Hoover_Environmental_Social_Governance

Environmental, Social, and Governance Report 2021

Environmental
Social & Community
Corporate Governance

As a part of Techtronic Industries (TTI), Hoover has embedded sustainability as a core value in all aspects of our business. Our TTI group operates on Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) principles as outlined by their material topics below and expressed through our four strategic drivers:

 

  • We support Powerful Brands with a long legacy of inventing and producing reliable, high-quality products. From platform consistency to power output and from waste reduction to customer service, these complementary strengths serve as the focus for all our operations
  • We maintain laser-focus on developing Innovative Products with superior cordless technology to meet the changing needs of our customers and end-users across our product categories
  • We hire Exceptional People and pair them with a management team that brings decades of industry knowledge and experience to our global operations, cultivating a high-performance culture across all levels of our organization
  • From our new product development program and advanced logistics distribution networks to our customer servicing teams, TTI maintains a relentless focus on execution and Operational Excellence, ensuring our continued leadership in a dynamic market

These concepts, and the synergies between them, are the organizing principles that have led to our ongoing sustainability and growth. Our drivers guide the bold strategic direction that has enabled Hoover to consistently deliver on our financial goals of outgrowing the market, gross margin improvement, and profit that grows faster than sales.

Read Our 2021 ESG Report


60% REDUCTION IN GHG EMISSIONS (Scope 1&2) BY 2030

Main Contributors to Achieving our Reduction Target
1. Energy efficiency
2. Onsite solar photovoltaics
3. Offsite renewable energy procurement
4. Energy Attribute Certificates (EAC)
5. Electric vehicle conversion
6. Operational improvements

Environment

Protecting our planet is critical for the long-term environmental sustainability of our communities and business. Our approach to environmental sustainability is closely tied to our quest for innovation. Since our early days, we have aimed to embed disruptive technologies into our products, delivering cordless, battery powered alternatives and energy-efficient options. HOOVER is not only committed to managing our impacts across our product range but also our global operations and value chain. We accomplish this by conserving resources, maximizing efficiencies, and prioritizing innovation. By setting clear targets that keep us accountable and encouraging everyone — employees, suppliers, customers, and communities — to do things differently, we strive to lead and effect positive change.

Climate Change

 

Energy and Emissions

Managing our emissions is an important aspect of our carbon reduction strategy. Our manufacturing processes, transportation, office operations and supply chain are all sources of air and GHG emissions. As part of our decarbonization program, we have reviewed our Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions: Scope 1 emissions arise from onsite operations and company-operated vehicles; and Scope 2 result indirectly from purchased electricity; and Scope 3 emissions arise from the materials we purchase, business travel, upstream and downstream transportation, waste generation, water consumption and downstream sources such as energy utilized to operate our products. In this past year, we have mapped out a decarbonization pathway with concrete plans to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 60% by 2030 as compared to 2021.

 

Energy Management

This is key to our strategy as increased production requires higher levels of energy input. Maximizing efficiency is our priority and an essential step to reducing our emissions. Energy-efficiency measures include timely maintenance of air-conditioning, heating, ventilation and building management systems, along with the utilization of LED lights, setting lighting levels based on occupancy and availability of natural light and implementation of energy management systems. Renewable energy production and procurement is also an essential element of our energy management plans.

 

Resources, Materials & Waste

 

Natural Capital: Water

Natural ecosystems provide a variety of renewable and non-renewable resources that our business depends on. Our water management strategy focuses on the efficient usage of this shared resource and the proper oversight of wastewater discharge. We aim to reduce our absolute water withdrawal every year. Particularly in places where water is scarce, we closely monitor usage and implement conservation initiatives throughout our operations. We also endeavor to promote water conservation projects with partners and NGOs. Together with our NGO partners, we provide access to safe water and sanitation training in the communities where we operate.

 

Natural Capital: Biodiversity

Apart from water, our wider ecosystems that support air and soil quality, as well as species and habitat diversity, must be safeguarded. To this end, we are working to restore and protect biodiversity both within our business and through our suppliers, customers, and consumers. This means going beyond resource conservation to implement careful material selection and sourcing and to adopt renewable energy as well as design products and processes for circularity. By prioritizing sustainable materials and clean technology, we strive to manage our footprint and reduce our impact on habitats and species throughout our value chain.

 

Waste & Material Management

For waste that cannot be avoided, we are working to set global reduction targets. Across our markets, building management facilities provide recycling and disposal options for hazardous and non-hazardous waste. We are expanding our partnerships with a number of organizations and recyclers. This not only diverts waste from disposal, but also establishes circular economy practices for the capture and reuse of valuable resources. Choosing materials that are reusable, recyclable and less harmful for the planet continues to be a priority. Our R&D teams are focused on utilizing sustainable materials whenever possible and at all stages of our product life cycle. In line with our circularity strategy, we maintain our partnerships with recyclers that have patented a technology to recover valuable materials from products.

