Sustainability at Uponor

Uponor believes that water holds the key to a sustainable future and has led the change in developing sustainable water solutions. While the scarcity of natural resources continues to impact manufacturing industries around the globe, it has driven Uponor to innovate and develop new solutions that are future-proofed with resiliency, durability, and sustainability in mind. The challenge of unlocking water’s potential has led the company to continuously find new ways to conserve, manage and move water responsibly and design and develop systems for the delivery of safe drinking water and healthy indoor climate. Uponor has always taken a holistic approach to sustainability, making it an integral part of its strategy. 

Customers and solutions 

As a building products manufacturer, Uponor recognizes its role in reducing the environmental impacts of construction and helping limit global warming to 1.5˚C. The company has a vision to drive business growth through innovation and development of sustainable solutions, while leading the construction industry towards net zero. Uponor’s products and solutions significantly contribute to reducing both operational and embodied carbon in buildings, helping its customers reach their sustainability goals. It continuously innovates and enhances integrated, energy-efficient building solutions, reducing the energy consumption and GHG emissions caused by heating and cooling in new build projects, as well as in the renovation of existing housing stock. The company has driven the transition to bio-based raw materials with Uponor Blue products, like the world’s first bio-based PEX pipes with a reduced carbon footprint of up to 90% compared to fossil-based PEX pipes. Furthermore, its project services help analyze and minimize the environmental footprint of projects, from planning through execution, operation, and maintenance. Using its products and solutions has helped Uponor’s customers achieve Green Building certifications (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB, in English the German Sustainable Building Council) etc.) and its EPDs have provided the required data for the assessment. 

Climate and resources 

Uponor is committed to reducing its environmental impact while maximizing its positive impact in making people’s lives simpler, easier, and safer. The company has played an active role in driving the circular economy and the rapid transformation toward a sustainable value chain. It has established a commitment to reach net-zero with targets that have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). It also has put plans in place to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions and has focused on reducing transportation emissions through supplier engagement, logistics optimization and the optimization of packaging materials. To transition to 100% green electricity, the company has also rapidly invested in the conversion to renewable energy sources and heat pumps, and the electrification of vehicles, systems, and processes. It is also striving toward the sustainable recycling of 100% of waste in its factories and has made significant progress and breakthroughs in recycling PEX material, supported by partnerships within its industry. As part of reaching its net-zero goal, Uponor has created a Carbon Neutral Factory concept, which not only supports the company’s own climate work but also has a positive impact on the carbon footprint of its customers and partners. 

People and well-being 

Securing a safe working environment with zero accidents is a top priority for Uponor. The company relentlessly improves work safety through weekly safety walks, near-miss reporting and tracking safety observations. Employees are actively engaged through its Mission Zero campaign and the company has continuously improved its lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) across the entire division. 

Uponor believes that a diverse company is an innovative one and thus fosters a diverse, equal, and inclusive culture with a welcoming environment where all employees can be authentic, feel a sense of belonging and have equitable opportunities for growth. It offers live events, keynotes, and online trainings around all aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion, such as working across cultures, dealing with visible and invisible disabilities, understanding microaggressions, supporting LGBTQ+ rights, fostering female leadership and much more. 

Creating a positive societal impact and ensuring its people, planet, and communities thrive is deeply embedded in Uponor’s purpose. The company does its part by contributing charitable and product donations, collaborations, time, talent, and expertise to causes including access to clean water and sanitation, environmental steward-ship, affordable housing, skilled trade and STEM education and inclusive workforce development. 

Governance 

Strong corporate governance processes underpin Uponor’s sustainability performance. The company regularly provides Code of Conduct training to all employees and has rolled out a Supplier Code of Conduct as well as a Supplier ESG risk assessment and auditing. Uponor continuously enhances its ESG-related policies and practices and has linked ESG targets to its short- and long-term incentive schemes. 

The company is extremely proud that its efforts to lead sustainable change have been recognized by external ESG ratings: it has achieved an EcoVadis Gold medal and is in the top 6% of its industry group. Furthermore, Uponor reached CDP Climate Change rating B and 7th place in Sustainalytics among 135 companies in the building products sector.