Our commitment to a more sustainable world.
For Bolton Adhesives, sustainable development means running a good and successful business that respects the rights of the people involved in our value chains, respects local communities and protects the resources of the earth on which our business is based.
Driven by our commitment, our people and our brands, we strive for healthy and sustainable growth to ensure the prosperity of current and future generations.
That's why we believe we should keep both people and the planet in mind when developing our business, using ingenuity to develop new solutions for the future and improve the way we do things every day.
Our Bolton Sustainable Development Strategy sets out the priorities we want to focus on in the coming years, clearly underlines our long-term commitment and sets precise short and medium-term goals. It has been embraced by Bolton Adhesives.
The new sustainable development strategy is based on three pillars:
Our branded products touch the lives of millions of people every day and, through our brands, we create value that is shared for the benefit of People and Nature.
The majority of our products are manufactured in our own factories in Europe. We are aware of our social responsibility towards our employees, our business partners and the communities around us. We support an active participation of our employees.
In 2023, we have started to leverage our influence regarding sustainable supply chains by collaborating with EcoVadis, the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. Meanwhile 63% of our strategic direct suppliers have been assessed on their environmental and social performances. We will continue our efforts in this respect and provide them guidance on how to improve in the areas of ‘Environment’, ‘Labor & Human Rights’, ‘Ethics’, and ‘Sustainable Procurement’.
To support the supply chain transparency also for our customers, our production sites in Bühl (Germany) as well as Goes (The Netherlands) were also assessed via EcoVadis. Both sites have recently earned a silver medal, attaining a score of 73 out of 100. This achievement places us in the top 7% of companies evaluated by EcoVadis.
Our activities are based on relevant laws, regulations and agreements on occupational health & safety and environmental protection. We are daily committed to systematically reducing risks in everything we do. In this context, we can ensure safe and sustainable workplaces that respect people and the surrounding ecosystem and offer opportunities for growth and development.
To meet these requirements in the long term, we are committed to operating an Integrated Management System in accordance with the international standards 9001, 14001 and 45001, and plan to implement also the ISO 50001 standard in our factories in Bühl (Germany) and Goes (The Netherlands). We are also committed to continuous improvement of our environmental performance and to a zero-accident-policy.
We feel the urgent responsibility to contribute to tackling global warming. We believe that everyone has a part to play in making a positive impact. That’s why we aim to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and do our best to protect the natural ecosystem on which our business depends. In 2025, we have published our fourth Corporate Carbon Footprint, which has been 3rd party audited and represents a robust baseline for setting a clear decarbonization strategy with concrete mitigation actions.
Since 2017 we have reduced our CO2 emissions per ton of finished product (scope 1 and 2) by 14%. We have switched to 100% renewable electric energy as of 2022 in our production sites and warehouses in Bühl and Greffern (Germany) and Goes (The Netherlands) as well as in our headquarter in Rotterdam.
90% of our waste was recycled or recovered in 2024, thus following our aim to direct zero waste to landfill. Furthermore, we apply strict water management with closed-loop cooling cycles to keep the water intensity at a low level. We are also committed to sourcing our raw materials from suppliers as close to our production sites as possible.
*2024 compared to 2017, related to our production sites in Bühl (Germany) and Goes (The Netherlands)
** Water intensity index related to finished product = water withdrawal/tons products produced = 0,69 in 2024
Griffon has launched a new, extremely strong wood construction adhesive based on SMP-Polymer technology: Wood Max Transparent Power. This new generation of wood construction adhesive is PU and solvent free and is a unique combination of transparency, strength, flexibility and ease of use.
Our Griffon HBS-200 Rubber Tix cartridges are the first universal coatings with packaging made from plant-based materials. The packaging consists of 58% renewable bioplastic, extracted from sugar cane. The Griffon HBS-200 formula is made from 98% natural ingredients (including water). Compared to our regular cartridge, we use less fossil fuels and have reduced our CO₂ emissions.
Griffon offers many different adhesives for long-lasting repair solutions. Griffon Max Repair Extreme is produced in the Netherlands featuring sustainable packaging. The adhesive itself is solvent-free and the cardboard blister card is made from 90% recycled material.
