Policy and Management
Ralf Köring (chair) and Reinhild Schmidt form the Management Board of Speira Recycling Services Germany GmbH business (formerly: REAL ALLOY Europe) which is, as a business unit, part of the Speira group.
Environmental and Social Governance
Speira's Recycling Services is committed to sound environmental management and practices. Our personnel must comply with environmental requirements applicable to our operations and obtain environmental permits when required. Any waste materials created from our operations must be disposed of following all applicable EU, national and state requirements. Any employee who becomes aware of a spill, release or other environmental event that might have a negative impact on employees, the community or the environment is required to promptly notify the necessary functions. All employees are invited and expected to actively contribute to an environmentally compliant and safe workplace by following health & safety rules and practices and reporting accidents, injuries and unsafe equipment, practices or conditions. This requires them to understand the hazards and risks and to know about safe work practices. It also includes, if necessary, the authority to stop or refuse unsafe work.
Our Code of Conduct references Human Rights, including Women’s Rights, and Labour Rights. We are committed to provide a work environment that is free of unlawful discrimination and harassment. Speira's Recycling Services expects all employees to treat one another with respect, dignity and professionalism. The company will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any form directed toward employees, applicants, contractors, customers, vendors or others on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.
Speira's Recycling Services wants it clearly understood that all its directors, officers, employees and agents are expected to adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct. Those who violate the standards of the code are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
Leadership
Recycling Services’ management team under the leadership of the two Managing Directors sets the targets for the organization, including financial and operational performance, quality, health & safety, environment including greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, energy, and general sustainability. An integrated management system based on ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (health & safety), ISO 50001 (energy), and ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 (quality) supports our continuous improvement efforts on any business aspect. Following our ASI membership we are also integrating the requirements of the ASI Standards into this system. It also facilitates compliance with legal requirements and other commitments and generates relevant information for regular performance review by the management team. While compliance is a minimum, it is still important that we received no material fine in 2021 or 2022 for non-compliance with applicable law.
Environmental and Social Management Systems
Excelling in our business and equally recognizing our multiple responsibilities and commitments towards our various stakeholders can only be achieved by deploying structured, proven, and well monitored management approaches and systems. To this end, Speira's Recycling Services has implemented an integrated management system, RAI. This system provides the backbone and infrastructure to define, communicate, implement and monitor our policies, process descriptions, standards, work instructions, etc. It also allows us to maintain and uphold our management system certifications that we have achieved for most of our sites on quality management (ISO 9001 and/or IATF 16949), health & safety management (ISO 45001), environmental management (ISO 14001), and energy management (ISO 50001). After joining ASI, the scope of this management system has been extended to cover also the requirements from the ASI Performance and Chain of Custody Standards and, more broadly, sustainability matters in general, for example sustainable supply chain management. We continually look to improve the way we work, and our employees are always committed to delivering the right result. Sharing best practices among teams and different sites around our organization, performing structured process analyses, and applying Six Sigma tools helps Recycling Services capture and inspire creativity and innovation.
By complying with the various management system standards, we have decided not only to comply with all corresponding legal obligations, but also to improve our operational performance and efficiency continuously and systematically. These certifications are therefore one more important step on our way to sustainable business practices. Following initial certification of our plant in Deizisau and our headquarters in Grevenbroich, we expanded the scope of these certifications on all German sites by January 2023. The same applies to the certification against the ASI Chain of Custody Standard. The effectiveness and appropriateness of the management system is reviewed and monitored through structured and regular meetings involving all levels of the company. Regular business and operations reviews, dedicated HSEQ and project management reviews are complemented by regular team, functional, and cross functional meetings. These follow standardised reporting formats and are, where necessary, amended by ad hoc reports and information to senior management and all responsible managers of operational and functional units.
Responsible Sourcing
For Speira's Recycling Services, embracing the concept of sustainability for a business means showing responsibility. For our customers, we are responsible for the quality of our products and services. This includes maintaining a sustainable supply chain through supporting sustainable environmental, social and governance practices throughout our supply chain related activities. Based on our ability to influence business partners and suppliers we support and encourage efforts towards a more sustainable supply chain of our goods and services by
- identifying the key suppliers of the goods and services;
- assessing the environmental, social and governance risks associated with our key suppliers;
- using the outcomes of the risk assessment to inform the selection of our suppliers and attempt to influence positive and sustainable changes in our supply chain.
Our Supplier Sustainability Guideline was developed according to industry guidelines, in particular those provided by European Aluminium (EA) and the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI). The guideline follows a risk-based approach which uses independent human rights and environmental performance indices to help identify suppliers with potential sustainability risk. The assessment covers the following principles:
- Suppliers are expected to comply with all locally applicable laws and regulations.
- Respect for Human and Labour Rights is essential to Speira's Recycling Services. Our suppliers are expected to respect these values, including • Non-discrimination; • Prevention of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking; • Compliance with legal requirements on working hours, wages and benefits; • Respecting the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
- Suppliers shall offer a safe and healthy work environment that complies with applicable laws and regulation and takes into account recognized standards in their respective industry.
- Suppliers are expected to avoid pollution, to reduce emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions, and other releases to the environment, and to enhance resource and energy efficiency with all reasonable effort. They should carefully manage the use of hazardous chemicals and comply with all applicable requirements like CLP regulations, REACh, RoHS, etc.
- Suppliers are encouraged to implement appropriate management systems, for example based on ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 50001 (energy), ISO 45001 (occupational health & safety).
- Within their scope of activities, suppliers are expected to take adequate preventive measures to protect privacy of personal data of employees, customers, and other business partners.
This guideline was updated in 2022 to include, among other aspects, an assessment of our suppliers’ own supply chain risk.
Emergency Response Plan
All sites have plans in place based on their local legal requirements which define their responses to emergency situations, including those which could cause harm to humans or the environment. These plans are aligned with the local external emergency forces, such as fire brigades. For the Grevenbroich, Töging, and Eidsvåg sites, which fall under the (lower tier) requirements of the Seveso Directive, corresponding information is offered via our website.
Impact Assessments
It is essential for Speira's Recycling Services to evaluate all possibly relevant aspects when planning a new project or modifying existing facilities, such as environmental, social and cultural aspects, including gender analysis. Therefore, those have been integrated in our project management process.
Mergers and Acquisitions
On February 21, 2022, Grevenbroich-based Aluminium rolling and recycling company Speira announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the European business (“REAL ALLOY Europe”) of REAL ALLOY. On October 20, 2022, the perspective buyer received approval from the European Commission. To remedy concerns in terms of EU Competition Law, the approval is conditional on the divestment of the Speira Recycling Services plant in Swansea and R.V.A. SA. Complying with these conditions, the acquisition was closed with effect from March 31, 2023.
Aluminiumstraße 3 41515 Grevenbroich Germany
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