Gvs — Environmental & Social Information 2024

Jul 26, 2024

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Protecting your Tomorrow

GVS Sustainability Plan 2024-2026

Our Group Sustainability Plan

Since its inception in 1979, GVS has had one primary focus: developing and manufacturing high quality solutions to protect life and health in the most critical environments. This guiding principle is shared among all the people of our organization and has been the cornerstone of our journey in developing a robust sustainability strategy.

At GVS, we understand that achieving sustainability is a complex challenge, yet we recognize that it is not negotiable. We are aware of the significant role we play not only in our businesses but also on the environment and communities, and we believe that by driving innovation and making responsible decisions today, we can make a positive difference tomorrow.

The Sustainability Plan 2024-2026 lays the foundations of our sustainability journey by defining meaningful yet pragmatic commitments and goals. By doing so, we aim at contributing to the well-being of society through innovative solutions and at reducing the impact of our activities on a global scale.

As we embark on this path today, we commit to meeting and exceeding our sustainability goals in line with our payoff: We make it happen!

A solid sustainability governance

Reaching ambitious goals also involves establishing a strong governance across the organization and therefore our commitment to sustainability has also translated into a progressive strengthening of our governance structure by assigning dedicated roles and responsibilities.

The plan has been prepared through the direct involvement of the Cross-functional Sustainability Committee consisting of the CEO and those members of the company's senior executives that are most involved in managing sustainability issues.

The Group Sustainability Plan 2024-2026 has been discussed with the Control, Risk and Sustainability Committee before the final approval by the Board of Directors.

Board of Directors

Responsible for corporate strategy on sustainability

Board level

Control, Risk and Sustainability Committee

Supports the Board of Directors on sustainability

Cross-functional Sustainability Committee

Executes the strategic direction on sustainability and oversees the achievement of sustainability goals

Executive level

Corporate Sustainability Department

Operational level

A plan centered around 4 strategic sustainability pillars

Our 2024-2026 Sustainability Plan is centered around four core pillars which we must focus on to achieve the most sustainable growth. For each of these pillars, we have identified the strategic areas of focus, the commitments to pursue, and the goals we aim to achieve. Overall, the sustainability plan covers 14 areas of commitment, 5 of which were identified as priorities for the relevance of the topics addressed and the dedication needed to achieve the goals1 .

Protecting

We strongly believe that people are the cornerstone of our company, each contributing uniquely to our shared goals. We prioritize protecting, empowering, and developing them and we commit to ensuring an inclusive and equitable work environment that upholds the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of all individuals.

6 areas 11 commitments 22 goals

Protecting the planet

We recognize the importance of environmental protection as we believe it is our collective responsibility to safeguard the planet. To fulfill this commitment, we are dedicated to building a more resilient organization through the improvement of operational efficiency, to reducing use of resources and to mitigating climate change.

4 areas 9 commitments 10 goals

Protecting through innovation people Protecting

Protecting people is central to every solution we create. We focus on developing technologies that elevate product quality for ultimate safety and simultaneously we strive to enhance the environmental performance of our solutions through circularity and ecodesign.

Upholding the highest ethical standards is fundamental to who we are and what we stand for. We are committed to fostering responsible behavior not just within our organization but also among all the partners cooperating with us.

3 areas 4 commitments 8 goals

2 areas 3 commitments 6 goals

1 All planned goals included in this document refer to the consolidation perimeter of GVS Group (GVS S.p.A. and its subsidiaries) as of December 31, 2023 (except for the target related to GHG emission reductions (Scope 1 + Scope 2), which refers to the perimeter as of December 31, 2024) and therefore it excludes any potential scope changes that may occur due to mergers and/or acquisitions during the 2024-2030 period.

SUSTAINABILITY PILLARS	Protecting people	Protecting the planet	Protecting through innovation	Protecting our values
	Human capital management	Environmental management	Product ecodesign	Responsible supply chain
	Work-life balance and parental support	Climate change	Circularity and efficient use of materials	management Business conduct
AREAS	Diversity, Equity and Inclusion	Water resources	Quality and safety of
	Skills development and performance evaluation	Manufacturing efficiency	products
	Health and safety
	Awareness on sustainability
COMMITMENTS AND GOALS	11 commitments 22 goals	9 commitments 10 goals	4 commitments 8 goals	3 commitments 6 goals
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
				Priority Area/Goal

PROTECTING PEOPLE: areas of commitment

People represent the heart of our Group. This is why we are committed to reinforcing our internal policies and guidelines to ensure responsible management of human capital.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Health and safety

We prioritize occupational health and safety. We aim at constantly strenghtening the culture of safety, with the ultimate goal of preventing any injuries.

Human capital management Work-life balance and parental support

We aim at defining a comprehensive plan of initiatives and policies focused on the needs of our people, believing that an optimal work-life balance is essential for the productivity and satisfaction of everyone.

Skills development and performance evaluation

The professional growth of our people is a fundamental pillar for the Group. By strengthening training and performance evaluation programs, we aim at fostering a stimulating work environment in which each individual can fulfill his/her own potential.

Awareness on sustainability

We believe in the importance of raising awareness on sustainability issues among our people, so we aim at structuring a global internal communication program on these topics.

PROTECTING PEOPLE: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Human capital management	Define and publish Policies on human capital management and development	Definition and publication of the Recruitment Policy	2025
		Definition and publication of the Individual Variable Bonus Policy	2024
		Definition and publication of the Onboarding Policy	2024
		Definition and publication of the Salary Review Policy	2025
		Definition and publication of the Succession Planning Policy with respect to the direct reports of the CEO	2024
		Extension of the Succession Planning Policy to the top management of the Group subsidiaries	2026
		Definition of Group-level Training and Development Guidelines to provide directions for projects to be implemented locally	2026
Work-life balance and parental support	Extend initiatives on work-life balance and parental support	Extension of the Work-from-home Policy to 100% of Italian GVS Group companies	2024
		Extension of the Parental leave Policy to 100% of the U.S. GVS Group companies	2025
	Increase employee engagement and satisfaction	Definition and dissemination of an employee engagement survey to identify potential areas for improvement	2026
		Identification of new initiatives related to work-life balance and parental support to be implemented based on the findings of the engagement survey	2026

PROTECTING PEOPLE: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion	Strengthen policies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion	Integration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion enhancements (if necessary) into Human Capital Management policies currently under development	2025
		Periodic review of existing Human Capital Management policies to strengthen Diversity, Equity and Inclusion elements	Rolling
	Ensure equal pay for equivalent work irrespective of gender	Conduct a pay gap analysis by gender and role to identify possible further areas for improvement	2025
		Ensure equal pay for equivalent work irrespective of gender	2026
Skills development and performance evaluation	Launch a management development program	Definition and launch of a managerial development plan aimed at middle management (including training on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)	2026
	Extend the perfomance evaluation process	Ensure that at least 70% of the Group's indirect employees2 receive a structured feedback and performance evaluation process	Annual

% of indirect employees evaluated: nr. of indirect employees (HC) that received at least one formal evaluation of their performance / average number (HC) of indirect employees

PROTECTING PEOPLE: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Health and safety	Extend the health and safety management system certifications (ISO 45001)	Implementation of certified Health and Safety management systems (ISO 45001) in 7 additional manufacturing companies of the Group	2026
	Perform internal assessments on health and safety	Carry out an internal assessment of compliance with Group-defined Health and Safety criteria on 100% of manufacturing Companies	2026
	Improve the work-related injury rate	Enhance workplace safety by achieving a 9.6% reduction in work-related injury rate3 compared to 2023	2024
		Definition of a work-related injury rate target to be achieved by 2026 to further promote health and safety	2025
Awareness on sustainability	Promote internal awareness on sustainability	Launch of a communication program on sustainability addressed at employees through the Group newsletter	2024

PROTECTING THE PLANET: areas of commitment

We will strengthen our environmental policies and management systems to limit our impact on the planet and to support a corporate culture that fosters continuous process improvement.

We are committed to preserving our water resources by developing projects aimed at reducing water consumption and improving water quality.

Climate change

We want to contribute to combating climate change by doing our part in achieving the goals set by the Paris Agreement. For this reason, we have defined the trajectory we intend to follow and the key actions to be implemented in the short term to evaluate a decarbonization strategy for our direct operations and value chain.

Water resources Manufacturing efficiency

We aim at increasing our manufacturing efficiency to optimize the use of resources and to reduce waste by strengthening global monitoring and setting a path for future improvement.

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PROTECTING THE PLANET: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Environmental management	Update the Environmental Policy	Update of the Environmental Policy to reflect the Group's commitment and objectives on all environmental sustainability topics	2024
	Extend the environmental and energy management system certifications (ISO 14001 and ISO 50001)	Implementation of certified environmental management systems (ISO 14001) in 3 additional manufacturing companies and of certified energy management system (ISO 50001) in 1 additional manufacturing company of the Group	2026
	Extend the internal assessment to include environmental criteria	Broaden the scope of the internal health and safety assessments to include Group-defined environmental criteria	2026
Climate change	Calculate a comprehensive GHG emissions inventory	Calculation of a comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) related to GVS own operations and its value chain (Scope 1 + Scope 2 + Scope 3)	2024
	Participate in the CDP Climate Change questionnaire	Completion of the CDP questionnaire on Climate Change to improve transparency	2024
	Reduce GHG emissions of own operations and value chain	Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 + Scope 2)4 by 42% compared to the 2024 baseline, in line with the emission reduction trajectory defined by the Paris Agreement	2030
		Development of a feasibility study to set a target and to identify the decarbonization levers required to reduce GHG emissions in GVS's own operations and its value chain (Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3) aiming to align with the Paris Agreement	2025
	Perform an assessment of climate-related risks	Assessment of climate-related risks using scenario analysis	2024
Water resources	Reduce water withdrawals and discharges	Design and installation of a water treatment system used in the membrane manufacturing line in Italy aimed at reducing water withdrawal and discharges	2025
Manufacturing efficiency	Improve manufacturing efficiency	Definition of a Group-wide improvement target on Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) related to the reduction of waste produced in manufacturing (scrap) and to promote an energy-efficient use of machineries	2025

Scope 1 + Scope 2 GHG emissions: tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions related to direct energy consumption and purchased electricity in own operations

PROTECTING THROUGH INNOVATION: areas of commitment

We are committed to integrating ecodesign principles into our product development processes to reduce environmental impact.

Circularity and efficient use of materials

We believe that ensuring greater circularity of products and packaging is a crucial challenge to minimize the impact on the sectors we operate in. Therefore, we will initiate new research and development projects to find solutions that aim at optimizing the use of materials and at reducing the use of virgin plastic.

Quality and safety of our products

Our priority is to create products that ensure the protection of people. For this reason, we are committed to ensuring that each product meets the highest standards of quality and safety, implementing rigorous control processes and setting continuous improvement objectives.

Priority Area/Goal

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PROTECTING THROUGH INNOVATION: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Product ecodesign	Define Ecodesign Guidelines for new product development	Definition of a sustainability checklist for new product development projects	2025
		Assess at least 50% of new product development projects with the sustainability checklist	2025
		Ensure that 100% of new product development projects are assessed using the sustainability checklist	2026
		Definition of Product Ecodesign Guidelines containing the sustainability principles for new product development	2026
Circularity and efficient use of materials	Reduce the environmental impact of packaging	Launch of 3 new product lines with 100% virgin plastic-free5 single-use packaging (Health and Safety division)	2026
		Launch of a pilot project to explore possible alternatives for product packaging with reduced environmental impact	2026
	Improve circularity of products and material use efficiency	Launch of 3 projects aimed at reducing the amount of virgin plastic used in 3 product families	2026
Quality and safety of products	Improve the quality and safety of products	Improvement of the product quality and safety KPI by 9.6% compared to 2023 baseline6	2025

5 Virgin plastic-free refers to virgin plastic from fossil sources

6 Product quality and safety KPI: nr. of products recognized as non-compliant / total number of products placed on the market (parts per million). The baseline refers to September 2023.

PROTECTING OUR VALUES: areas of commitment

Responsible supply chain management

We are committed to promoting ethical and sustainable practices in our supply chain. As part of this commitment, we are launching a new global program to actively engage our suppliers on sustainability topics. Our goal is to promote transparency and continuous improvement throughout our supply chain.

Business conduct

We believe that every business activity must be conducted with the highest level of ethical standards. For this reason, we have decided to further enhance the dissemination of our principles and values across the organization by launching a global training program on Business Conduct.

Priority Area/Goal

PROTECTING OUR VALUES: commitments and goals

Areas	Commitments	Goals	Target Year
Responsible supply chain management	Update the Supplier Code of Conduct	Update of the Supplier Code of Conduct to align the document with the Group's commitments and expectations on sustainability	2024
	Implement an evaluation and improvement program on sustainability for top suppliers	Definition of a sustainability supplier assessment survey to measure the maturity level of the supply chain on ESG topics	2024
		Involvement of 50% top direct suppliers (in terms of spending)7 on sustainability topics through a continuous evaluation and improvement program	2026
Business conduct	Define and launch a global program on Business Conduct (including human rights topics)	Definition of a global training program on Business Conduct (anti-corruption, ethical conduct and human rights)	2024
		Delivery of the Business Conduct training to 100% of the Group's executives, managers and indirect employees globally8	2026
		Launch of a program to monitor the effectiveness of the training delivered	2026

7 Percentage of top direct suppliers evaluated on sustainability: spending on direct suppliers that have been evaluated on sustainability / total spending on direct suppliers 8 Percentage of employees trained: nr. of employees (executives, managers and indirect – excluding direct employees) trained on Business Conduct / Nr. of employees (HC). Only employees who have been with GVS for more than six months will be accounted for the KPI.

Disclaimer

This presentation has been prepared by the Company and has not been independently verified by an independent audit company. This document may contain certain forward-looking statements about the Company based on current expectation and opinions developed by the Company, as well as based on current estimates and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties – many of which are beyond the control of GVS S.p.A. – which could cause a significant difference between forward-looking information and actual future results.

The information set out in this presentation is provided as of the date indicated herein. Except in case required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to provide updates of any of the aforementioned forward-looking statements and under no circumstances shall the Company be held liable for loss or damage arising from the use of this presentation or any reliance placed upon it.

This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or subscribe to Company shares and neither this document or a portion of it may constitute a recommendation to effect any transaction or to conclude any legal act of any kind whatsoever. The reader should consult any further disclosures GVS S.p.A. may make in documents it files with the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission and with the Italian Stock Exchange.

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For more information on our Sustainability Plan, please visit gvs.com or contact us at sustainability@gvs.com