Our Global Waste Management Policy aims to:

• Implement effective waste management practices, enabling us to identify the most efficient methods to minimise waste and maximise the reuse or recycling of used material;
  

• Manage the entire process to ensure full compliance with best practices; and
  

• Enable Stahl’s local teams to understand their responsibilities under environmental law and how to maintain compliance with all relevant regulations and standards.

The policy follows what is known as the waste hierarchy, with a focus on the ‘three Rs’: reduce, reuse and recycle. The hierarchy helps us to prioritise the actions we take to manage our waste, both before and after it is created. First and foremost, our policy aims to prevent or reduce waste at source, by reusing products and materials before they become waste, by recycling waste materials into new materials and objects (or recovering them and converting them into energy), or by substituting other materials that would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function. Where these activities are not possible, waste is disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Sending used materials to landfill is a last resort.

The manufacture of our products generates hazardous waste from our products, raw materials, process equipment (such as sludge from wastewater treatment), laboratories and used packaging. The remaining waste is classified as non-hazardous (non-chemical) and includes glass, paper, wood, plastic, and household and demolition waste. In 2023, waste intensity (tons of waste produced per ton of product manufactured) was reduced by 22% compared to 2022. This reduction is largely due to the installation of wastewater treatment facilities at the Waalwijk site in the Netherlands. Prior to the installation of this treatment facility, all water waste from the site was sent to an external treatment facility, and was classified as hazardous waste.