Page 39 - Vaculug

operations going through most of the pandemic period, putting the interest of our people before our business at every step.
This #SustainableThinking and ethical approach to business and governance is also applied to how we engage our customers and supply chain, especially during challenging times.
Reinforcing our company’s commitment to building a responsible business, in 2022 our Senior Management Team introduced a policy in response to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The policy, titled Conflict Minerals and Cobalt Sourcing, outlines Vaculug’s commitment to protecting and respecting human rights, and to ensuring that no minerals or cobalt sourced from conflict zones are used in our products.
Another example of how we have governed with purpose was seen in early 2022 during the start of the war in Ukraine. When Russia began their attack on Ukraine, without wavering or being concerned with the financial consequence to our business, our Chairman took to twitter to announce that effective immediately
Vaculug would no longer be sourcing raw materials from Russia, ever again.
The bold announcement came as a surprise not only to the industry externally, but also internally to our employees. More than simply making a statement, guided by a strong sense of purpose our Chairman was living our core values and leading our organisation, and the industry, by example.
A LOOK AHEAD - OUR ESG LEADERSHIP
Looking ahead, we will be working on formalising our Corporate Governance Structure to oversee and ensure ESG accountability, compliance and performance across our organisation, and to hold us accountable to the commitments we’ve outlined in this report.
Additionally, with our sustainability strategy, we have mapped out a three-year plan that aligns our goals with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap, making us the first independent retreader in the world to align with larger multinational organisations across the industry.
As we are just beginning our journey, the first step we have taken is to identify the synergies between our current path and that of the industry, as well as the gaps. Presently, our journey of transformation is contributing positively to several SDGs (SDGs 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 17)
OUR COMMITMENTS FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS:
• We are committing to updating and publishing our Sustainability Report on an annual basis, to report on our progress and to inform our stakeholders along the way.
• We are working with third-party advisors to develop our Sustainability Strategy and Road Map, outlining our plans for the next three years.
• We will monitor the alignment of our work with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap.
• We are committing to tying performance on key ESG metrics to executive renumeration from 2023.
• We will put processes in place to coordinate and collect ESG data, for the purpose of developing annual sustainability assessments and reporting.
• We will continue to develop, improve and implement our standalone ESG policies, including our Code of Ethics.
• We will put processes in place to ensure due diligence on the part of our suppliers and business partners.
5 Source: https://sustainabilitydriven.info/wp-content/ uploads/2021/05/WBCSD_TIP_Sustainability-Driven-SDG-Tire- Sector-Roadmap.pdf, accessed May 2022.
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