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Preface from the Management Board
2021 was a very successful fiscal year for the CHT Group.
Despite the ongoing corona pandemic, extreme supply bottlenecks and increasingly rising raw material prices, we achieved record figures in both sales and earnings. We were able to show that changes and shifted premises and priorities can challenge us, but not set us back permanently.
This positive development means that the issues relating to sustainability, which were initially overshadowed by the pandemic, have once again come into focus with their full relevance and prioritization. Due to our structure as a foundation-owned group of companies and the obligation to fulfill the foundation’s purpose, these topics are a fundamental part of our culture and self-image.
As a global business enterprise, we emphasize that the current global challenges posed by a growing world population, climate change and the increasing complexity of the flow of goods can only be mastered by implementing sustainable actions and business practices. In doing so, we take responsibility for our own actions, our company and society.
We have aligned our vision, our mission, and our entire corporate strategy, with clear goals and the three dimensions of sustainability: environment, economy, and social issues.
WE EMPHASIZE THAT THE CURRENT GLOBAL CHALLENGES POSED BY A GROWING WORLD POPULATION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE INCREASING COMPLEXITY OF THE FLOW OF GOODS CAN ONLY BE MASTERED BY IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABLE ACTIONS AND BUSINESS PRACTICES.
Our economic success shows that the internal organizational structural adjustments are paying off and that we are pursuing the right path with Strategy 2025, which is aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the “Green Deal”, the EU Commission is pursuing ambitious climate targets. We are actively involved in implementing these targets as part of the VCI’s “chemistry4climate” initiative. In addition, we as the CHT Group have set ourselves the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045. To underpin this ambitious goal, at the end of 2021 we signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement and committed to the 1.5°C target.
What challenges do we see as the CHT Group?
We see the transformation to a sustainable and climate-neutral society as the greatest challenge of the coming decades. Many of our products and technologies have an influence on the success of this transformation. We are therefore working at full speed to develop products and process solutions that reduce our customers’ CO2 footprint, while at the same time making worldwide efforts to reduce the CO2 footprint of our own production operations. In 2021, we calculated the corporate carbon footprint for the CHT Group for the first time, which serves as a baseline for our reduction targets.
The further intensification of resource scarcity on a global level calls for responsible handling of raw materials. In addition, the chemical industry is very energy-intensive and dependent on fossil raw materials. Therefore, the transformation of our energy consumption towards non-fossil energy sources is crucial. In addition, we see the expansion of the circular economy with increased activities in mechanical and chemical recycling and the increased use of biobased raw materials as a suitable way to drive forward climate protection by means of defossilization. This transformation is a major challenge that we will accept and master.
We are therefore aligning our products and processes even more closely with the circular economy in the future. In the textile industry, for example, we joined forces with other major international textile chemical companies to establish the “Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI)” alliance in the fall of 2020 with the aim of setting uniform global environmental standards within the international textile value chain and thus advancing sustainability in the textile industry.
To successfully implement this transformation, we need to continue to grow our business profitably To this end, we continue to rely on our sustainably classified products, with which we aim to map 80% of our sales by 2025. These products support customers in traditional industry segments such as the textile or paper industry in their transformation towards lower-pollutant manufacturing. Furthermore, they also ensure the reduction of water and energy consumption in the corresponding industries. In addition, our additives are used in future technologies such as e-mobility, fuel cells and modern construction materials.
In the Sustainability Report 2021, we present the CHT Group’s contribution to sustainable and responsible action and give you an overview of how we are addressing the diverse challenges described.
Dr. Bernhard Hettich | CTO
Dr. Frank Naumann | CEO
Axel Breitling | CFO