Sustainability

Sustainably producing shoes – how can this work?

Safety shoes can only be produced sustainably with a system that encompasses the entire supply chain. From the procurement of the materials for our safety shoes to production and
delivery to specialist retailers and consumers, we pursue the goal of acting in a socially responsible and environmentally friendly manner.
Ecological responsibility is self-evident
“Sustainability has always played a major role in our family business. Since 2008, our company has been working in a climate-neutral way. We feel committed to go easy on resources, operate in a responsible manner and, of course, keep an eye on the people. It is a permanent task to make the future worth living. We are convinced that our efforts regarding harmful substances, environmental protection and social compatibility will faithfully pursue our goal.”
Markus Nelke, Managing Director of L. Priebs GmbH & Co. KG

Your opinions and suggestions on sustainability are welcome!

“Building a sustainable shoe production system is one of our key objectives when manufacturing Lupriflex safety footwear. It’s not just about being able to sell our safety shoes with a clear conscience. All parties – the pre-supplier, the producer with his employees and the consumer – should get products that are produced under fair conditions at a fair price.”
Kilian Hornig, Sustainability Manager of L. Priebs GmbH & Co. KG

Whether wearing our shoes, specialist retailer, supplier or journalist – you are invited to share your ideas and everything that moves you around the topic of sustainability. Just send me an e-mail to: kilian.hornig@lupriflex.de or call me on the phone number +492364-9267-23.

Harmful substances monitoring - reducing - avoiding
Environment
certified tanneries - recycling
Climate Targets
Climate
Protection
Social compatibility
fair working conditions

Harmful substances

monitoring – reducing – avoiding

Not only the materials used for Lupriflex safety shoes – but also the finished products – are regularly checked for prohibited or harmful substances by an independent testing institute. There is also a monitoring plan for every production order to ensure that our safety shoes are harmless with regard to harmful substances. Suppliers and sub-suppliers are selected according
to strict criteria.
We are a member of cads (cooperation for secured, defined standards in shoe and leather goods products). The central goal of this community of i.a. well-known German shoe manufacturers is to reduce or even avoid harmful substances. The basis for the work is the “cads list of restricted substances in shoes”. It goes beyond the requirements of the European Chemicals Regulation REACH, which we demonstrably meet.

The membrane that we mainly use in Lupriflex safety footwear has been awarded the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® label. You can be certain that this membrane has been tested for harmful substances and is therefore harmless for human health. The test is conducted by independent OEKO-TEX® partner institutes on the basis of the OEKO-TEX® criteria catalogue.

Environment

certified tanneries – recycling

European environmental standards are observed in the production of Lupriflex safety shoes in Europe. In Asia, we work with factories that are certified according to the international environmental management standard ISO 14001. Leather is an essential part of shoes. There is an increased risk of environmental pollution in leather production. A large amount of raw materials, energy and chemicals are required. To
make sure that we use leather from an environmentally friendly production, we source leather primarily from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG).

We are member of this organization that improves environmental responsibility in the leather industry. Wherever possible, recycled materials play an increasingly important role in the development of new Lupriflex models. When selecting the main components of our safety shoes – upper material, sole and protective toe cap – we increasingly take the respective CO₂ emissions into account.

However, compliance with the European standard EN ISO 20345 is still a prerequisite for product development.

Our climate targets: scientifically based

Climate protection

We need to act so that we can achieve the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement. To do this, we rely on the support of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). SBTI provides the world’s only framework and is the leading standard for aligning its own Net Zero targets based on climate science.

Our near-term climate goal is to halve our greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 & 2)* from 2018 to 2030. Our reduction target has been reviewed and approved by SBTI. In fact, we have already achieved this target.

Our climate targets – progress report
You will find our current SBTI progress report here: Lupriflex SBTI Progress Report 2023

At the same time, we are working to reduce emissions from our upstream and downstream supply chain (Scope 3)*, even though as a small and medium-sized company we are not obliged to do so. This concerns the entire value chain from raw material to product, from transport and use to disposal.

As a long-term goal, we have committed to Net Zero by 2050, i.e. to be emissions-free. You can find us and all companies worldwide that have taken action and committed to their climate targets in accordance with SBTI under “companies taking action” at www.sciencebasedtargets.org.

* Scope 1: direct emissions within the company (vehicle fleet, gas, heat), Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased energy (electricity, cooling), Scope 3: indirect emissions within the value chain (products, inbound/outbound logistics, business travel, waste, travel employees).

Priority goal: Reducing emissions

As a family-owned company with a long tradition, we take responsibility for acting in an environmentally and climate-conscious manner for the benefit of future generations. We follow the holistic approach to climate protection: avoiding unnecessary emissions, reducing existing emissions and offsetting residual emissions. To date, we have offset residual emissions by investing in international climate protection projects since 2008. We are currently looking for regional projects that we would like to support.

The basis for this is our annual CO₂ balance sheet. This records all emissions caused, for example, by heating, electricity, business trips, employee travel, paper consumption and other factors. The carbon footprint shows which greenhouse gas emissions we can reduce and which we can avoid in the long term. We have steadily reduced our carbon footprint. We have taken the biggest steps by switching to renewable energies: At our company site, we use green electricity from hydropower and biogas obtained from sugar production residues.

Sea freight with biofuels

What is new is that our deliveries from Asia are now made by container ships powered by biofuel, for example from used cooking oil from food production. Compared with fossil fuels, this enables us to save around 84 percent of our sea freight emissions. If Forto, the logistics company selected by us, feeds in around 1.2 liters of biofuel for every liter of fossil fuel replaced, emissions are reduced by as much as 100 percent.

Social compatibility

fair working conditions

Adequate occupational health and safety or fair pay are not a matter of course worldwide. That is why our company is a member of amfori BSCI (Corporate Initiative BSCI – Business Social Compliance Initiative) in order to gradually monitor sustainable trade and to ensure fair conditions along the supply chain.

That is why we support the amfori-BSCI Code of Conduct and its principles: right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, fair remuneration, occupational health and safety, special protection for underage workers, no forced labor, ethical business behaviour, no discrimination, decent working hours, no child labor, no precarious working conditions and environmental protection.
Our production facilities are audited and monitored according to the amfori-BSCI standards. amfori is an association and patron of this initiative.

It helps companies to improve working conditions and social performance in their global supply chains. Its aim is an open and sustainable trade. The monitoring system is made comprehensible for companies and consumers.

Member of amfori, the leading global business association for open and sustainable trade. We take part in amfori BSCI. For more information visit www.amfori.org

amfori BSCI Code of Conduct

amfori BSCI principles

amfori BSCI Glossary

Reference amfori BSCI