Neele-Vat Achieves EcoVadis Bronze: From 55 to 70 Points

Neele-Vat has earned the EcoVadis Bronze medal. Our score rose from 55 in the previous assessment to 70 this year. This places us among the top 35% of companies assessed by EcoVadis over the past year. EcoVadis has assessed more than 150,000 companies worldwide in over 180 countries and across virtually all sectors.

What the EcoVadis Bronze Medal Means to Us

We are proud of this result, especially the growth behind it. The award demonstrates that our sustainability efforts are now much better organized. Much of this was already happening within the company, but now it is also properly documented. Sustainability is becoming more important every year for our customers and our own people, so we want to continue building on this.

A company-wide result

This result is not the work of a single team. Neele-Vat consists of many business units, each with its own area of expertise and a great deal of freedom in how they operate. That freedom is one of our strengths. It also means that much of the sustainability work is done locally, without the rest of the company always being aware of it.

The first challenge, therefore, was to get everyone around the table. Sustainability cannot be the responsibility of a single department if it is to be part of everyone’s work. The second challenge was figuring out what we already had. Sometimes a good working method already existed, but we didn’t realize it because no one knew about it. Our work with IT is a good example of this. Together, we documented much more of our approach to information security than in the previous assessment. Our most important lesson: we need to communicate with each other more.

First, get the basics in order

Most of our progress stemmed from getting the fundamentals in order. We updated our Code of Conduct and published it on our websites so that everyone can see what we expect. We rewrote our policy documents to clarify our commitments. And we’ve started setting measurable goals so that we know exactly what we’re working toward.

Where we made the most progress

We’ve made the biggest strides in the area of labor and human rights, primarily through stronger policies. Collaboration with IT on information security has also been helpful. The assessment now reflects what we’ve actually implemented.

What Could Be Improved

Our sustainability reporting must become more comprehensive and follow a recognized standard. That is the focus of our preparations for the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). When it comes to sustainable procurement, we want to get our own house in order first before asking more of our suppliers.

The next step: CSRD reporting

Our focus is now on CSRD reporting, as it covers the majority of what EcoVadis identified as areas for improvement. It all starts with good data. That’s why we’re building a reliable sustainability database that shows where we truly stand. With that foundation, we can set realistic goals and track our progress over time.

What we’re most proud of

We are most proud of discovering just how much was already happening within the company—and how much more came to light when colleagues from different teams worked on it together.

View our recognition on the EcoVadis Recognition Page.