FAQ and contacts

Sustainability is a natural part of Gränges’ core business and strategy. It helps to increase the company’s long-term competitiveness and aims to create lasting value for Gränges as well as for its customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. By managing its business in a sustainable and responsible way, Gränges will enhance its possibilities to deliver strong financial and operational results. Gränges is committed to improving conditions and the overall footprint of the aluminium value chain. To ensure that aluminium is mined, produced and used sustainably, Gränges participates in various industry initiatives.

Sustainability is an integrated part of Gränges’ business strategy and is included as one of four business drivers in the company’s strategy. Gränges has a group-wide sustainability framework which covers those 13 material topics that have the that have the highest sustainability impact and which stakeholders assess to be most important for the company to address. The topics are grouped into five sustainability pillars, each governed by one member of Group Management. Each pillar has an accompanying long-term commitment and targets for 2025.

Gränges’ sustainability efforts are led by Group Management and the SVP Sustainability, who coordinates, facilitates and drives the global sustainability strategy, long-term targets and sustainability related policies. The Board of Directors reviews and approves the company’s global sustainability strategy, long-term targets and policies, and adopts the annual sustainability report. Group Management ensures that Gränges’ global sustainability strategy and long-term targets are aligned with the company’s vision and strategy. The team also reviews and monitors sustainability performance against sustainability targets, as well as makes decisions related to global sustainability priorities. The five sustainability pillars are each governed by a representative from Group Management, who proposes global sustainability priorities and coordinates with Gränges’ regional teams through cross-regional teams to implement local sustainability activities within a specific sustainability pillar. The regions in turn ensure that local sustainability strategies and targets are in place.

Yes, Gränges’ sustainability framework is accompanied bya set of clear sustainability targets for 2025. There are 15 targets in total, which clearly show the company’s ambition level and priorities. Read more on https://www.granges.com/sustainability/framework-and-targets/.

Gränges’ Code of Conduct outlines what Gränges considers to be responsible behaviour and is an important cornerstone in Gränges’ policy framework. The Code of Conduct is based on international standards on human rights, labour conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. This includes UN Global Compact and its set of ten principles. Gränges has set a target for 2025 that all employees are annually trained in the Code of Conduct, and in 2020, 100 per cent of all employees conducted the company’s online training.

Gränges’ CEO is responsible for implementing the Code of Conduct. The HR department is to ensure that each manager distributes the Code of Conduct to subordinates and that training is conducted. Relevant training and support materials is developed in cooperation between the HR, Legal and Communications departments. All employees are obliged to read the Code of Conduct thoroughly and participate in regular training offered by Gränges. New employees are to sign that they have accepted to comply with Gränges’ policies, including the Code of Conduct and its content. Status of activities related to the Code of Conduct is reviewed annually by Gränges’ Board of Directors and considered in Gränges’ corporate governance processes. 

Gränges has zero tolerance for corruption and does not accept any form of bribery or other type of corruption. This is founded on the Code of Conduct, which gives clear guidelines on acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour. The company also has an Anti-Corruption Policy which describes how Gränges works to counteract bribery and corruption. Gränges has set a target for 2025 that all white-collar employees are annually trained in anti-corruption. The company’s internal audit team regularly evaluates whether Gränges has rigorous processes to prevent and discover corruption.

Suspicions about violations and actions are reported to the Audit Committee. All suspicions about violations of the Code of Conduct are taken seriously and investigated taking into account the integrity of the person reporting the event. 

Gränges has a Whistleblower function which is managed by an external company and can be accessed online (intranet or external website) or by telephone. This enables employees and external business partners to provide information anonymously and without fear of retaliation. Gränges takes great consideration of the protection of personal privacy and handles submitted information in line with applicable legislation and regulation.

Business travel is a necessary part of Gränges’ operations as a global company. When making travel arrangements and travelling for business purposes, all employees should take cost, safety, security and environmental considerations into account. Gränges has a global Travel Policy which describes the company’s principles. 

An efficient and sustainable supply chain is essential for Gränges’ long-term success. To manage social and environmental impacts from its supply chain, Gränges has routines and guidelines for sourcing metals and other materials and services. Gränges has a Supplier Code of Conduct which is based on UN Global Compact and which contains those sustainability requirements that the company has on its suppliers. By signing the Supplier Code of Conduct, the suppliers also declare to promote implementation of these principles in their own supply chain. Gränges’ 2025 target is that 100 per cent of all significant suppliers (suppliers with a purchase value above 5 MSEK, 5 MCNY or 0.5 MUSD) are committed to Gränges’ Supplier Code of Conduct or equivalent standard.

Gränges Asia and Gränges Europe regularly assess suppliers’ performance using tools such as supplier scorecards. Supplier inspections are conducted periodically depending on suppliers’ strategic importance and results from assessments. Audits focus on evaluating suppliers’ quality and delivery precision, but sustainability related criteria such as environment, labour laws, health and safety, and human rights are also included. 

Gränges works systematically with environment, health and safety through certified management systems. The company currently holds the following management system certifications:

• Environmental management: Finspång, Huntingdon and Shanghai are certified in accordance with ISO 14001.
• Energy management: Finspång and Shanghai are certified in accordance with ISO 50001.
• Health and safety management: Finspång and Shanghai are managed in accordance with the global standard OSHAS 18001, Shanghai is certified in accordance with OSHAS 18001.
• Quality management: Finspång, Shanghai and Huntingdon are certified in accordance with TS 16949. Finspång and Shanghai are also certified in accordance with ISO 9001.

The melting and casting of aluminium are energy intensive processes and Gränges strives to reduce the company’s energy consumption for both sustainability and profitability reasons. Energy costs are the most significant expense after metal and personnel costs. Gränges primarily uses energy in the form of natural gas, electricity, and liquefied petroleum gas. The energy is mainly used in furnaces where aluminium is re-melted either via direct combustion or induction. 

Gränges has set a 2025 target to reduce energy intensity by 17 per cent versus the 2017 baseline. To improve energy efficiency, Gränges carries out energy audits, implements related improvements, and selects the best available technology for new investments.

Gränges regularly measures its climate footprint. Results for 2020 show that 92 per cent of the total climate emissions originate upstream in Gränges’ supply chain, in the production of primary aluminium. Direct emissions from Gränges’ own operations combined with indirect emissions from purchased energy, accounted for around 8 per cent. Gränges aims to reduce its carbon emissions intensity from its own operations and purchased energy by 25 per cent by 2025 compared with 2017.

Gränges strives towards operating a safe and injury-free workplace that protects the health and fosters the well-being of employees and all persons directly or indirectly related to the company’s operations, such as contracted workers and consultants. No employee or other individual should be at risk of injury in a Gränges workplace. Gränges has strict safety routines and continually works to improve safety at the workplace. Gränges continually invests in different safety measures to prevent accidents in its production sites and to reach the target of an injury free workplace. This includes regular health checks and training employees in machine safety, personal protective equipment, fire safety, first aid and emergency response. All employees take part in comprehensive safety training at least once a year and specific safety courses are regularly provided for production personnel, management and new employees. Job safety analysis is carried out for both repetitive and non-repetitive tasks. This involves identifying hazards associated with work tasks, assessing the risk of injuries and developing action plans to manage and mitigate these risks. All incidents and accidents are registered and classified in incident reporting systems, and reviewed weekly and monthly. For all recordable accidents as well as for injury free and first-aid events with severe potential consequence, Gränges performs a root-cause analysis as a basis for corrective and preventive actions.

Gränges strives to have a workplace characterized by diversity and equality. Gränges believes that diversity is a competitive advantage and that an inclusive work environment which leverages employees’ different perspectives, experiences and ideas, will lead to a more innovative, competitive and productive organization. Gränges’ target is to increase the proportion of women, both in its total workforce and in senior management. By 2025, Gränges aims to have at least 30 per cent women among senior management. 

Competent and committed employees form the foundation on which Gränges can be innovative and competitive and is therefore a crucial part of the company’s business strategy and growth plans. Gränges strives to offer good working conditions and interesting career and personal development opportunities to attract and retain talented employees. The company offers remuneration levels in line with market rates and the conditions of employment needed to recruit, develop and retain employees. To ensure that employees are engaged and motivated, Gränges conducts annual performance and development discussions as well as compensation reviews. The company’s target is that all employees should receive an annual performance and development discussion.

Through aluminium’s light-weighting properties and its recyclability, Gränges’ aluminium products enable customers and end-users to achieve significant savings in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The company creates value for customers and end-users by making its aluminium products lighter, stronger and more corrosion resistant, while also improving brazeability and introducing new functions into the material. Gränges believes that customers’ requirements on sustainable product performance will increase, and the company has therefore integrated sustainability aspects into its product development process. To ensure that aluminium is mined, produced and used sustainably, Gränges participates in various industry initiatives. 

Gränges contributes to positive community development and has an ambition to be a good corporate citizen and an active and trusted member of local communities. Gränges creates local jobs that offer employees good employment terms and a safe work environment. The company also contributes to charitable causes and is engaged in sponsorship, mainly at local level and locations where Gränges has operations. Gränges sponsors education, cultural events, local sports clubs, sports competitions, and various types of non-profit organizations. The company also encourages employees to engage in community activities which support Gränges’ strategy and vision. 

In Finspång, Gränges sponsors Curt Nicolin Gymnasiet (CNG), an upper secondary school, to which Gränges offers internships and summer jobs for students, as well as Linköping University. Gränges in Finspång also participates in IGE Day – Introduce a Girl to Engineering – an event which aims to raise young girls’ interest in technology and engineering.

In the US, Gränges’ employees participate in a number of community activities including supporting local school supply drives, food drives and holiday gift donations. Both company and employee team contributions are made for charitable causes including support for local youths sports team, and sponsorship of local athletic events and arts festivals.

In Shanghai, Gränges makes donations to a city level charity in the neighbourhood of Jiading. Gränges also sponsors a co-creating lab with Shanghai Jiaotong University, which aims to encourage students to actively study metallurgy in a more experimental environment. The company also supports the local Swedish Chamber helping to spread Swedish culture in the Shanghai area.