Sustainability Report 2023

Welcome to UZIN UTZ's online sustainability report for the 2023 financial year!

In this report we present the most important economic, ecological and social developments of the UZIN UTZ Group and Uzin Utz SE until December 31, 2023. We inform our stakeholders comprehensively about the sustainability strategy of UZIN UTZ and the progress in achieving our sustainability goals. Details on our business performance can be found in the Annual Report. The definition of our report content is based on ISO 26000 - the guideline for social responsibility.

Unless otherwise stated, the contents of this report refer to Uzin Utz SE, Ulm. The report also contains information on the entire "UZIN UTZ" Group, including topics relating to our Group strategy PASSION 2025 and brief reports on the activities of individual companies. Previous year's figures are given in brackets. Due to the German CSR Directive Implementation Act, the UZIN UTZ Group has published a non-financial statement at Group level since 2017, which can be found at https://int.uzin-utz.com/responsibility/sustainability/downloads for this reporting year.

This report is only available online in German and English. Use the navigation at the top of the page to explore main and sub-chapters, or scroll through the chapters page by page using the arrows at the bottom of the page.

Business model of the UZIN UTZ Group

UZIN UTZ, headquartered in Ulm, Germany, is a globally active company that is characterized by its high innovative capacity as a system partner and offers its customers a comprehensive, coordinated product portfolio for laying, renovating and maintaining floors. As the market leader in the development and manufacture of products and machines for screed, flooring, tiles and parquet, UZIN UTZ offers the widest range of state-of-the-art products and services. With the successful brands UZIN, WOLFF, PALLMANN, Arturo, codex and Pajarito, we offer a diverse and needs-oriented product range. We develop, produce and distribute almost all of our products and systems ourselves in order to guarantee the highest quality standards and continuously expand our technological expertise, particularly in environmentally friendly and low-emission products. With over 1,400 employees, UZIN UTZ is present in 53 countries, including its own production and sales companies in 20 countries. Our main areas of business are in Germany and other European markets, although the Group is also active in North America, Asia and the South Pacific region. Depending on their function, the Group companies are divided into production, service and sales companies. Further details on the individual Group companies and additional information can be found in the 2023 Annual Report.

Fields of action and key topics

Our key topics, which are integrated into the PASSION 2025 corporate strategy, were identified through a comprehensive stakeholder dialog. These topics reflect the significant economic, environmental and social influences of our company and are crucial for the assessments and decisions of our stakeholders. They are assigned to the four main areas of our strategy: PROFIT, PRODUCTS & SERVICES, PLANET and PEOPLE. Each of these areas of activity reflects an essential aspect of our business and contributes to the overall strategy, with the feedback and insights of our stakeholders playing a central role.

The "PLANET year" 2023

Our strategy concept consists of four areas of action, one of which we focus on each year. After focusing on the PEOPLE area of action in 2022, the focus this year was on PLANET. Accordingly, many of our activities were based on the PLANET guiding principle, which enabled us to implement numerous small and large campaigns over the course of the year.

In the first half of the year, we introduced our own sustainability label ECO₂ CHOICE, which we use to label our CO₂-reduced construction products. The individual companies also offered various events on the topic of PLANET. At the Ulm site, for example, there was a PLANET event series with five different activities to introduce our employees to the diversity of sustainability. At the beginning of the PLANET year, every UZIN UTZ employee received a book that explains the topic of climate change briefly, clearly and comprehensibly in order to further raise awareness. There was also a call for ideas on the topic of PLANET, in which our employees were able to contribute their own ideas and suggestions for improvement on ecological sustainability. For further insights and more information, please visit our story or highlights page.

The year 2024 is characterized by economic sustainability with a focus on PROFIT. Within this thrust, we aim to expand our market position in individual country markets and exploit country-specific potential. In recent years many projects have already been initiated for this purpose, which should be successfully completed by 2025.