Company Name: BRITA CHINA

Award Category: ESG Performance

Company Size: Medium-sized Enterprise Group

Environment

Climate Change:

Carbon neutral pathways for recyclable products:“Cartridge recycle”

• BRITA is committed to creating a sustainable impact in the world of water. Our vision is changing the way people drink water sustainably and reducing the use of bottled water, thereby reducing the long-term environmental impact of single-use plastic bottles. BRITA started “Cartridge recycle” project, consumers are encouraged to send back the used cartridges, where the shell of the cartridge will be used for plastic recycling, and the filling material inside will be buried according to national regulations. We will reduce our dependency on virgin plastic. From 2022, more than 155,000 cartridges have been recycled, equivalent to reducing the use of more than 12 million 500ml plastic bottles.

Monitor greenhouse gas emissions in real time：

• Green Office：

Office real-time monitoring of PM2.5 and carbon dioxide emissions.

More carbon-friendly action and staff awareness campaigns

• Green pack:

 1) Two-in-one packaging reduces packaging material

 2) Monochrome printing reduces ink and pollution

 3) Can recycle primary color packaging material to reduce bleach and reduce pollution

 4) Strong packaging materials to reduce returns and reduce carbon footprint

• Green Thursday

Encourage employees to go green and have environmentally friendly lunches through green publicity. Collect carbon footprint information every year and hold beach cleaning activities for employees.

Natural Resources and Energy:

Green production,  Green power

Production：

• The main raw material selection of coconut shell activated carbon, in the preparation process, do not need to consume additional energy, and almost no environmentally unfriendly factors.

• The production workshop and warehouse use automatic luminosity control system to maximize the use of outdoor natural light, only when the light is insufficient, the system automatically adjusts the lighting required for start-up.

Green data center, Green logistics

Logistics：

• The main raw materials are made of plastic trays, which are recycled and used repeatedly.

• Plastic parts wrapping paper outer box, a single recycling more than 6 times.

• Major raw material suppliers are selected based on the principle of proximity to minimize the distance of freight logistics.

Green Claims：Educate employees to reduce resource consumption through tips

Prevention of Pollution:

Waste management and treatment in the office:

• The office actively implements garbage sorting and implements 3+2 hybrid working mode to reduce garbage discharge. Recycle and sell recyclable waste every month. Every year, we hold environmental protection recycling activities within the company, recycling electronic waste, old books, old clothes, etc., and employees can exchange them for fresh plants.

• Set up special garbage cans for batteries and other hazardous wastes.

• Double-sided printing, recycling single-sided wastepaper. Encourage paperless offices.

Other Actions Taken for Environmental Protection：

Public welfare actions such as vegetation restoration, soil protection, solid waste prevention and control, and Marine protection

• Marine protection: cooperated with WDC (World Whale and Dolphin Conservation Organization) to adopt a dolphin and try our best to restore a better living environment for them. (A total of 12 countries around the world of BRITA participated in the campaign.)

• The tree of BRITA. We adopted 10 camphor trees to protect the vegetation from encroachment.

• Beach cleaning activities, organize employees to clean the beach, give back a clean ocean.

  
  

Social

HR Development and Engagement:

Measures to protect employee health and safety:

• The office is equipped with cleanair facilities to proactively remove pathogens and pollutants, while being WELL platinum certified to provide a healthy and safe office environment for employees.

• 3+2 hybrid working model, which reduces carbon emissions caused by commuting and increases work efficiency. Won the 2022 Employer branding creativity awards of best innovative employee experience.

Employee benefits：

• Purchase commercial medical insurance for employees and set up a medical equipment area.

• Provide the company's products for internal sale and as welfare, aiming to change the way of drinking water of employees in a sustainable way. At the same time, internal cartridge recycling is carried out to encourage sustainable products.

Employee career development：

• Conduct performance review every year, review the whole year together with line leaders, and make promotion plan and career plan.

Diversity，Equity and Inclusion:

• The Company has a higher proportion of female employees than male employees, while supporting the career development of female employees.

• The proportion of women at the top of the company is higher than that of men, to show the reuse of talent regardless of gender.

  
  

Product Liability:

• The product has passed the national water quality test, and has the sanitation license of drinking water sanitation and safety products. It has more than 200 trademark rights, Copyrights, and product and accessory patents.

Customer Experience System: 

• Equipped with a perfect after-sales system, 400 after-sales phone and wechat mini program, 24 hours to deal with customer problems; 

• PR team communicated closely with industry and commerce,  and paid close attention to customer complaints.

Supply Chain:

• Regularly review the performance of suppliers.

• Major raw material suppliers should be selected in the principle of proximity to minimize the distance of freight logistics and achieve low-carbon logistics.

Community Engagement :

Actively participate in social welfare activities: When the epidemic broke out in the first half of 2022, we donated hundreds of drinking water products to the makeshift cabin twice to actively ensure the drinking water safety of COVID-19 patients.

Actively protect vulnerable groups in society:

• In 2022, we reached strategic cooperation with Jinqiao Nursing Home to escort the drinking water safety of the elderly in the nursing home. In 2023, it is exploring to enter into more pension institutions to protect the safety of drinking water for the elderly.

• Organized and led by the PR team, the sales colleagues of Brande East China patiently explained the knowledge of healthy drinking water to the elderly at Caolu Nursing Home in Shanghai for the 29th "Love Under Blue Sky" public welfare activity.

Corporate Governance

Governance Organizational and Mechanism:

• Have a sound whistle-blower system and code of conduct to monitor and prevent corruption and bribery. https://www.brita.cn/en_EG/our-vision 

• It has strict privacy protection and data security policies for employees and users, which are open to the public. Establish employee data management system, and establish data security supervision and personal information protection impact assessment system. https://www.brita.cn/en_EG/terms-and-conditions ; https://www.brita.cn/en_EG/privacy-policy 

• Conduct regular training on data security for employees and conduct regular due diligence on suppliers.

Innovation Sustainability: 

• The main raw material of the product cartridge is coconut shell activated carbon. In the preparation process, it does not need to consume additional energy and has almost no environmentally unfriendly factors. The product GreenRO uses environmentally friendly and renewable materials to reduce the environmental pollution of raw materials.

Corporate ESG strategy: Sustainable development strategy as the main component of the company's 2025 strategy. Advocate consumers to join us in the sustainable strategy, actively participate in the "cartridge recycling" program.https://www.brita.cn/en_EG/sustainability-at-brita