As a family company, we bear special responsibility toward people and the environment. “Every successful company should give something back to the society,” as our founder, Peter Dussmann, said. Following his example, sustainable actions have been at the heart of our business activities ever since the Dussmann Group was founded. Our social engagement measures aimed at giving back encompass everything from respectful treatment of our employees to supporting innovation and processes that conserve resources.
Dussmann Group ESG Strategy 2025
Sustainability is a key element of our corporate strategy, and it is something our employees put into practice every single day. From conserving valuable resources to strengthening employee engagement and striving for optimum quality and client satisfaction, the Dussmann Group stands for sustainability in all its dimensions: environmental, social, and governance.
We are not alone in this view. The European Union has also identified environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors as key criteria in comparing companies and defining the measures they take for greater sustainability. To learn more about the specific actions we take in individual areas, please see the according sub-pages and our Declaration of Conformity.
Our commitment to the UN Global Compact
Since 2023, the Dussmann Group has been participating in the UN Global Compact - the world's largest initiative for sustainable and responsible corporate governance. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals and the 10 universal principles, the UN Global Compact pursues the goal of an inclusive and sustainable economy, now and in the future. By supporting this global initiative, we assume a shared responsibility for respecting human rights and labor standards, for fighting corruption, and for the environment and climate.
Sustainable and responsible actions lie at the heart of our business activities. Through this approach, we aim to uphold our own quality standards, but that is not all. We also strive to support the efforts of our clients, suppliers, and subcontractors, thereby optimizing environmental, social, and governance aspects along the entire supply chain. Our drive to achieve continuous improvement is one of the underpinnings of our sustainability policy.
The Dussmann Group ESG strategy means more than just switching the corporate vehicle fleet to electric vehicles or using ecofriendly chemicals. ESG also means things like respecting human rights in the supply chain, ensuring gender equality in working conditions, and measuring and improving the social impact of our service portfolio on stakeholders, such as clients. We focus on the following areas as we move toward sustainable success:
„At the Dussmann Group, we know that the actions we take today will affect the availability of resources in the future. That’s why sustainability has been an integral part of our corporate strategy for years now, and it is why our actions are geared toward the future and respectful toward people and the environment.“
Materiality: the basis of our ESG strategy
The materiality assessment forms the foundation of our ESG strategy and is regularly updated. It follows the principle of double materiality: On the one hand, we identify the impacts of our business activities on the environment and people (inside-out perspective). On the other hand, we consider sustainability-related risks and opportunities that may have a financial impact on our company and its economic success (outside-in perspective). We actively involve both internal and external stakeholders to ensure that their expectations and interests are taken into account. The material ESG topics identified through this process serve as the basis for defining our strategic ESG goals.
We took various factors into account in mapping out our ESG strategy. Alongside the impact of our actions on the environment, society, and economy, we also focused on incorporating external influences on the Dussmann Group. Based on all these aspects and how they are prioritized within our materiality matrix, we established long-term and medium-term goals that shape our path toward responsible actions and greater sustainability:
Environment
Our goal: Become climate neutral
To protect the climate, we have set climate neutrality of our business activities as a long-term goal. Achieving this objective efficiently and realistically requires detailed and complete collection of information on all of our emissions. Only then can we define quantitative goals and take specific actions to reduce emissions and shrink our carbon footprint.
People are at the heart of everything we do, and our employees are both our most important resource and the basis for our success. With that in mind, we aim to live up to our role as an responsible employer, while identifying and supporting our employees potential. Alongside improving occupational health and safety, strengthening employee engagement is one of our primary objectives.
As a service partner, it is important to us to offer our clients holistic solutions with reliably high quality. We perform regular audits to boost quality levels. Our goal is to increase the frequency of these audits. Beyond that, we are on a mission to uphold environmental, social, and governance standards along our entire supply chain.
The integrated management system (IMS) is our most important tool for monitoring the Dussmann Group and operationalizing our ESG strategy. It supports the QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety and Environment) & Sustainability unit in meeting various requirements, covering sustainability-related key indicators such as the number of audits performed along with indicators relating to education, training and the company’s environmental impact.
Our sustainability report of the Dussmann Group
Since 2018, all three dimensions of our responsibility have been integral parts of our strategy. Since then, we have been publishing our annual sustainability report, highlighting our achievements and measures as well as our concrete goals. Download the report to learn more about the progress we have made and our planned activities.
The Dussmann Group has won the German Sustainability Award 2024 (DNP) in the category “Business Services/Commercial Services,” taking on a pioneering role within its industry.
EcoVadis top rating: gold
The Dussmann Group has been awarded the EcoVadis gold medal, placing us among the top 5 percent of the more than 100,000 companies evaluated. Learn more.
The Dussmann Group has also been listed in ESG Book since 2002, immediately earning a rating of “Strong” – a level that only 25 percent of all companies evaluated by ESG Book reaches.
„At the Dussmann Group, we know that the actions we take today will affect the availability of resources in the future. That’s why sustainability has been an integral part of our corporate strategy for years now, and it is why our actions are geared toward the future and respectful toward people and the environment.“
