Novacel's Responsibility
Our teams are committed to preserving everything that holds value by creating a responsible industrial community and doing their best in all our operations while at the same time seeking to protect the planet.
Our global strategy is organized around 3 pillars:
Creating a responsible industrial community
Minimizing our environmental impact
Eco-designing our products
Fostering human development
We conduct an active policy on employee upskilling and training. This policy is key to promoting operational excellence and staff engagement.
Fostering human development
We conduct an active policy on employee upskilling and training. This policy is key to promoting operational excellence and staff engagement.
- Novacel has its in-house school academy not only for training apprentices but also for whole-career skill development. This training is being developed initially in manufacturing in France and Italy, but it will be rolled out to other job families and areas in the future.
- Each new employee benefits from an induction program covering all the company's departments.
At Novacel, employee is empowered to make safety a key issue in his or her daily work
Ensuring safety at work
The Health & Safety of our coworkers is a priority for us. We keep a close eye on the accident rate and every year we organize a Global Safety Day. This event, which is held worldwide, is dedicated to safety training and the exchange of good practice. All our facilities without exception organized such an event in 2022.
Novacel has also adopted a continuous improvement approach to workplace safety.
Thanks to the organization of regular discussions aimed at promoting reflection on workstation safety, each employee is empowered to make safety a key issue in his or her daily work.
Constantly maintaining good business ethics
We strive to maintain business ethics in our relationships with our partners and employees.
Constantly maintaining good business ethics
We strive to maintain business ethics in our relationships with our partners and employees.
Novacel has a responsible purchasing charter that formally outlines the key expectations we have of our suppliers. It underscores the minimum social and environmental standards we expect from entities involved in the manufacture of our products. The goal is to guarantee to our customers that everybody involved in the process has been treated decently regardless of the country they work in. We expect from our suppliers a sustainable commitment to compliance with these principles when working with us. We also conduct social and environmental audits.
Upon joining the company, each employee agrees to read and abide by the Chargeurs Group Code of Conduct.
This Code is based on current international human rights standards - specifically:
- the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- the principles of the United Nations Global Compact,
- the United Nations guidelines on business and human rights,
- the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises,
- the principles contained in the conventions of the International Labor Organization.
Chargeurs Group has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2017
Commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Chargeurs Group has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2017 and we ensure that our CSR approach is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Global Compact translates 17 sustainability goals into 10 principles for companies to follow in the areas of human rights, international labor standards, environment and combating corruption.
Human Rights
- Principle 1 : Promote and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.
- Principle 2 : Make sure that we are not complicit in human rights abuses.
International labor standards
- Principle 3 : Uphold freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
- Principle 4 : Contribute to the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor.
- Principle 5 : Contribute to the effective abolition of child labor.
- Principle 6 : Contribute to the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Environment
- Principle 7 : Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
- Principle 8 : Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
- Principle 9 : Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-corruption
Principle 10 : Work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
Chargeurs has focused on the following SDGs, defining key indicators:
Our goal is to offer 100% virtuous products by 2030
Reducing the frequency rate of occupational accidents
Improving the environmental performance of our industrial equipment
Reducing water consumption and avoid any pollution
More information about the UN Global Compact
Reducing our production carbon footprint
One of the primary purposes of surfaces solutions is to reduce waste and rejects at every stage in the supply chain: manufacturing, distribution and installation.
Reducing our production carbon footprint
Every day, we raise our awareness by keeping an active watch on regulations, innovations and green chemistry in particular to reduce the environmental footprint of our sites. We specifically focus on energy use, the design of our products, raw materials, and waste management. Here are some examples:
- We are gradually turning to renewable energies and we are proud of the installation of 2000 sqm of solar panels in Italy. This will keep increasing to reach at least 7% of our Italian plant’s electrical consumption. We also invest in new installations to reduce the use of new energy: part of the fatal heat is recovered, air-to-air heat exchangers have been installed on drying ovens in France and LEDs cover more than 70% of our lights in our production sites.
- Where raw materials are concerned, we have constructed one of Europe’s biggest solvent recycling units in Italy.
95% of our films are recyclable
Creating responsible products: Oxygen
Reducing the ecological impact of our products is a daily challenge.
Creating responsible products: Oxygen
Reducing the ecological impact of our products is a daily challenge. This goal can be achieved either by reducing the amount of material used or by replacing the fossil content by more sustainable materials.
This is the basis of the OXYGEN range. Novacel's new and unique range of ecological products promises to:
- reduce fossil raw materials as far as possible in order to save these non-renewable resources,
- use as many renewable resources as possible for a more favorable carbon balance,
- reduce CO2 emissions,
- be 100% recyclable,
- focus more on human wellbeing.
