As "Good Citizens", we are committed to forming positive relations with the local community. We carefully assess the impact of our operations to ensure that the community benefits from our growth.
Long-term outlook: we form long-term relations with all stakeholders in the community in order to provide mutual benefit and development.
Supplier selection policies: at all of our locations, we give priority to local or national suppliers of products and accessory services.
Employment policies: we work to create jobs, guaranteeing safe and fair conditions to all of our employees.
Sponsoring guidelines: we also contribute to local growth by funding activities linked to the development of local talent.
Key activities and projects
A photographic exhibition for our 70th year
In 2021, Argor-Heraeus celebrated its 70th birthday. Seventy years of which we are extremely proud, in which we began from a small city in southern Switzerland and became one of our industry’s biggest international players. We celebrated this important achievement in and with the community in which we grew. Among the various events, and in collaboration with the City of Mendrisio, we organized an outdoor photographic exhibition to present our evolution. The exhibition’s inauguration was an opportunity to meet many people and to greet many of our retired employees.
Public-private partnership to benefit the local community Due to the pandemic we have had to delay a special project we prepared to involve players in the community. Finally, we can once again involve institutions, local associations and schools to contribute to the education and growth of young people. The aim is to create a dynamic collaboration between the public and private sectors to benefit the local community. The project is still in its early stages, but we hope to fully implement it over the next year.
Award for sustainable engineering: over 10 years of collaboration with SUPSI
We have been collaborating with SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland) in various fields for more than 10 years. Specifically, every year since 2010 we have assigned a CHF 3,000 award to the student presenting the best Master of Science in Engineering thesis. A special jury selects the best thesis based on criteria of innovation and sustainability, in line with our company values. In 2021, the award was assigned to a female student, certainly a positive sign. We are proud of our continuous support of education, whose role is now more crucial than ever.
We reinvest part of the added value we generate in the
local community
through taxes, donations, contributions, awards, etc.
We give priority to local suppliers
whenever possible for supplies of accessory products and
services.
We invest in young people: Argor-Heraeus
has been a training company since 1978, contributing to
the training of young people who want a career in
industry. As explained below, we also collaborate in many
ways with SUPSI, the University of Applied Sciences and
Arts of Southern Switzerland, to promote and support
student training programmes.
Hiring policies:
about 30% of the employees at our Mendrisio headquarters
live in Switzerland. A significant number, considering our
proximity to the Italian border and the industrial nature
of our operations.
We proactively support selected local organisations
with which we have developed a relationship based on
respect and trust over the years.
We sponsor local organisations: we
receive numerous requests for sponsoring or support from
organisations in a wide variety of fields. We evaluate
these requests annually based on their conformity with our
internal guidelines for sponsoring.
We support greener means of transportation: - we have always promoted the use of greener means
of transportation (such as public transportation, slow
mobility, carpooling) by our employees. In addition to
protecting the environment, this benefits the health of
the entire community. - In 2021, we had 45
carpooling groups and subsidised 50 public transportation
passes. It goes without saying that, due to the pandemic,
it was not always easy to use these means of
transportation instead of cars. - At our Hong Kong
branch, we promote various means of transportation through
subsidies for the use of public means or by offering
company shuttle buses. Now, less than 5% of employees use
their own cars to come to work, drastically reducing CO2
emissions
A company’s economic results are essential for its long-term sustainability and responsibility. The better its economic performance, the more the company will be able to allocate resources to benefit local stakeholders or to make investments needed to minimise environmental impacts.
Our Sustainability Report always shows how added value is distributed to our various stakeholders. What is added value? It is the value generated by a company’s operations, i.e., the difference between the final value of goods and services produced (turnover) and the value of goods and services purchased for use in production processes.
In 2021, the distribution of added value was generally similar to that in the previous year, the main difference being a larger portion reinvested in our employees (43% vs. 33%) and therefore a smaller portion distributed to our shareholder (48% vs. 58%). As in the previous year, no portion was reinvested in the company (0%); the remaining 9% was paid to institutions.
We support many local groups and organizations through contributions, sponsorships, donations, or ad hoc collaborations. Therefore, the percentage of added value reinvested in the community is not shown because it is extremely hard to calculate.
The quality/price ratio typically plays a major role when selecting a supplier, and a potential supplier’s ability to offer quality in line with our expectations and at a proper price is a critical factor.
Nevertheless, our supplier selection policy gives preference to long-term relations based on trust with business partners, who are selected after we confirm that sustainability and transparency are the key principles of their operation.
Moreover, we try to give preference to local suppliers for the purchase of accessory products and services (such as chemicals, fuels, security services, consumables, waste disposal services, etc.).
In 2021, 63% of expenditures went to suppliers in Canton Ticino and in Switzerland (26% and 37%, respectively). This means that over 6 out of 10 francs of expenditures for suppliers of accessory products and services remained in Switzerland.
We reinvest a significant part of the added value we generate in the local community
in the form of taxes, donations, timely contributions and awards.
We give priority to local suppliers
whenever possible for supplies of accessory products and services.
Hiring policies:
about 30% of the employees at our Mendrisio headquarters live in Switzerland. A significant number, considering our proximity to the Italian border and the industrial nature of our operations.
We invest in young people:
Argor-Heraeus has been a training company since the late ‘70s, contributing to the training and growth of young people who want a career in industry. But our contribution to young people doesn’t end here: as explained below, we also collaborate in many ways with SUPSI to promote and support student training programmes.
Collaboration with the public sector:
we collaborate with local institutions in a wide range of activities. For example, in 2021 we collaborated to present a free outdoor photographic exhibition in Mendrisio devoted to our 70th anniversary. Another example is our long-standing collaboration with public services (fire brigade, ambulance service, and police) to organize exercises and training activities for the management of emergencies.
We proactively support selected local organisations with which we have developed a relationship based on respect and trust over the years.
We sponsor local organisations:
every year, we receive numerous requests for sponsoring or support from local organisations. We carefully evaluate every request by means of a transparent policy in line with our values.
We support greener means of transportation:
- We have always promoted the use of greener means of transportation (such as public transportation, slow mobility, carpooling) by our employees. In addition to protecting the environment, this benefits the health of the entire community.
- In 2020, we had 60 carpooling groups (15 more than in the year before) and subsidised 45 public transportation passes.
- At our Hong Kong branch, we promote various means of transportation through contributions for the use of public means or by offering company shuttle buses. Now, less than 5% of employees drive their cars to work, drastically reducing CO2 emissions.