 

Packaging & Paper

Packaging materials remain a key challenge as our global production volumes increase. The bulk of our packaging includes paper for boxes, cartons and die cut sheets, and plastic for polybags, bubble bags, clamshells, and tool bags. We are constantly looking to reduce the amount of materials to conserve resources and make transportation more efficient.

  • We do this by opting for reduced impact materials and biodegradable options, including corrugated cardboard, 70% of which is made of recycled paper pulp, honeycomb board, chipboard, paperboard and/or molded pulp.
  • We continue our programs to remove Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam from our packaging, implement soya ink printing and reduce packaging material weight.
  • We also reduce the use of polybags by replacing polybag packaging for batteries with biodegradable bags and substituting paper bags for polybags that hold manuals, leaflets, and accessories.
  • We continue to use 100% recycled paper and reduce the page count of instruction and safety manuals. We also reduce volume by applying new templates featuring condensed, simplified content, more graphics as well as decreased paper weight.

Battery Recycling

We have robust partnerships in place with organizations that help us increase the rate of capture and recycling of our batteries. As part of the recycling process, batteries are broken down into components and chemistries. For our lithium batteries, the metal cylindrical can components are reused in steel and stainless-steel products and lithium, cobalt and other materials are reused in new battery chemistries. 95% of all materials in a lithium-ion rechargeable battery are recyclable.

  • HOOVER has partnered with Call2Recycle® for over 20 years to ensure that our batteries and products containing batteries are responsibly recycled when they reach their end of life. Call2Recycle®’s North American network has over 16,000 collection sites, including local household hazardous waste sites and national retailers where consumers can drop-off their batteries for recycling.

 

Sustainable Products

 

Management

Investing in clean technologies, and creating products with sustainability attributes that are reliable, repairable, recyclable and reduce our overall environmental impact, help to mitigate our business risks, and build stakeholder trust as we strive to create shared value for people and the planet. Our business units continue to integrate environmental attributes into all aspects of design, impacting our sourcing, planning, manufacturing, and post sales management.

 

Circular Economy

Our product design processes also take into account circular economy features. Circular economy is a systems solution framework based on three key principles: eliminating waste and pollution to reduce GHG emissions across the value chain, circulating products and materials to retain their embodied value and regenerating nature. This framework decouples economic activity from the consumption of finite resources by embedding resilience into its design.

 

  • At HOOVER, we understand that the opportunities for retaining and capturing value in our upstream and downstream operations are equally or even more significant than simply creating value from transforming raw materials and sub-assemblies into sellable products. By pursuing a direction that is steeped in circular models and designs, HOOVER will be able to maintain and push our cordless leadership.

  • While reducing resource consumption through repairing, reusing, and refurbishing is our priority, we also pursue efforts aimed at harvesting parts, recycling and promoting circularity in our operations and along our value chain. Our operations together with our research, development and design teams are striving to integrate circularity models in our design and choice of materials to turn waste into valuable inputs in our product life cycle.

 

Social & Community

Championing equal opportunities and treatment, as well as fair labor practices, is important in our operations and across our value chain because it is our fundamental responsibility as a company. At HOOVER, we understand that communities, economies, and businesses all thrive when people are supported and empowered.

Empowering People

 

Human and Labor Rights

Ensuring that our people are treated fairly in compliance with the International Labor Organization’s core labor standards and related international norms, is inherent to all that we do at HOOVER. Statutory minimum wage laws are followed or exceeded in each of the countries where we operate. Our remuneration levels and packages are in line with market conditions at a minimum. We ensure that freedom of association and collective bargaining are also respected in accordance with local regulations within our operations and supply chain.

 

Diversity and Inclusion

As part of ensuring fair labor practices, an increasingly important aspect of our employer value proposition involves encouraging an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion (D&I). There is no doubt that diversity in our workforce brings fresh perspectives, creating value for the business. Providing equal opportunities for all our team members means we do not discriminate by race, national origin, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, religion, military service, status as an individual with varying abilities or as a veteran, or any other status protected by applicable laws.

 

Leadership Development Program

Our flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP) is a key initiative that has enabled us to recruit graduates from over 100 global colleges for over 15 years. From its origins as an initiative of our American division’s regional event and marketing team, the program has expanded to an international recruitment drive — offering high-caliber candidates specialist positions in a variety of disciplines. As part of the program, LDP associates regularly engage with their coach and have the opportunity to rotate to different functions, departments, business units and countries.

 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

 

Promoting health, safety, and wellbeing in our workplaces and through our products is imperative for employee and customer retention.

Occupational Health and Safety

We are committed to safeguarding people’s health at work and in our products through comprehensive occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems. Our comprehensive Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) and Occupational Hazard Management Policies are aligned with all relevant legal requirements. These policies stipulate our commitments and responsibilities, identifying risks and hazards and setting out procedures to minimize any potential harm to workers. Monitoring protocols and procedures for investigating health and safety violations and implementing corrective actions are also covered in these comprehensive policies.

