3. Good health and well-being

•   Employee health and safety

•   Consumer health and safety

In 2023, a Risk Assessment and Evaluation was conducted by an external safety adviser. This RI&E served as a control measure to ensure that our employees can work in a healthy and safe environment. Following the RI&E, we received an Action Plan detailing various low risks identified during the evaluation. Issues such as: an outdated employee handbook, the absence of an emergency response plan, loose cables under desks and a lack of monitoring of ARBO (Occupational Health and Safety) standards for home workspaces. While these issues do not present an immediate high risk, they do require our attention. Because, as stated: the people of the Global Products Group are the driving force behind the company. A significant portion of these issues has already been addressed in 2023.

The product range of the Global Products Group is extremely diverse: in terms of design, material and purpose. The products supplied by the Global Products Group comply with the standards laid down in, among others, the Commodities Act and foreign trade legislation. Because laws and regulations vary from country to country, we are always in close contact with (new) clients when working together. This way, we can check whether our collection meets the requirements in this specific country. Often, however, the application of our items lies with the clients themselves. Our collection includes a wide range of memorial products, supplemented with various filling and/or sealing techniques. To ensure correct use and application, we aimed in 2023 to provide instructional videos for our entire collection of ash-containing products (100%). These videos can be accessed on the product pages of our websites. This goal was not fully achieved, primarily due to the addition of various new products (groups) to the collection in 2023. By the end of 2023, 77.4% of the ash-containing memorial products had instructional videos. Therefore, this objective will be carried forward into 2024.

8. Decent work and economic growth

•   Implementation of social amenities

•   Appointment of a confidential advisor

•   Reducing child labour at suppliers in high-risk countries

•   Reducing forced labour at suppliers in high-risk countries

•   70% of suppliers are located in Europe

As previously mentioned, we at the Global Products Group believe that people make the organisation. We take it as a compliment that the vast majority of our employees have been with Global Products Group for a long time. It is important that our employees are both physically and mentally healthy. In 2023, we started offering additional social amenities, such as providing fresh fruit at work, every week. We also offer our employees a bicycle lease plans. These are both concrete initiatives that motivate a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, the team was also treated to a Christmas package from the company as a thank-you for their once again fantastic efforts in the past calendar year.

In 2023, the organisation appointed a confidential advisor. This provides employees with a trusted environment to report issues such as bullying, intimidation or discrimination without fear of repercussions. The behavioural guidelines for this are documented in the employee handbook so that every employee who finds themselves in a precarious situation knows the procedure. This promotes open and honest communication within the organisation and demonstrates that the Global Products Group is an organisation with a positive and safe working environment.

Just as within our own organisation, we at the Global Products Group find it important that every environment we collaborate with offers a safe and fair working environment. As an organisation, we are aware of the important role we play within the business chain. As such, we work with suppliers on local, national and international levels, each with their own challenges. To eliminate dangers such as forced labour and child labour, the Global Products Group previously established a Code of Conduct (COC), a Modern Slavery Statement (MSS) and a Suppliers Environmental Code (SEC). These are so-called behavioural documents that clearly describe how we as an organisation expect to deal with such distressing themes. This ensures that we all share a uniform, global vision under which we collectively operate.

In 2023, we sent these behavioural documents to our suppliers located in high-risk countries. To identify these countries, the CSR Risk Checker geraadpleegd, was consulted, in which countries with ‘Forced Labour & Human Trafficking’ and ‘Child Labour’ as a hazard were included in the risk country scope. To ensure that the established rules of conduct are clear to the relevant parties, the Global Products Group had the COC and MSS documents translated into the supplier’s native language. All suppliers from the high-risk countries signed and returned these documents in 2023, with the exception of one supplier. The reason for this is that during the calendar year, the Risk Checker Tool was updated, resulting in Spain being classified as a ‘high-risk country’. The remaining suppliers will be included in the objective for 2024.

