“This rating reflects the commendable achievements of the XSYS team and all the hard work that goes into our mission to bring brilliance to the printing industry with our flexographic and letterpress plates,” said Dagmar Schmidt, CEO of XSYS. “Furthermore, it goes beyond our commitment to protecting the environment by also evaluating our dedication to social responsibility, diversity, and human rights.”

With sustainability increasingly viewed as a core demand from customers as well as a source of competitive advantage, there is an increasing demand for more scrutiny and transparency around products and practices. Companies are more than ever adopting and integrating corporate social responsibility principles into their procurement processes and decisions to respond to new demands and future-proof their businesses.

“The EcoVadis Silver Medal rating gives our customers a clear picture of where we as a company stand in our sustainability performance compared to our peers in the industry and above all also gives us a clear guidance where there is improvement potential,” said Friedrich von Rechteren, Global Commercial VP XSYS. “We believe that our active engagement with the ratings process is guiding and accelerating XSYS’ sustainability journey, furthermore it continues to create a strong platform to drive performance improvement for the benefit of our customers.”

He added, “However, at XSYS we never rest on our laurels and will continue to improve across all categories ahead of the next EcoVadis assessment later this year. This endeavour is about being completely transparent in everything we do, and the ultimate goal is, of course, to secure a gold medal.”

The EcoVadis assessment is a result of XSYS strong commitment to the environment, and ethical operation. Data shows that companies that have been assessed by EcoVadis at least three times have grown their sustainability management practices at an above-average rate and shown year-on-year improvement across sustainability themes.

As part of the process, XSYS was rated across four themes — environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement — receiving an overall high score of 61 out of 100, which puts the site in the 91st percentile in its industry. 

The strongest scores (70/100) were given in the ethics category (which looks at elements such as corruption, anti-competitive practices, responsible information, and management), and in the environment category, where both operations and products are analysed in great detail. 

EcoVadis is the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and collaborative performance improvement tools for global supply chains. Rating companies’ sustainability performance across 21 criteria, it is a collaborative platform that allows companies to focus on performance and find a clear direction of continuous improvement. Its methodology is based on international sustainability standards (Global Reporting Initiative, United Nations Global Compact, ISO 26000), and supervised by a scientific committee of sustainability and supply chain experts, to ensure reliable third-party sustainability assessments.