Thibaud Bertrand, Saverglass’ Safety-Environment and CSR Manager, highlights the company's "global performance" describing "very concrete CSR results" and sets his sights on obtaining the platinum medal as early as 2025, joining the elite group  of the top 1%. Interview...

Thibaud Bertrand, what does winning the EcoVadis Gold Medal mean for Saverglass?

The EcoVadis Gold Medal recognizes the company's overall CSR performance. It confirms the value of an embedded approach we have been pursuing for many years, with the aim of making our own contribution to meeting the many social challenges facing the world, not only in environmental terms, but also in social and ethical terms. This is a great source of satisfaction for all of our employees. We chose to renew our EcoVadis rating in 2014 to benchmark our CSR progress against other companies and to drive our CSR ambition. This is not a communications ploy, but a corporate policy at the heart of our values and our industrial and commercial strategy. In ten years, we've come a long way, going from a score of 20/100 to 73/100. After two silver medals in a row, we've now achieved gold, even though the judging criteria are becoming increasingly stringent. This means we're making faster progress than the others, and that translates into tangible, measurable results.

What criteria is the EcoVadis rating based on?

EcoVadis awards points for the policies we implement and the concrete actions we take in the various areas of CSR. The certification covers 21 "sustainability criteria" divided into four main categories: environmental, social, ethical and responsible purchasing. EcoVadis also verifies that actions cover all sites and compares our practices with international best practice in these areas.

Can you give some examples of concrete CSR results?

It will be my pleasure to provide you with a few examples from 2023 and 2024.  In the social and ethical categories, we halved the frequency of workplace accidents resulting in time off. I would also like to highlight the deployment of a "disability action plan" which has enabled us to double the number of "disability representatives", employees responsible for listening to, informing and guiding people with disabilities. In terms of diversity and equality, we have also made progress in increasing the number of women on management committees. I'd also like to mention the growing number of training courses on ethical issues, particularly good competitive practices (57% of employees trained) and preventing the risk of corruption (55% of employees trained). Saverglass invests heavily in CSR training: 197 training sessions were deployed in 2024; 456 employees attended at least 2 of the 44 modules we offer at our European plants and in our Glass School. In this context, it was decided to deploy the Climate Fresk to all employees thanks to staff members who volunteered to facilitate these Climate Fresks. I'd also like to mention the considerable work we've done on responsible purchasing, from defining our purchasing criteria to selecting suppliers and assessing their own CSR performance. Here again, the training component was solid.
The protection of personal data and IT security is also the subject of a multi-year improvement plan, including employee training.
 

Is the EcoVadis rating an important criterion for your customers?

Yes, CSR concerns are a strong and lasting trend worldwide. Many companies are aware of their ecological, social and ethical responsibilities. The EcoVadis rating reinforces our customers' confidence in our CSR policy. For many of them, it's not just a question of finding a good product, but also a product made by a company that meets the societal challenges of our time. For example, Saverglass' considerable research and development effort to decarbonize its industrial process and lighten the weight of glass is a major factor in its reputation today. For Saverglass employees, the company's CSR reputation is a source of shared pride and cohesion. They are particularly motivated to achieve platinum status as early as 2025, and thus join the top 1% of companies assessed.