edding awarded ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification at all German sites

A commitment to society and to the environment is deeply engrained in the edding Group's company philosophy. And that's not just lip service, for edding has recently been successfully certified in accordance with international environment management standard ISO 14001 and the internationally recognised standard for occupational health and safety, OHSAS 18001.

The company's three sites in Ahrensburg (HQ), Bautzen (production) and Wunstorf (distribution) were inspected by Bremen-based independent experts, bregau zert GmbH. Following its inspection, bregau zert GmbH certified that the edding Group's environment management and occupational health and safety management system meets all requirements.

In its audit reports, the organisation praised in particular edding's measures to reduce packaging materials, its weight-based quality controls, the planned reduction in the range of materials to reduce hazards and the development and production of the new EcoLine range. This product series includes a permanent marker and a board marker in which at least 80% of the total plastic material used comes from recycled material. The EcoLine series also includes a text marker in the guise of the edding 24 highlighter, at least 70% of its cap and barrel being made from a renewable material.

In other areas, too, the ISO 14001-certified environment management system will help the company spare natural resources and use them in a sustainable manner. Classic examples of this include the generation of electricity from solar power, a cut-back on individual printers in offices and, with it, the deployment of multifunctional units that are low in fine-dust emissions, the installation of video-conference systems to link up edding's subsidiaries across the globe, the acquisition of green electricity and the switch to a fleet of more environmentally friendly company cars.

To improve health and safety at work, the edding Group has also integrated an occupational safety management system into the company's structures and procedures. The system is now OHSAS 18001-certified, this being the most well-known standard for occupational safety management systems.

The certificates are valid for three years and will be subject to annual review. According to Director Per Ledermann, "the completion of this certification process does not mean an end to all our efforts and initiatives. On the contrary, certification is an incentive for us and represents an undertaking to continue to act responsibly towards our workforce and the environment at all times".