German drive manufacturer Flender announced today that it has achieved a Gold Medal from EcoVadis, the worlds’ most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. Being awarded the Gold Medal is outstanding as this is the first year the company has applied for EcoVadis rating after being independent as company again. With their first application Flender ranks under the top 5 percent of companies in their market for sustainability performance globally, according to EcoVadis.

“This is amazing. Corporate Social Responsibility belongs to our DNA. To have this proven and awarded by a trusted external body like EcoVadis feels great and makes us proud. It’s the sign for our customers and stakeholders that Flender is the right partner on their side. There are lots of projects and initiatives ongoing and we want to score even higher in future. So, this first award is a great motivation to keep up our ambitions for a sustainable future. Because that is all that matters in the end: making our planet a better place to live,” said Andreas Evertz, CEO, Flender Group.

With drive systems for wind turbines Flender provides a key element for the energy transition towards renewable energies. But it was also the exceptional achievements in sustainable sourcing and supply chain as well as labor and human rights that led to the remarkable EcoVadis scorecard.

EcoVadis is the global standard for business sustainability ratings. The EcoVadis assessment evaluates 21 sustainability criteria across four core themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. More than 85,000 companies globally have been rated by EcoVadis.

EcoVadis’ business sustainability ratings are based on international sustainability standards such as the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and the ISO 26000 standard. The ratings provide an evidenced-based analysis on performance and an actionable roadmap for continuous improvement.