Ecolab

Stakeholder engagement
The company discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups.

Key areas and species
The company has a management plan for locations within its own operations adjacent to areas important for biodiversity, and it discloses the percentage of land, fresh water and sea use in such locations.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company discloses its inputs, including its material footprint.

Water
The company has a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal in its own operations and reports progress against the target. The company also engages with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company has a commitment to respect the right to water.

Solid and air pollution
The company is reducing the production of hazardous substances, and commits not to develop or market new chemicals or products with SVHC (substance of very high concern) properties. The company discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal. The company reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations.

GHG emissions
The company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

No leading practices were identified for the company in the social inclusion and community impact measurement area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. Although the company has targets for water, greenhouse gas emissions and waste, no targets were found regarding other key sustainability topics based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool, such as air pollutants, soil pollutants and biodiversity. However, the company reports consistently on progress against all its targets. The company mentions that sustainability performance is tied to remuneration but does not disclose clear targets. In addition, the company does not appear to have eligible remuneration targets for biodiversity. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
The company discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member wherever it operates. However, the company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has not holistically assessed its impacts or how it depends on nature, including biodiversity. It has an opportunity to start such an assessment across its value chains, focused on quantification of its impacts or dependencies. The company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations or its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company discloses the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations, but it does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations and of its suppliers. It does, however, disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company discloses some activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains but does not have time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment or activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. Nor is the company committed to restoring ecosystems. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company does not disclose efforts to improve soil health.

Water
The company demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. It reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. It also reports a decrease in water pollution but does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company regularly reports on water pollution but does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. Even though the company discloses some preventive action programmes for specific risks to water rights, these do not reference communities or other users in their surroundings.

Solid and air pollution
The company is not reducing the production of hazardous waste. While the company mentions saving 14 million pounds of newly produced plastic, it is not clear how the company calculated this number nor how it compares to other years. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. The company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. However, the company does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
The company is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. It has a time-bound target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions and reports progress against this target. The company is also reducing its scope 3 emissions but does not disclose an associated time-bound reduction target.

Invasive species
The company has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company is not committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The company does not track its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights or land rights of local communities. Nor does the company disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. The company does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

There is no evidence that the company describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities, covering its own operations. Nor is there evidence that the company describes its process for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. No evidence was found that the company has a global system to act on its salient human rights issues. The company has an opportunity to disclose the stakeholders it engages with on human rights risks.

The company has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect the health and safety of its own workers and expecting its suppliers to do the same. The company has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. The company also has an opportunity to describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. There is no evidence that the company describes how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

There is no evidence that the company has a publicly available global tax strategy. The company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption, and it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. In a public policy statement, the company discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement. However, no evidence was found that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions.