Our work with corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues continues its process of integration into our core business practices.
 
In 2008, we focused on building and maintaining the structures to support responsible behaviour in both our supply chain and our subsidiaries. Concurrently, we have worked to set new standards for stakeholder cooperation in a range of activities, from collaboration against corruption in the Hungarian market, to our new global donation programme for better conditions for end-users: Access to Healthcare.

We have worked to further push our development within the UN Global Compact's ten principles for responsible business into our everyday operations, culture, and management systems. 

Control of Suppliers

Control of suppliers was on our 2007-2008 agenda. We worked with new procedures and initiated monitoring and assessment of all our suppliers, and established strategic measures for understanding and dealing with responsible supply chain management.

New procedure

Our procedure Control of Suppliers of Materials, Products or Manufacturing Processes - known within Coloplast as ”0502” - went through a lean management assessment in late summer 2007. The objective of the Control of Suppliers procedure is to protect our business and reputation by ensuring that we meet regulatory requirements, company policies and global commitments in supplier relations. Using lean management on our Control of Suppliers procedure had great impact on making the procedure more operational. We have reduced and focused the questions in the supplier self-assessment, implemented a range of standards and templates, trained relevant procurement staff and established a Decision Board, which works strategically with decisions concerning suppliers. This has resulted in the termination of cooperation with three suppliers in China.

In the second quarter of 2008, our Corporate Procurement department reported on Supplier Delivery Performance for the first time.

Training of procurement staff

In February and March 2008, all our procurement officers were trained in strategic supplier responsibility. Part of this was a full-day workshop for the Local Procurement and Quality & Environment teams in Coloplast China, helping them understand why Coloplast chooses to spend time and money on CSR audits.

Supplier status today

Classification of all Coloplast suppliers of materials, products or manufacturing processes, including US suppliers, was finalized in October 2008. In the summer of 2008 the figures on supplier evaluations were:

• 92% of suppliers have been pre-classified, approval sheets and action plans have been developed
• 10 % of the suppliers have a high risk profile
• 67 % of the suppliers have a medium risk profile
• Approximately 15 % of suppliers with a low risk profile

Actions taken towards suppliers with medium and high risk profiles are based on dialogue and development. Medium risk suppliers are visited by our procurement staff, and high risk suppliers are subject to external audits – resulting in action plans made in cooperation with Coloplast procurement and the supplier. High risk suppliers are subject to yearly audits until they have reached a standard that will take them to the medium risk level, or until their contract is terminated if there is no intention of progress.

Environment

Reduction of plasticizers

We have continued and extended work on substituting plasticizers that are regarded as problematic. Thus, we not only substitute DEHP but also other classified phthalates. We recognize the concern the use of phthalates in medical devices is giving rise to, and have a policy where we :

• Substitute the use of phthalates in products designed for groups of people who are particularly sensitive; e.g. children and women who are pregnant or breast-feeding
• Use phthalate-free materials for new products
• Inform openly about the content of phthalates in our products
• Offer customers alternative products from Coloplast's own product range

CO2 reductions

We have reported on direct and indirect emissions of climate gases to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) since 2007. The reporting is based on the internationally acknowledged Greenhouse Gas Protocol and is available on the CDP website. Our reporting includes direct emissions from our use of heat and power at our production sites and our sales offices, leased cars, emissions of volatile organic compounds, supply chain for certain raw materials, incineration of polymer from production waste, business travel and certain parts of product transportation. 

The outcome of our work is a catalogue of reduction possibilities that we can use in the coming years

ISO Certification in China

Coloplast is using management systems for quality, environment and health and safety according to ISO and OHSAS standards. In 2008, our site in China was included in the environmental ISO 14001 certification. The certification on health and safety; OHSAS 18001, is in progress. Each year, targets on environment, health and safety are set for each site.

Stakeholder cooperation: our new Access to Healthcare programme

In the autumn of 2007, in connection with our 50th anniversary Coloplast dedicated a minimum of 50 million Danish Kroner to accelerate healthcare for vulnerable end-users in new markets, through a 10-year donation programme. The programme seeks to:

• Build capacity through education and training within our areas of work
• Bring awareness and knowledge to the challenges of living with these specific health problems by focusing on improving treatment and self care
• Create advocacy for a better deal for those needing intimate care

This is to be implemented through economic and employee/knowledge assistance from Coloplast to those organisations applying for project funding through the programme. The geographical focus of the programme is countries where patients can benefit from better treatment on stoma- urology- and wound care-related diseases, because the health care system has not yet been able to address these issues thoroughly. 

In autumn 2008, the Access to Healthcare programme established an independent board consisting of external and internal stakeholders, and launched a website and other external communication to invite applications. The programme successfully supported its first project, a three-day workshop on management of spinal cord injury (SCI) in Durban, South Africa. Around 120 healthcare workers from Africa took part. The goal was to train the participants in the basic principles of SCI-management The Access to Healthcare programme is about accelerating access to healthcare in areas where treatment is not available.

Corruption and bribery

Since we developed of our Code of Conduct on Corruption and Bribery in 2006, we have worked steadily towards implementing it in our subsidiaries. The target is to evaluate 6-8 subsidiaries per annum, resulting in 100% Code of Conduct subsidiary evaluation within 3-4 years.

In Hungary, we are still working very actively with the dissemination of our Code of Conduct, and have taken action to work against corruption within the healthcare industry in Hungary in general. Thus, several competing companies have now signed the Code of Conduct initiated by Coloplast, and we observe emerging, though not measurable, agreements in the market to avoid corruption.

CSR strategy in Hungary

We are committed to working with CSR locally, eventually involving all subsidiaries and their local CSR stakeholders. Our flagship here is Coloplast Hungary, which has worked persistently with CSR measures and is now a local branch member of the UN Global Compact. Coloplast Hungary reports independently to UN Global Compact, based on Global Reporting Initiative indicators.

One CSR measure taken by Coloplast Hungary is the implementation of the Coloplast Code of Conduct on Business Ethics and Human Rights (including training of all employees), as well as the Code of Conduct on Corruption and Bribery (see above). Others include sub-contractor training on environmental issues, and a partnership with a non-profit organisation on research to convert plastic waste to oil.