Case study: How CRH promotes sustainability across its supply chain
CRH is the leading diversified building materials business in the world, employing approximately 77,000 people at 3,100 locations in 29 countries, manufacturing and supplying a diverse range of integrated building materials, products and innovative end-to-end solutions. CRH works closely with its suppliers and other stakeholders to drive improvements in its supply chain and support suppliers to provide good jobs and manage their environmental impacts.
This case study is based on the 2020 Sustainability Report by CRH, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
CRH’s commitment to its values goes beyond its own activities. Accordingly, CRH expects its suppliers to share its unwavering commitment to good ethical practices. Tweet This! In order to promote sustainability across its supply chain CRH took action to:
- promote good practices
- assess risks
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) CRH has identified;
- How CRH proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by CRH to promote sustainability across its supply chain
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report CRH identified a range of material issues, such as economic value creation, health and safety, energy and climate change, customers and products. Among these, promoting sustainability across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for CRH.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups CRH engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Employees | · Team meetings · Employee surveys · Employee newsletters · Podcasts · Town hall meetings · CEO blog · Performance reviews · One-to-one meetings/briefings |
| Local communities
| · One-to-one meetings · Open days · Site tours and virtual events · Participation in local events · Employee engagement processes |
| Investors | · Annual General Meeting · One-to-one meetings and calls · Surveys · Investor and ESG conferences and roadshows · Results presentations |
| Customers
| · Negotiations · Customer surveys · Formal market research · Company websites and social media · Product information on packaging · Customer relationship development · Exhibitions |
| Suppliers
| · Supplier surveys · Contractual meetings · Tender questions · Information requests · E-tendering platforms · Assessment and due diligence |
| Governments and regulators
| · Briefings and direct meetings · Multi-stakeholder forums · Industry associations · Audits · Open days |
| Academic and scientific community
| · One-to-one meetings · Seminars and lectures · Intern, graduate and apprenticeship programmes · Presentations Round table discussions |
| Media | · Media surveys · Interviews · Media briefings · Press releases · Social media |
| NGOs and pressure groups
| · One-to-one meetings · Presentations · Participation in events · Open days |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics CRH engaged with its stakeholders through online surveys, telephone interviews and focus group sessions.
What actions were taken by CRH to promote sustainability across its supply chain?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report CRH reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability across its supply chain:
- Promoting good practices
- CRH sources goods and services through multiple routes: from centralised procurement, to local buying and to e-sourcing. CRH’s ‘Know Your Supplier’ due diligence system provides key third-party data points for financial risk, sanctions screening and adverse media. CRH expects 100% of its suppliers to comply with its Supplier Code of Conduct (100% of new suppliers are screened in line with the Code), and all of its procurement teams are increasingly integrating sustainability into its sourcing processes. CRH’s supplier selection and ongoing assessment processes also include sustainability criteria. Additionally, CRH increasingly builds on its key supplier relationships, to make sure it responds to sustainability issues and provides added value in key areas.
- Assessing risks
- CRH assesses risks at a commodity level, in line with ISO 20400 best practice and uses 12 assessment criteria covering areas such as health and safety, human and labour rights, environment, climate change and governance, to understand potential risks and act strategically across a range of profiles which can be improved. CRH provides responsible procurement training to those staff working directly with its The training helps equip staff with the understanding and tools to be able to spot issues and effectively engage suppliers through their Category Strategy Plans. In addition, by integrating sustainability requirements at the start of the tender stage, CRH is able to mitigate risks more effectively than after the event.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria
2) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria
Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.8
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Targets: 16.1
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References:
This case study is based on published information by CRH, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.crh.com/media/3697/crh-2020-sustainability-report.pdf
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