4.1 Our approach to environmental and climate protection

Structure and organization of the environmental and climate protection Management System

Responsibilities are anchored across the Group as well as locally in the country organizations and subsidiaries.

> Global responsibility: Overall responsibility for efficient environmental management in compliance with regulations lies with the Management Board of Paul Hartmann AG, with the Health, Safety &

Environment (HSE) department driving it operationally.

> Local management: At the local level, the

Managing Directors as well as Plant, Sales, and

Administrative Managers of the country organizations and subsidiaries ensure that all legal and

Company-wide requirements are implemented.

Local environmental experts and the HARTMANN GROUP HSE Management department support local management with professional advice. Through global and regional events, HARTMANN ensures that experts regularly exchange ideas for continuous improvement.

comprehensive environmental Management System

The constant aim at HARTMANN is to minimize the potential negative environmental impacts of its own business activities. To this end, the Company has established internal principles for efficient environmental management and its legally compliant implementation. HARTMANN consistently complies with environmentally relevant regulations and laws at the local, regional, and global levels. Although the pandemic placed particularly high demands on the global environmental organization in the reporting year, HARTMANN was able to maintain all its existing certifications. This applies to the Environmental, Energy, and Occupational Safety Management Systems as well as to the supply-chain certifications for sustainable forestry. In accordance with the guidelines, HARTMANN trains all employees on HSE issues and raises their awareness of these topics when they join. This is followed by repeated, focused training cycles. In the reporting year, HARTMANN expanded its internal communication on HSE topics to strengthen employees’ understanding of how important these are.

Documentation of environmental performance

HARTMANN regularly collects data on energy consumption and water use, as well as on wastewater emissions and waste volumes in the country organizations and subsidiaries. Based on the data gathered, the Company identifies site-specific potentials for improvement and establishes action plans for implementation.

certified Sites

The Group operates Environmental Management Systems at most of its production and logistics sites. Accordingly, 20 sites are ISO 14001-certified and two are EMAS-certified. In addition, ten sites have an ISO 45001-certified Health and Safety Management System as well as an ISO 50001-certified Energy Management System. External certification bodies regularly check all certified sites for conformity with respective standards.