Quadpack Sustainability Director Marleen Swart shares her vision for the company’s – and the industry’s – journey towards a positive impact. Here, she outlines her plans and shares her views on the industry.
Positive Impact
People
The human-centred pillar of Quadpack’s sustainability strategy is focused on making positive impact to people, communities, suppliers and partners. By promoting an inclusive and diverse culture, with leaner business foundations and focused on people’s development, Quadpack aims to lead a sustainable transformation and inspire other to pursue their own change.
Quadpack’s positive-impact strategy is framed by ISO 26000, with seven core areas, five of them related to people: organisational governance, human rights, labour practices, fair operating practices and community involvement. The remaining areas – consumer issues and environment – strongly resonate with the product and process axes of Quadpack's sustainability strategy.
Organisational governance
By building a transparent and robust governance structure, Quadpack lives up to its integrity values. Its code of ethics and its committees enhance oversight and speed up execution, providing guidance and clarity across the organisation.
Human rights
Quadpack ensures that the human rights of all its employees are protected and aims to inspire and help its business partners to have the same commitment, under the framework of EcoVadis and the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact.
Labour practices
While Quadpack enhances workplace safety and risk prevention, it is also fostering development opportunities, making the best of one of Quadpack’s strengths: its diversity.
Fair operating practices
Quadpack has taken some steps to advance its good governance and compliance practices, with the launch of an independent, anonymous Speak-Up channel and the implementation of its code of ethics in Germany.
Community involvement
Quadpack Foundation is the main actor of Quadpack’s community involvement. It collaborates with social and environmental projects in countries where the organisation operates, providing every Quadpacker with the opportunity to be involved.
Vision
Leave a positive legacy for our people and communities, offering meaningful work and opportunities for them to excel.
Mission
Positively impact our people by fostering a sustainable, inclusive and supportive culture.
Together we are building a better future for all Quadpackers, through:
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Care
We care for one another, creating a strong sense of belonging.
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Values
We thrive in a culture rooted in our values, where we bring out the best in each other and share in our success.
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Wellbeing
We create great places for our teams to work together, balancing purposeful and challenging work with a healthy lifestyle.
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Growth
We offer development and growth opportunities for all Quadpackers.
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Respect
We partner with our stakeholders to ensure that everyone involved in our value chain is treated with respect.
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Community
We support our communities, creating positive impact especially in the areas of education and sustainability.
Quadpack is proud to have been awarded a Platinum Medal from sustainability ratings company EcoVadis. Advances in business sustainability, most notably in the areas of Environment and Labour & Human Rights, upgraded the company’s rating from Gold to Platinum.
Quadpack Foundation extended its reach in 2023. Through its charitable arm, Quadpack participated in 31 community projects worldwide, with renewed focus on supporting underprivileged youth.
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Quadpack is celebrating its first anniversary as a member of the global B Corp community. With a common goal of using business for good, it has been busy working on each of the five pillars of workers, community, environment, governance and customers.
2022 saw a new collaboration chapter open for long-term partners Quadpack and Natura Bissé. United by their wish to support educational projects, both companies put their corporate foundations at the service of teachers and children in the Catalonia region of Spain through ‘Project Difference’, led by Fundación Ricardo Fisas Natura Bissé.
Quadpack Manufacturing Quality Manager Claudia Barros always wanted to volunteer in a social project but never had the chance until she joined the company a year ago. During her onboarding in Barcelona, she was introduced to the Quadpack Foundation. Since then, she’s been involved in three different projects, helping young people build their skill sets and career plans.
Quadpack is proud to announce that Alexandra Chauvigné has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 September 2022. Chauvigné succeeds co-founder Tim Eaves, who remains as Chairman of Quadpack’s Board of Directors.
In April 2022, Quadpack was certified as B Corp, a distinction given to a select group of 5,000-plus purpose-driven businesses around the world. We now belong to a community composed of global sustainability role models .
Thousands of businesses are joining the B Corp community worldwide, driven by a purpose of making a positive impact on society and the environment. But what does B Corp mean to companies and how deep is the transformation required to join it? Pablo Sanchez, Managing Director of B Lab Spain helps us to answer these and more questions.
Eight Quadpackers from France have engaged in a volunteer project to help young people prepare for the job market. The project is part of Pro'Pulse, a free preparatory course with a personalised and comprehensive approach that facilitates access to apprenticeship for young people without qualifications.
Quadpack has partnered with Life Terra, a pan-European project endorsed by the European Commission whose goal is to reinforce the human connection with nature and restore climate-resilient forests to help mitigate climate change.
Quadpack has been awarded a Gold Medal by EcoVadis, the global, independent rating agency for sustainability management. The beauty packaging provider has improved its score thanks to its policies and actions in ethics, labour & human rights, environment and sustainable procurement.
Quadpack Foundation has partnered with UAB Research Park to support scientific research on microplastics and their effects on people and the environment. The foundation sponsored the 12th edition of Generació d’Idees, an initiative that aims to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation culture among researchers and doctoral students, connecting them with the current challenges of industries.
With more than 20 projects in ten countries, the non-profit organisation has grown its reach and governance. A record number of 96 Quadpackers engaged in volunteering activities throughout the world.
