As a trusted provider of equipment and components to our customers, it is critical that we maintain a supply chain that ensures our ability to produce and ship quality products and take measures to identify and manage risk of sourcing materials, including considering the environmental impacts. We help many of our customers meet their ambitious environmental goals through reducing our carbon footprint and delivering environmentally responsible products. While we have made significant progress, we know we can only fully achieve this by holding our suppliers accountable to the same standards.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR SUPPLIERS
Our efforts to embed sustainability in our supply chain are led by our Vice President, Global Supply Chain. We are committed to creating economic value for our shareholders and customers through sustainable practices that protect the long-term well-being of the environment, employees, and the communities in which we operate. Our suppliers are required to comply with all applicable environmental laws, regulations, and standards and minimize any adverse impact on the environment. Our suppliers must also endeavor to conserve natural resources, including water and energy, and reduce or eliminate waste and the use of hazardous substances. Dover expects suppliers to support its environmental reporting by promptly responding to Dover’s information requests regarding sustainability commitments and progress.
EMBEDDING ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT
We drive supply chain responsibility, including for issues related to environmental protection, by requiring that all our suppliers, prior to onboarding, agree to comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct (the “Supplier Code”). The Supplier Code establishes our expectations regarding environmental issues, workplace standards, and business practices for our suppliers.
STRENGTHENING OUR SUPPLIER SCREENING ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
We provide annual training for our employees who directly engage with our supply chain. Training topics include the Supplier Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest. Additionally, we utilize a supplier evaluation scorecard which considers supplier environmental management system certification (e.g., ISO 14001), environmental health and safety programs, quality (including continuous improvement and Six Sigma), and other practices.
We are in the process of engaging with suppliers more directly on environmental issues and have plans
to increase environmental standards such as by requiring suppliers to complete a sustainability
assessment.
For more information on how we engage with suppliers and customers on climate and water-related environmental issues please see our Climate Change and Water CDP responses.
Enabling Circularity Through Intelligent Coding: Markem-Imaje
Dover also creates value for our customers by developing products and solutions that support environmentally responsible supply chain management. One example is Markem-Imaje’s circularity and packaging intelligence solutions which enable customers to track and trace products at every step of their journey through the supply chain. These solutions involve the use of a code that can be used by customers to resell, return, re-use, or recycle items when they are done using them, thereby reducing waste. Markem-Imaje’s innovative products also help customers address single-use plastics in their value chain with proven inks and marking solutions that enable coding on returnable glass bottles, refillable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, or on easily recyclable aluminum cans.
Markem-Imaje collaborated with Töpfer, an organic baby food and natural cosmetics producer, on recyclable packaging. Töpfer has experienced growing demand for recyclable packaging, and Markem-Imaje solutions have enabled them to shift toward more sustainable packaging while maintaining marking and coding quality. In addition, Töpfer has used Markem-Imaje solutions to eliminate consumable materials that account for a significant amount of paper waste.
Markem-Imaje also worked with Bioplants, the leading producer of organic herbs in France. Bioplants was originally using a manual labelling system, but wanted to implement a more efficient system. Using Markem-Imaje solutions, Bioplants has streamlined their packaging and labeling system to eliminate pre-printed boxes, thereby reducing inventory and waste, while promoting sustainability through the use of recycled cardboard packaging and solvent-free ink. Shared values of sustainability and operational efficiency contributed to the success of this collaboration.