SCHWÄBISCH GMÜND (NNA) - The Weleda Group has become a member of the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), a not-for-profit organisation which advocates the introduction of a globally recognised standard for the sustainable acquisition and use of raw materials. The company joined in October.        

By joining the UEBT, the Weleda Group was reinforcing its principles of ethical management and was committing itself to applying the UEBT standard for the procurement of raw materials, a Weleda press release stated.

“The UEBT has a high level of professional competence in the area of biodiversity and fair trade and the standard corresponds to our company values. UEBT membership makes it possible for Weleda to implement this standard with clearly defined principles and to enforce them both internally and externally,” Bas Schneiders, head of corporate sustainability and international strategic sourcing at Weleda, said.

What this means in practice is that Weleda has to use raw materials exclusively in a sustainable way, that it must ensure the maintenance of biodiversity in procuring raw materials and that all the partners within the supply chain are fairly remunerated.

For Weleda biodiversity constitutes an elementary foundation that has to be preserved. “Plants and the raw materials obtained from them are at the heart of our products. In total we use about 350 different types of plants, of which around 90 percent are organically grown. In our medicinal garden there are about 300 species of plant growing and the others we acquire from controlled collection in the wild,”  explained Bas Schneiders. Promoting an awareness of maintaining biodiversity and of fair trade played an important role for the company.

Rik Kutsch Lojenga, UEBT chief executive, attested that the new member Weleda was “a leader in terms of sustainability” and showed the great influence of UEBT members in terms of the implementation of biodiversity and the distribution of profits down the supply chain. So of course the Weleda Group fitted in very well with the UEBT.

Weleda is the globally leading manufacturer of anthroposophical medicines and of certified natural and organic cosmetics.

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Item: 111216-01EN Date: 16 December 2011

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