Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG Group

62 GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT Corporate Responsibility
Corporate Responsibility
In the interests of corporate responsibility, the HORNBACH
Group has imposed a set of rules governing its entrepreneurial
activity. These ensure that the company meets its responsibilities
towards the environment, its employees, and society
as a whole.
Responsibility for the environment
Timber only from responsible forestry
One particular focus remained the ongoing communication
concerning the fight against illegal tropical timber felling,
underlined by the assumption of a guarantee for the origin of
timber from certified sources. We are committed to attracting
customers' attention to timbers bearing the quality seal of the
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®). Back in 1996, our
company already provided the WWF and Greenpeace with a
voluntary undertaking not to import any uncertified tropical
timber. We set up our own quality management and environmental
department in February 2002. One focus of its activities
involves working to protect rainforests and promote responsible
forestry which also meets social and work safety
standards. There is growing public awareness in this area.
The FSC seal is also gaining in importance in political terms.
Forests in municipal ownership in Germany, for example, are
now also obtaining certification, thus offering increased
possibilities of satisfying the rising demand for certified
timber products. Given this focus, HORNBACH was and is
well-prepared for the European Timber Regulation (995/2010)
that took effect as of March 3, 2013. Among other requirements,
this regulation includes a duty of care for all timbers
and timber products imported from outside the European
Union and also bans the import of illegally felled timbers.
Most extensive FSC-certified product range
Many consumers check when buying timber products to see
whether the timber comes from responsible forestry. They see
DIY stores as bearing a particular responsibility to ensure that
only products from sustainable forestry are on offer.
To meet our customers’ expectations in this area while also
doing justice to our own commitment to sustainability, in
2007 HORNBACH became the first international DIY chain to
be awarded the FSC Chain of Custody certificate GFA-COC-
002007. This enables the timber supply chain to be checked
from the place of origin through to the end product. The company's
entitlement to this certificate is reviewed in annual
audits performed by an independent testing institute. HORN-
BACH was successfully recertified in 2012. Trade companies
that are themselves certified and all environmentally-aware
DIY enthusiasts can now choose from a range of around 4,500
timber products bearing the FSC seal at all HORNBACH stores.
That is the most extensive range on offer anywhere in the
European DIY sector.
As part of our commitment to protecting the forests, HORN-
BACH participated in developing an information platform
showing how forests can be put to rational use. Here, HORN-
BACH is cooperating with the Swiss company Papiliorama and
the FSC Switzerland. Within this cooperation, HORNBACH also
acts as official sponsor to the Papiliorama nature reserve in
Shipstern in Belize (Central America) and thus covers a major
share of the necessary budget.
HORNBACH relies on “Healthy Living” quality seal
There has been a sharp increase in consumers' sensitiveness
towards contaminants in the air and in products. Allergic
reactions to specific materials are arising ever more frequently,
so that home improvement enthusiasts and construction
clients have to pay increasing attention to the composition
of the materials used. In terms of housing construction
and renovation, energy efficiency became the top priority at
the latest upon the introduction of the Energy Savings Ordinance.
The problem here is that insulation and suitably built
windows mean that rooms are now virtually air-tight. The
climate in the room remains constant, but it is difficult for
any harmful substances in the air to escape. The "Healthy
Living" project aims to help consumers avoid contaminant
substances when building and designing their interiors.
To enable our customers to recognize at first glance which
products are especially low in pollutants, HORNBACH has
introduced its own seal of approval. The quality of the articles
thereby certified is checked in careful tests performed by