Environment and sustainability
As an SME, we also endeavour to make our contribution to environmental protection and sustainability. For several years now, we have been using packaging materials and packaging made from renewable raw materials for shipping goods. Plastic is only used in exceptional cases. This is the case, for example, when we reuse external packaging material to avoid packaging waste. It goes without saying that we use FSC-certified paper in our print production. The issue of energy efficiency is also particularly relevant here. Otherwise, we work predominantly paperless ourselves. Old electrical items, such as computers, monitors or laptops, are donated or given away to employees for example. The topic of environmental protection extends to general office organisation: for example, where possible, we ensure that we only use ecologically certified and easily degradable cleaning agents made from natural raw materials of plant origin.
Compliance
With regard to compliance with the German and European law applicable to us, the legally compliant implementation of the provisions affecting us is a corporate priority.
The German Act on Corporate Due Diligence to Prevent Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG) has been applicable in Germany since January 2023. We ourselves are not a company subject to the LkSG. The LkSG contains an annex (to Section 2 (1), Section 7 (3) sentence 2) with a list of various international conventions:
- Convention No 29 of the International Labour Organization of 28 June 1930 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (Federal Law Gazette II 1956, pp. 640, 641) (ILO Convention No 29)
- Protocol of 11 June 2014 to Convention No 29 of the International Labour Organization of 28 June 1930 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (Federal Law Gazette II 2019, pp. 437, 438)
- Convention No 87 of the International Labour Organization of 9 July 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (Federal Law Gazette II 1956, pp. 2072, 2071) amended by the Convention of 26 June 1961 (Federal Law Gazette II 1963, pp. 1135, 1136) (ILO Convention No 87)
- Convention No 98 of the International Labour Organization of 1 July 1949 concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively (Federal Law Gazette II 1955, pp. 1122, 1123) amended by the Convention of 26 June 1961 (Federal Law Gazette II 1963, pp. 1135, 1136) (ILO Convention No 98)
- Convention No 100 of the International Labour Organization of 29 June 1951 concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value (Federal Law Gazette II 1956, pp. 23, 24) (ILO Convention No 100)
- Convention No 105 of the International Labour Organization of 25 June 1957 concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour (Federal Law Gazette II 1959, pp. 441, 442) (ILO Convention No 105)
- Convention No 111 of the International Labour Organization of 25 June 1958 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (Federal Law Gazette II 1961, pp. 97, 98) (ILO Convention No 111)
- Convention No 138 of the International Labour Organization of 26 June 1973 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment (Federal Law Gazette II 1976, pp. 201, 202) (ILO Convention No 138)
- Convention No 182 of the International Labour Organization of 17 June 1999 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Federal Law Gazette II 2001, pp. 1290, 1291) (ILO Convention No 182)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 19 December 1966 (Federal Law Gazette II 1973, pp. 1533, 1534)
- International Covenant of 19 December 1966 on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Federal Law Gazette II 1973, pp. 1569, 1570)
- Minamata Convention of 10 October 2013 on Mercury (Federal Law Gazette II 2017, pp. 610, 611) (Minamata Convention)
- Stockholm Convention of 23 May 2001 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Federal Law Gazette II 2002, pp. 803, 804) (POPs Convention), last amended by the decision of 6 May 2005 (Federal Law Gazette II 2009, pp. 1060, 1061)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal of 22 March 1989 (Federal Law Gazette II 1994, pp. 2703, 2704) (Basel Convention), last amended by the Third Ordinance amending the Annexes to the Basel Convention of 22 March 1989 of 6 May 2014 (Federal Law Gazette II, pp. 306, 307)
We support the purposes of the aforementioned conventions, particularly in the areas relevant to us, such as labour law, occupational safety and equal rights.
As a German specialist publisher, international data content and information service provider, we classify ourselves as a low-risk company in accordance with the LkSG. We do not see any human rights or environmental risks, as we generally act in accordance with the law.