KHS GmbH has restructured its voluntary reporting process. The systems provider for the filling and packaging industry has now brought its sustainability report further into line with the EU reporting standard and is disclosing additional non-financial KPIs. Protection of the climate remains a key element of the company’s strategic core measures, the company stated.
“We’ve come a good step further in 2024. This is mainly thanks to the successful validation of our goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)”, says Nicole Pohl, senior ESG manager and human rights officer at KHS. KHS has drawn up an extensive catalog of measures based on its SBTi validation. “The sustainability report presents our ambitious targets defined together with the Group in a transparent and comprehensible manner.”
Moreover, KHS has considerably increased the number of non-financial KPIs published within the context of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and together with the Salzgitter Group’s obligation to report. In taking these key figures into consideration, KHS also wishes to gradually harmonize its procedure with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
SBTi confirms effectiveness of climate protection measures
One central topic is the protection of climate. The shared climate goals of Salzgitter AG and KHS were successfully validated by the SBTi in 2024: here, by 2028 the KHS Group is intent on reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 36% and those for Scope 3 by 20%. Its net zero target is to be reached by 2045 for Scopes 1 and 2 and by 2050 for Scope 3. On this basis, KHS has devised an ambitious decarbonization path and already begun implementing this.
In addition, with respect to its products the Dortmund systems supplier illustrates how intelligent further developments of proven machinery can help to save significantly on energy and thus resources. KHS already provides its customers with plenty of modernization options that generate added value. Furthermore, the company aims to offer important upgrades with a specific carbon footprint by the middle of 2025.
Additional non-financial KPIs
One major element enabling actions to be measured in the current and in future reports is the disclosure of non-financial performance indicators. The status thereof has completely changed since publication of the first report for 2013/2014. “The aim is to depict the accounting framework of the KHS Group in as much detail as possible. The full set of data collected based on the materiality analysis carried out within the Group provides a reliable summary of our sustainability activities and progress,” says Pohl. KHS has therefore greatly extended its non-financial KPIs to cover its more than 40 facilities worldwide. From 2026, KHS is aiming for conformity of its non-financial figures across the last three reporting years and to have its sustainability report independently reviewed.
This consistent aim for transparency and measurable progress reflects how the company sees itself, as KHS CEO Kai Acker emphasizes. “For us, sustainability isn’t just an individual project but an integral component of our corporate responsibility and strategy for the future. We specifically invest in sustainable technology and set ourselves ambitious, verifiable targets – for only by doing so can we generate genuine added value for the environment, society and our customers.”
