Spaudos centras
Spaudos centras
Comprehensive action to adapt to macroeconomic environment
Duisburg, 27March 2024–Xella Group, a leading European provider of sustainable, efficient, and affordable walling solutions, made significant progress in its sustainability initiatives in the previous year and is on track to reach its sustainability goals for 2030. As a major milestone in 2023, its targets to reduce scope 1, 2 and 3carbon dioxide emissions have been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
The company aims to reduce its market-basedCO2 emissions in scope 1 and 2 by 42 percent by the end of the decade. Furthermore, scope 3 emissions(representing 85 percent of global CO2e emissions)from purchased goods and services will be reduced by25 percentby 2030.The first targetwill be achieved through an increasinglyenergy-efficient production, a growing use of renewable energies and the phasing out of coal in Xella’s plants. The second target will be achieved through thedeepening of partnerships with Xella’s key suppliers, the optimisation of recipes, and the development of the circularity of Xella’s materials.
Additionally, Xella Group is committed to the goal of not disposing any production leftovers in landfills, aiming to stop landfill of any AAC or CSU residues by 2030. To further develop the recyclability of its products, Xella is optimising its value chain to receive secondary materials from recycling companies andis developing new products based on crushed and milledAAC coarse materialand lighter materials with the support of its own research & development facility XellaTechnologie- und ForschungsgesellschaftmbH (T&F).
Investments in safety and compliance
Xella has also improved on its social targets, especially regarding the safety of its employees. In the past year,accidents dropped by 36 percent. Moreover, Xella hired Radmila Petrovic to join the Executive Committee as Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, to further anchorgovernanceand compliance in the top ranks of the company.
Christophe Clemente, Chief Executive Officer at XellaGroup, says:
“The construction industry is key to achieving the climate goals in Europe.At Xella, we have made significant progress in driving energy and resource efficiency and are working tirelessly to enhance circularity principles throughout the lifecycle of our sustainable products.”
Cécile Fages, Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer at Xella Group, says:
“At Xella,we know that we have major societal andenvironmental responsibilities.
I am therefore particularly proud that Xella’s decarbonization path for 2030 hasbeen approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative. This will help Xella achieve its business targets by providing low CO2 building materials.
Xella’s sustainability efforts were also recognized by external ESG experts. In July 2023, the company was honoured asa leader in its industry by Sustainalytics, anindependent ESG rating agency. With a score of17.5 and a low risk profile, Xella ranked second among 142 constructionmaterials companies worldwide.
Successful adaptation to the macroeconomic conditions
2023 was a challenging year for the new residential construction market in Europe, whichas a whole experienced unprecedented declinesby a third.The Group generated a total revenue of more than 1 billion euros (compared to 1.4 billion euros the previous year). The normalised EBITDA amounted to about 205 million euros (compared to 291million euros in 2022).
Over the past year, the Group has launched numerous initiatives to improve its production network, reduce its fixed costs, and successfully adapt to the challenging macroeconomic situationwhile still adhering to its ambitious sustainability roadmap.
With theseinitiativesand the expectation for market recovery, the Group is confident to grow beyond pre-crisis levels in the mid-term.
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Further information is also available on the Xella Group website: https://www.xella.com/en_US/sustainability-report-2023