With the aim to have a positive impact on all their stakeholders, the B Corp ecosystem is thriving. By early 2022, Quadpack aims to be one of the 4,000-plus B Corps worldwide who share a common objective: to use business as a force for good.
Quadpack Foundation, the non-profit arm of Quadpack, is partnering with the Catalan branch of the Spanish Red Cross to help improve the employment prospects of people at risk of social exclusion.
Quadpack’s governance structure has been strengthened at board level, with the appointment of its first independent members. In addition, three new committees have been created focused on sustainability, audit and risk, and remunerations and nominations.
For the fourth consecutive year, Quadpack collaborates with Elisava design school on students’ final degree projects. The graduate project gives Quadpack unique insights into the minds of the next generation, bringing fresh thinking to industry issues, while supporting young designers as they embark on their career.
Imagine a fragrance accessory that is both an aromatherapy device and a bold fashion statement. Too futuristic and conceptual? Perhaps – but this product exists, has a name and a creator: ‘NI’ was developed in 2018 by designer Amaia Aranzabal as a final-year project at the prestigious Elisava design and engineering school in Barcelona, Spain. The challenge for that year’s graduating class had been set by Quadpack, partnering with Elisava for the first time.
From May to July, 13 volunteers from Quadpack went to the Casal dels Infants’ headquarters, in Barcelona, to share their knowledge and professional experiences with 18 people at risk of social exclusion. While Casal dels Infants covers the behavioural component of the training, the technical subjects are taught by experts – volunteers that work in organisations like Quadpack.
A Quadpack Foundation partner, the Catalan charity Fundació Impulsa connects businesses and students to help improve their opportunities. We interviewed Alejandra Manau, Executive Director, and Marta Miró, Programme Coordinator of Fundació Impulsa, about their projects' reach and importance.
2020 came as a ‘stress test’ to all businesses and industries, ours being no exception. The challenges, however, helped us evolve as a business and as individuals. As the year draws to a close, I’m grateful to our team, our clients, our banks and our partners for what 2020 brought us: more resilience, collaboration and empathy.
As part of its commitment to youth and environmental causes, Quadpack increased donations to the foundation for the fifth consecutive year, reaching one per cent of its EBITDA and bringing positive impact to more than 43,000 lives.
Lead the change and inspire others, bringing positive impact to our people, communities, providers and partners. In a nutshell, this is the objective of ‘positive-impact people’, the human-centred axis of Quadpack’s sustainability strategy.
In a new world marked by changing behaviours and conscious consumerism, needs and market demands, businesses are increasingly governed by ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards. For years, Quadpack has been committed to these three factors that measure the environmental and societal impact of a company.
Thanks to our people’s talent and our partners’ resourcefulness, we’re now part of a task force against the virus that is bringing out the best in us. Some of our projects are already in place, supporting health care and other COVID-19 frontline workers.
Quadpack Foundation, the charitable arm of Quadpack, is particularly concerned with helping disadvantaged children. As Accounting Manager at Quadpack’s Dallas-based, US Distributor East Hill Industries, Casandra Sanders was well aware of Quadpack Foundation’s values. She thought them a good fit with Los Primos Dallas, a local, non-profit organization she herself is involved with.
The United Nations Global Compact initiative proposes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that lay out a path to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and protect our planet. Quadpack has now designated the four SDGs where, as a beauty packaging provider, it can have the greatest impact.
Quadpack is a company that depends on constant innovation, so encouraging and promoting talent is vital to what it does. Tied closely to its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy, it works in several areas: strengthening ties between universities and industry, sponsoring relevant prizes and awards, boosting entrepreneurship and supporting small business initiatives.
2018 has been a busy year for Quadpack Foundation. Quadpack's charitable arm supports social and environmental projects wherever the company is present in the world, with an emphasis on helping disadvantaged children and young people get a good start in life. Throughout the year, it worked with NGOs in Europe, the US and Asia.
The way we experience fragrance is changing. Young consumers have different expectations and want more than a nice scent in an attractive bottle. So how do we relate to fragrance and how can packagers ensure engagement with the new generation? Investigating this topic was Quadpack’s brief to the students at the ELISAVA University School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona, Spain.
There is no surer way of putting a smile on a child’s face than a circus performance. When that child is disadvantaged through health or circumstance, it’s a way of forgetting day-to-day struggles for some much-needed fun. So when Circus Starr announced its plans to go to Stoke-on-Trent, Quadpack Foundation saw the perfect opportunity to lend a helping hand.
Quadpack Industries has signed up to the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. The move is in line with the company’s CSR strategy and offers a set of agreed guidelines to ensure responsible governance, while helping to shape a better world.
Quadpack Foundation works to make the world a cleaner, fairer, more beautiful place to live. Throughout 2017, Quadpack's charitable arm supported a number of social and environmental projects in Europe.
Spanish NGO La Fundació Antigua Caixa Sabadell 1859 has formally reopened the Can Deu forest in Catalonia, Spain, as part of a massive regeneration project co-supported by the Quadpack Foundation. The project is the first act to be sponsored by the new foundation, which was formed on 8th April by international packaging manufacturer and provider Quadpack Group.