Clear goal – EcoVadis Platinum

In 2021, one of our larger customers wanted us to work with the EcoVadis evaluation system. A year later, after a lot of paperwork, we achieved EcoVadis Silver. We now have EcoVadis Gold and are among the top five percent of the 130,000 compa- nies currently assessed under EcoVadis. Our goal is to obtain the highest accolade, EcoVadis Platinum. This would put us in the top one percent in the world. Since being founded in 2007, Eco- Vadis has evolved into arguably the world’s largest platform for sustainability assessments. EcoVadis offers a platform where companies are assessed and graded based on their sustaina- bility performance in the areas of the environment, working conditions and human rights, ethics, and responsible procure- ment. The assessment is based on international standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the UN Global Compact, and ISO 26000 (ISO 26000 Social responsibility).

At Gnosjö Automatsvarvning, Alicia Jäderland and Jens Ringborg have been handling all the documents for the assessment. It’s a task that has taken a lot of time, and Jens is not entirely uncritical about it.

“I’m indifferent to EcoVadis. There are lots of documents to produce and questions to answer, but how they’re checked is another matter. As all our manufacturing is in Sweden, for example, we’ve not had documents for the measures we’ve taken to combat child labour and forced labour. Of course we have policies for that, but no meas- ures have ever been relevant here in Sweden. That’s why we have a lower rating for social issues, such as our meas- ures to counter child labour and forced labour, as well as bribery and corruption, where we still consider ourselves to be at the forefront even by Swedish standards.”

However, lower ratings do not mean low scores. Quite the opposite, in fact. Gnosjö Automatsvarvning was only one point off achieving EcoVadis Platinum in 2024.

“There are things we can improve, of course. Something we take for granted as a Swedish company is not as obvi- ous elsewhere in the world. That’s why it’s a good idea to have all the documents ready and translated into English. A lot of my and Jens’ work with EcoVadis has been about corroborating documents. Fortunately, Gnosjö Automats- varvning has a wealth of data and procedures, which makes the work easier,” says Alicia.

The goal for next year has already been set: Gnosjö Auto- matsvarvning will achieve EcoVadis Platinum. The deci- sion has also been made to continue reporting according to EcoVadis for at least another three years. This is because it is expected that EcoVadis will become the largest global platform, which most people will work with. Companies can then more easily be compared with each other.

“Regardless of whether we stop reporting according to any platform, we must always be at the forefront in our sustainability work. We won’t rest on our laurels, even if we get platinum. Sustainability is in our DNA and it’s the basis for our entire business,” says Alicia.