In 2023, the Global Products Group further committed to focusing on and positively contributing to the local economy and community. This gives us as an organisation better control and transparency within the chain, supplemented by the ecological benefits of shorter transport routes. In this regard, the Global Products Group expresses its preference for Europe-based suppliers, as long as variables such as quality, expertise and price are in line with market standards. Since the last calendar year, the Global Products Group has worked with a total of 78.6% European suppliers.

12. Responsible consumption and production

•   Waste reduction

•   Reduction of surplus memorial products

•   Alternative remnants for outbound deliveries

•   Statements of intent by significant stakeholders and documentation thereof

•   Ensuring compliance with the Advertising Code in promotional activities

•   Preparing a Lifecycle Analysis plan of action

•   Applying Life Cycle Analysis to three suppliers

•   Energy savings of 2% among employees

In 2023, the Global Products Group implemented its so-called ‘recycling centre’. Since last year, all (office) spaces have been equipped with waste separation bins. This allows employees and guests to easily separate their waste into different streams: paper, plastic, cups (coffee cups) and residual waste. Additionally, within the recycling centre, the plastic, mainly originating from logistics operations, is further separated into different grades. The start year of the recycling centre provides the Global Products Group with a good baseline of how much waste is being discarded. This offers insights into further reducing waste and intensifying our environmental efforts. With success, as the intensive separation of waste has allowed us to downsize from a 1,100-litre residual waste container to a 660-litre container starting in May 2023: a reduction of 26.9%. All commercial waste is collected and processed by waste processor Van Happen.

There can be instances where products have no commercial value when rejected due to defects, damage or deviations from the base model. In 2023, the Global Products Group has mapped out the number of rejected products. This not only provides insights into (frequent) complaints but also gives clarity and a framework for the size and weight of the rejected products. This total is converted into product weight, which, depending on the (sub)supplier, can have three purposes: Recycling, Return to Supplier or Destruction. The first two waste streams are converted into new value, while the latter is burdensome. In 2023, the following baseline was established:

At Global Products Group, we understand how crucial it is to adequately, quickly, and correctly ship products for the funeral industry. To carefully ship emotionally valuable products, sturdy and reliable packaging materials are essential. Packaging that fulfils this requirement is, by definition, not always environmentally friendly. In 2023, we began researching sustainable substitutes to replace the so-called plastic filler material. To this end, we also engaged in conversations with our larger suppliers: How do they handle this, and what advice can they offer us? We will continue this search in 2024. The possibilities turned out to be much more extensive than initially thought, as the substitute must be universally applicable to the wide and diverse collection of the Global Products Group.

“Globally Responsible”; the slogan of the Global Products Group. As an organisation, we are very conscious of our role within the business chain, a responsibility we are more than willing to take on. A philosophy that, moreover, seamlessly aligns with the mindset of founder Peter Biemans: entrepreneurship as a force to bring about positive change. We are enormously proud of the milestones we have achieved in recent years, but above all, we hope these achievements will be a source of inspiration for others. During a reflective session with our significant stakeholders, the main interested parties of the Global Products Group, we posed the following question to them: How does your company incorporate sustainability? With these parties, the core of the GPG network, we shared our statements of intent, which are detailed in the mentioned behavioural documents: COC, MSS and SEC. Thus, we operate together from one shared vision and foundation. Last year, all significant stakeholders read and signed the behavioural documents for agreement. As such, we can give meaning to a sustainable policy together.

Additionally, the Global Products Group has drawn up an action plan to achieve uniform documentation of compliance with these statements of intent among our suppliers. After all, actions speak louder than words. The action plan was completed in 2023. This has taken shape through an audit programme in accordance with the framework of a SMETA 4-pillar audit. In this, an objective, external party assesses the enforcement of the agreed guidelines with suppliers. In 2023, the first supplier has already completed the entire SMETA 4-pillar audit process.

At the Global Products Group, we take compliance with laws and regulations very seriously. This includes the rules of the Dutch Advertising Code Foundation. In 2023, we ensured that advertisements from Global Products Group companies were respectful, non-offensive and truthful. This way, we safeguard our reliability. Every advertisement includes contact information, providing the opportunity to file a complaint; a control method for compliance with the established rules.

