As part of our commitment to respecting human rights1, we assess and prioritise the impact on people and communities across our entire value chain, including the supply chain. That means addressing the most severe risks in the procurement of materials necessary for our products, solutions, as well as the services we use.
Why prioritising workers in our supply chain matters
In today's interconnected global economy, responsible business practices2 should include the dignity, equal treatment and well-being of people in the supply chain. That’s why we embed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into our approach and conduct human rights due diligence to identify, assess and address risks across our value chain.
In 2024, this included impact assessments in pigment supply chains, worker voice surveys in warehousing, and direct engagement with informal waste collection workers in Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, with action plans now in place to improve working and living conditions. We also expanded our flagship supplier programme (JUIPP) to cover 68% of procurement spend, helping suppliers strengthen practices on human rights, climate and circularity.
By prioritising the protection of workers' and communities’ rights, we can foster sustainable development3, create positive social impact4, and build a more equitable and inclusive future for all.
Our priority areas for driving outcomes
To assess our approach to respecting human rights and how it can be further developed as part of our social sustainability strategy, we identified (in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights) the essential risks to people in our supply chain:
1Human rights are defined as "rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status."
Source: UN (https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights)
2 Responsible business practices are based on implementing the UN "Protect, respect and remedy" framework. Source: UN (https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/reference-publications/guiding-principles-business-and-human-rights)
3Sustainable development defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Source: International Institute for Sustainable Development
(https://www.iisd.org/mission-and-goals/sustainable-development)
4 By "positive impact" we mean driving better outcomes for our workforce, workers and communities in our supply chain, workers in collection and recycling and people in our value chain in the areas of labour, discrimination, hazardous working conditions and sustainable income, among others.
5Base materials are the materials we use to produce the packaging we sell to food and beverage producers, including paperboard, polymers, aluminium foil and inks.