 

Wellbeing

To augment traditional health and safety measures, HOOVER also focuses on enhancing wellbeing by providing employees with holistic mind and body support. This includes healthy lifestyle initiatives such as access to gym memberships, health and fitness reimbursement, better food choices and quality mental health programs. Experiencing opportunities and celebrating together, both at work and outside, are a key part of our culture.

 

Product Safety

Safety is also a key consideration when it comes to our products. Continual enhancement of safety standards, quality, and compliance are the responsibility of our Product Safety Directors, committees, and teams at our individual business units. We work hard to build continual improvement into our processes for all products designed, manufactured, distributed, or licensed by HOOVER to provide customers with the best possible experience.

 

Community Investment and Engagement

 

Investment in community development and the promotion of social equity creates shared prosperity, building trust and securing our long-term success.

Our ESG Working Committee and HR departments across the globe play an active role in reviewing the progress of our community efforts, ensuring that investment projects are well implemented, aligned with the Company’s strategy, and meeting our goals. Our focus remains on a number of important causes including good health and wellbeing, human rights, poverty alleviation, improving infrastructure and reducing inequalities. In addition, we continue to contribute to the protection of local environments, disaster relief projects, promoting women’s rights and education, and inspiring younger generations to develop careers in technology.

Support for these and other community challenges and opportunities takes the form of collaboration with NGOs, providing financial support, donation of tools and employee volunteering. Community project selection occurs through structured programs, annual commitments and engagement. Employees are encouraged to volunteer using paid working hours for this purpose.

 

TTI Floor Care Initiatives

  • We support Classroom Central by donating cash for learning supplies through their virtual drive.
  • We supported the Pinky Swear Virtual Pantry Drive to stock onsite hospital food pantries.
  • We contributed to a lunch delivery for The Relative Foundation.
  • We partnered with Signature Health Care to help local Alzheimer patients.
  • We supported the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure in support of breast cancer patients.

 

Governance

The Company is committed to a high standard of corporate governance to enhance shareholders’ interests and promote sustainable development. A quality board of directors (the “Board”) with balanced skills, experience and diversity of perspectives is vital to the Company for effective risk management, internal controls, and leadership, as well as transparency and accountability to all shareholders. The Board reviewed codes of conduct, policies and practices and our corporate governance framework from time to time, to improve the Company’s corporate governance practices in respect of the latest developments on all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Oversight of Sustainability

 

The Board is collectively responsible for overseeing the purpose, values, and sustainability strategy of the Group to achieve long-term success for the Company. It is helped in this area by the ESG Executive Committee and the ESG Working Committee.

 

The ESG Executive Committee

Comprised of Board members and executives from various functional and geographic areas of the business, the ESG Executive Committee is led by the CEO and the Vice Chairman. The Committee helps drive the sustainability agenda of the Group and reports to the Board every quarter. In 2021, the ESG Executive Committee finalized the Group’s GHG emission Scope 1 and 2 reduction target which was then approved by the Board.

 

The ESG Working Committee and Business Units

The ESG Working Committee is tasked with implementing the strategy set by the Board and Executive Committee. This Committee includes executives from different functions — finance and operations, human resources, environment, health and safety, product safety, corporate communications, legal, compliance and sustainability. The Committee is responsible for refining policies, tracking performance, providing communication, collecting, and reporting data and setting targets to meet objectives.

 

Ethics and Integrity

 

High ethical standards are core to Hoover’s culture and serve as the foundation for embedding sustainability in all aspects of our business. These standards are articulated in our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (CoC) . The CoC serves as a guide for conducting business with openness in accordance with all legal requirements while stipulating how to manage conflicts of interest and insider information. This Code also provides guidelines on the protection of human rights, and is communicated to all employees at all our subsidiaries in 22 languages.

Apart from the CoC, our operations are guided by several other policies that outline governance practices and expectations. These are included in our Employee Handbook and shared with employees globally, either through our e-learning platform or face to face. We ensure that information about our policies and details on how to report violations are also available in local languages at all work sites for those without computer access.

 

Supply Chain Accountability

 

We place great emphasis on the ethical, environmental, and social impact of our products and services throughout the value chain and, in our supply chain. From sourcing raw materials, to production, storage, delivery, and transportation, we ensure our operations will be sustainable in the long-term. Addressing these impacts with our partners, helps us to manage risk and enhance performance, while also maintaining stakeholder trust.

By continuously improving accountability, transparency, and sustainability performance in our supply chain, we aim to mitigate risk and secure business continuity. This begins with carefully assessing risk from ethical, environmental, and social standpoints, and selecting suppliers that uphold our standards and values. In accordance with our values, codes and policies, HOOVER supports the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.