We are committed to follow an approach that starts with the overarching aim to rethink and redesign our packaging (and products when needed) in line with the principles of a circular economy through innovation and taking inspiration from market best practices.
Our approach starts by giving priority to the use of less packaging and materials, then increasing the level of circularity of our packs or keeping resources in the loop as long as possible and engaging consumers in recycling, composting or, if applicable, reusing our packaging. This approach will be applied to all our packaging, starting with those with the highest sale volumes.
We are also committed to proactively engage with our key internal and external stakeholders, both upstream and downstream to make this approach work, because we are aware of the need to have the whole packaging value chain working in the same direction and with the same approach to maximize results. For more information see our “Packaging Policy” (Our policies | Bolton).
We strive to minimize health and safety risks for consumers and employees, as well as environmental and social risks resulting from raw materials and formulations, both in existing products and during our innovation and development process. All our products and technologies are carefully tested to ensure their safety both for our health and the environment. For more information see our “Policy on ingredients and raw materials” (Our policies | Bolton).
Additionally, we have set a target to increase the circularity of our ingredients reaching a level of 21% in 2024 and aiming to reach 50% ingredients from circular sources or abundant minerals by 2030.
Raw materials intended as renewable/bio-based, recycled/regenerated/upcycled and biomass balance certified ingredients
We value diversity and are actively working to increase the representation of women in management positions. Currently 20% of our management positions are held by women, our target being to achieve 38% within 2030.
We actively involve our employees in designing the roadmaps. This is why we conducted a survey on equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) for the first time in 2023. We also regularly measure the level of employee satisfaction through a second Great Place to Work (GPTW) survey. Both surveys provided valuable insights for our future measures to create a more inclusive and fairer workplace and improve satisfaction levels.
At the same time we are committed to promote new consumption patterns and enable a more sustainable lifestyle, in which the life of objects is extended and the resources available are used more wisely. With our campaign “Waste? Just Fix It!” we aim to make consumers more aware of the need to extend the life cycle of a product and to show how broken items can be repaired quickly and durably using our adhesive products.
The campaign includes a partnership with Repair Café International Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to minimize waste, use resources responsibly and connect people in new and exciting ways.
We are strong advocates for new consumption patterns and more sustainable lifestyles, extending the lifespan of items and using available resources more wisely.
With our campaign "Broken? Fix it!", we want to make consumers aware of the need to extend a product's lifespan and show how broken items can be repaired quickly and permanently with our adhesive products.
The campaign includes a partnership with the Repair Café International Foundation, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to minimise waste, use resources responsibly and connect people in new and exciting ways.
Our overarching goal is to rethink (="RETHINK") our packaging (and, where necessary, our products) in line with the circular economy and transform it through innovation and inspiration from our markets' best practices.
Our priorities are to use less packaging and materials and to increase our packaging's recyclability or keep resources in the loop for as long as possible. We want to involve consumers in recycling, composting or reusing our packaging where appropriate. This approach is applied to all our packaging, starting with those achieving the largest sales volume.
We are also committed to proactively working with our key internal and external stakeholders, both upstream and downstream in our value chain, to make this approach a reality, recognising that we need to work together to achieve the best possible and most sustainable outcomes. For more information, see our "Packaging Directive".
We strive to minimise health and safety risks to consumers and workers, as well as environmental and social risks from raw materials and formulations, in both existing products and our innovation and development process.
All our products and technologies are carefully tested to ensure their safety for both health and the environment. For more information, please see our "Ingredients and Raw Materials Policy"
In addition, we have set a new goal to increase the circularity of our raw materials. Assuming a level of 28% in 2022, by 2030 we aim to source 50% of our raw materials from circular sources, i.e. using raw materials that are renewable/bio-based or recycled/regenerated/refined, come from abundant mineral deposits or a certified biomass accounting process.
Download our latest sustainability report, our policies and discover more about our commitments for nature and for people
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We want to engage in an open dialogue with all stakeholders. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us: