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In the Trelleborg Group, we work to create added value for our stakeholders without compromising our high ambitions with regard to our environmental and social responsibility. Through our main task – to seal, damp and protect in demanding industrial environments – we make a contribution through many of our products and services to promoting positive development in environmental, health and safety areas. At the same time, we endeavor to prevent and minimize the negative impact of our activities, products and services on the environment and to establish our company as a good example and a respected member of society. We also want the daily work of our employees to be characterized by well-being and to minimize health and safety risks and monotonous work tasks.

Trelleborg’s core values – customer focus, performance, innovation and responsibility – provide common values for our employees throughout the world. The values function as guiding principles for both the Group’s overall governance and for our daily conduct, and consequently, for our sustainability work.
Together with the Group’s Code of Conduct and policies, the values describe Trelleborg’s fundamental approach as a responsible company.
One important step we have taken – which I am very proud of and which verifies our approach – is Trelleborg’s affiliation with the UN Global Compact as of March 2007. We encourage our suppliers and other business partners to also adopt the Global Compact’s ten basic principles (see www.globalcompact.org). The term sustainable development involves such areas as environmental issues, labor conditions, human rights, prevention of corruption and anti-competitive behaviour. We conduct specific training activities within these areas, but this is not sufficient if we are to achieve our goal. Within Trelleborg, our ambition is to systematically control and monitor our sustainability work, and accordingly, we have established an interrelated model to control how the work is conducted and followed up. The model is based on selfassessment with our expanded Code of Conduct as the foundation.

 

In our efforts to continuously improve our sustainability information, we report based on Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. This will also facilitate future dialogue with various stakeholders concerning our sustainability work. In the years to come, it is essential for our company in the sustainability area that we establish our model and ensure that it functions in daily work activities.

Our overriding strategy currently states that we shall continuously move forward toward leading positions in longterm attractive segments, enhance our growth, primarily by increasing presence in growth markets, and last but not least, create better margins through continuous improvement. With these values as our point of reference, it is important that our global organization is aware of the values and rules that we must follow. For this reason, in 2007, we have chosen to relaunch our values, to introduce the new Code of Conduct and to join the UN Global Compact. In the short and intermediate term, our main aim in the sustainability area is to inform all employees about the new Code of Conduct and its implications, which is a prerequisite if we are to achieve our other milestones within the area.

For society in general, the climate change issue is increasingly viewed as a high-priority matter. It is becoming progressively more important for us humans and our environment that we work with measures and solutions with this, and other central issues, within the framework of sustainable development.
I realize that considerable challenges lie ahead, but I also believe that the employees within Trelleborg have a high level of awareness and ambition as to how to tackle these issues.

 

Trelleborg, March 2007
Peter Nilsson, President and CEO