Eco-designing our products
Novacel develops innovative responsible solutions that can be used on the majority of our products.
Eco-designing our products
By eco-designing both products and solutions, Novacel aims to reduce the impacts on the environment.
- Less pressure on resources,
- Less use of fossil raw materials,
- Promotion of the use of recycled materials,
- A smaller carbon footprint for our products,
- A contribution to human wellbeing by making it easier to use our products.
All Novacel products are REACH-compliant. Their use is safe for both staff and users. Their formulations are phthalate-free. In addition, 95% of our films are recyclable, in line with a circular life-cycle approach.
Novacel goes even further by developing innovative solutions that can be used on the majority of our products, based on validated technical tests:
- The Lownoise range drastically reduces the level of noise during roll unwinding to less than 85dB. This option is used mainly in laser-cutting processes.
- Novacel offers products that are easier to unwind and remove. They protect workers from musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) thanks to pain-free procedures.
- The Oxygen range offers products whose carbon footprint has been reduced by over 10%.
Across the Chargeurs Group 32% of our sales are generated by sustainable products. Our ambition is to take this figure to 100% of sales by 2030.
Partnering for product circularity
Partnering for product circularity
Novacel partners with key organizations to promote recycling. As a member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) we are actively working on the eco-design, traceability and recycling of products, alongside global peers in Europe, United States and China.
Know more about the Alliance to End Plastic Waste
As an example, Novacel is a participant in the Holigrail 2.0 project, aiming to optimize the smart digital sorting of goods for high-quality recycling.
This is an initiative of the European brand association AIM. It is supported by over 130 companies and organizations. Logo et lien vers Holygrail.
Novacel is certified ISCC PLUS for its Oxygen Vegetal range
Novacel is certified ISCC PLUS for its Oxygen Vegetal range
ISCC PLUS is a globally applicable sustainability certification system that covers all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, circular and bio-based materials and renewables.
By certifying its Oxygen Vegetal range, which is produced according to the Mass Balance approach, Novacel demonstrates that the production’s traceability of its films is ensured in compliance with this international standard; from the raw materials sourcing (waste and residues) to the transformation process.
Sustainability criteria of the ISCC
Agricultural feedstocks that are certified to the ISCC standard must comply with various sustainability criteria to protect forests and other wooded land, high-carbon stock lands and highly biodiverse grassland. ISCC strives for a world where agricultural feedstocks are produced in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner.
The ISCC requirements are based on six principles:
• Protection of lands with high biodiversity value or high Carbon stock
• Environmentally responsible Production to protect soil, water and air
• Safe working conditions
• Compliance with Human, Labour and land rights
• Compliance with laws and international treaties
• Good management practices and continuous improvement.
In addition, ISCC facilitates the use of biological and non-biological wastes and residues for new applications with a credible and transparent certification approach.
At least, to be sure that all ISCC requirements have been met, the certification implies that every element along the supply chain is either ISCC certified or ISCC licensed.
By sourcing ISCC certified mass balanced material, Novacel contributes to replace virgin fossil resources by renewable feedstocks and reaffirms its commitment to best environmental practices.
"I am thrilled to announce that OXYGEN Vegetal range is officially ISCC PLUS certified.
In addition to guarantying the quality of our products, this certification encourages us to continue our innovation efforts for a more environmentally responsible industry" - Benjamine Proisy - Novacel Marketing Director
Novacel's Transfer Films and Papers are certified OEKO-TEX
Novacel's Transfer Films and Papers are certified OEKO-TEX
Novacel has maintained its dedication to transparency and consumer safety for many years. As part of this ongoing commitment, our Transfer Film and Papers have once again obtained the OEKO-TEX certification for 2023.
At Novacel, we are committed to producing high-quality products while prioritizing sustainability and environmental responsibility. The OEKO-TEX® certification validates our dedication to these principles and underscores our ongoing efforts to ensure that our heat transfer papers and films are safe for both the people and the planet.
The OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is an internationally recognized and independent system for testing and certifying textiles. This rigorous certification ensures that our products have been rigorously tested for harmful substances thus guaranteeing their safety for human use.
Reducing water consumption
Reducing water consumption is one of the key commitments under the Global Compact.
Reducing water consumption
Reducing water consumption is one of the key commitments under the Global Compact.
Thanks to adiabatic cooling and water recovery systems, we have been able to reduce water use by 80% in the last 5 years in our French factory and in 2022 we saved 25k sqm in Italy.