects are of relevance to the value chain stages presented. Explain also how deep in the value chain the sustainability criteria are verified.

Aspect 3:
State whether the respective social and ecological problems that arise at the individual stages are known and how these problems are approached.

Aspect 4:
State whether and in what way your company communicates with suppliers and other business partners regarding the problems mentioned and works on solutions together with them.

In line with criterion 2, sustainability aspects are the topics that enable sustainable development in the first place. The aspects of particular significance to the companies within your value chain can differ from the aspects that you have identified as material for your company.

The value chain comprises not only suppliers, purchased services and their precursors, but also the users of your products and services and possibly also recycling or service performance effects. For example, a value chain can comprise the following stages: raw material procurement, prefabrication, finishing, sales, logistics, and the recycling and disposal of used products.
Sustainability criteria are specifications stipulated by your company (possibly on the basis of sustainability standards) which business partners and their subcontractors must comply with in order to be allowed to work with your company.

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