As an organisation, we recognise our responsibility to protect the environment within the business chain. Not surprisingly, many of our objectives are focused on environmental impacts, and one of the behavioural documents (SEC) is specifically aimed at the environmental policy of the Global Products Group. In 2023, an action plan was developed for mapping out the Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) on a product group level. Using an established methodology, we are able to map out for various suppliers how sustainable and responsible a product group actually is. This LCA analyses five phases: extraction of raw materials, production, transport, use and maintenance and waste processing.

Subsequently, the Global Products Group set the target of applying the LCA to three different suppliers in 2023. Ultimately, the organisation was unable to complete a full LCA with any supplier in 2023. However, an analysis has been performed and developed for one supplier, although it is not yet complete. Here, the theory, measurability, and implementation of an environmentally-oriented LCA method proved to be quite complex. A learning process where several imperfections were encountered during an initial practical analysis. As a result, no complete LCA was carried out in 2023.

In 2022, the Global Products Group mapped its energy consumption in terms of gas, water and electricity within its business premises. At that time, we concluded that all measured values were at or even below the average consumption compared to similar organisations. This was a positive observation, but as a company, we saw ample room and opportunities for improvement. By investing in energy-saving solutions and increasing awareness among employees, the Global Products Group achieved a reduction of 15.8% in cubic metres of gas, 2.8% in kWh of electricity, and 6.9% in litres of water in 2023 compared to 2022. A promising start that we can explore and refine in the coming years.

13. Climate action

•   CO₂ reduction in inbound deliveries

As a key player in the business chain, we recognise the impact of our role on the climate. In previous years, the Global Products Group has implemented various measures and strategies to mitigate this impact. We have not stopped there, as in 2023, the Global Products Group mapped its fixed transport routes for inbound deliveries. Based on this input, a Dashboard was created that provides insight into diverse and important information about inbound deliveries throughout the calendar year. Metrics include: kilometres travelled, type of transport, CO₂ emissions per month and CO₂ emissions per supplier. This dashboard allows us to make comparisons based on specific information, but also serves as a starting point to further reduce our CO₂ emissions in the coming years.

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

•   Respecting the rights of the local population

•   Countering corruption

•   Communication of CSR policy

The Global Products Group attaches great importance to a fair and safe working environment, not only within our own business premises but also with our suppliers. Through the Suppliers Environmental Code, we collectively protect the local population at the production locations of our suppliers. In 2023, we initially focused on suppliers that classified ‘Environment & Surroundings’ as a country risk using the CSR Risk Checker tool. In 2023, 81.3% of suppliers from these high-risk countries have read, signed, and returned the SEC document. The main reason for not achieving 100% is because collaboration with several of these suppliers has terminated or will terminate in 2024. Therefore, in the current year, this percentage will be higher.

Development is an element found in every line of the Global Products Group’s collection. From design and material to packaging. Without aspects such as peace, justice and safety, development on both a product and national level is impossible. An important component of this balance is the term ‘corruption’. Within the Code of Conduct of the Global Products Group, a specific paragraph is dedicated to countering corruption and bribery. To provide insight into which countries corruption is a significant issue, the ‘Corruption Perceptions Index’ was used. This tool measures a CPI score; a representation of the perception of corruption in the public sector of countries worldwide. Countries with a CPI score below 60 were identified as high-risk countries for 2023. In 2023, 91.7% of these countries have read, signed and returned the COC document. As with the previous objective, 100% was not achieved due to the fact that collaboration with the missing supplier is being terminated in the current year.

In 2023, the Global Products Group literally turned a new page. A written CSR policy, translated into a first edition of the CSR Annual Report, delivery of a Digital Management System and of course the certification of the CSR Performance Ladder, in accordance with the requirements of level 3. The CSR Annual Report was communicated to the Global Products Group constituency in various ways: through a printed edition to our significant stakeholders, a digital version to members of our online database, and via our websites, where a digital version of the report was made available. Printed versions of the annual report were also available for visitors to the international funeral trade shows in which Global Products Group companies participated.