Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibility is a framework by which organisations demonstrate integrity regarding social, environmental, ethical and economic issues. It is a way to take action to support the vision, mission and values of an organisation rather than relegating them solely to a written statement.
ESG is not a side issue, or a hassle to be quickly disposed of. Rather, it is a strategic approach that suggests that organisations voluntarily include social, environmental and ethical considerations in their decision-making process in order to ensure long-term success.
ESG is constantly growing and evolving as an increasing number of countries, as well as global and local organisations, decide to take action to ensure a better world. There is increasing recognition that in order to have a good life, we all need to take care of one other, especially as the pressure on limited environmental resources becomes increasingly challenging. Since we have only one planet, our actions today impact us all tomorrow.
Elcam Medical is committed to ESG responsibility. We believe it is not a goal, but a long-term journey where improvement comes through diligence and perseverance; it is the way that our organisation operates in the world and as a way of life.
In 2022, Elcam Medical received a silver medal from EcoVadis and reached the 78th percentile in our industry sector.
EcoVadis is a global business Sustainability Ratings company, well-known in the medical industry. EcoVadis operates an evidence-based online platform, providing sustainability ratings and allowing companies to assess the ESG performance of their global suppliers. The EcoVadis Rating covers a broad range of non-financial management systems, including environmental, labour and human rights, as well as ethical and sustainable procurement. Each company is rated on the material issues as they pertain to their company’s size, location and industry.
Elcam is committed to maintaining good corporate citizenship by actions related to different aspects of ESG:
- Social responsibility in Elcam means promoting diversity and inclusion in the workforce and providing equal non-discriminatory working opportunities. Our employees come from 33 countries across the world and from five main religions and ethnicities (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Circassians and Druze). In our Israeli facilities alone, we employ workers from 72 different communities from all around the northern part of Israel. We currently have 47.5% female employees and 37.5% women in managerial roles.
- Social responsibility also means being involved and taking an active part in promoting social issues in our communities and especially creating role models for future generations. We do so in a variety of ways, such as donations to local hospitals and establishments in need in Modena, Italy, during the Covid-19 pandemic, or investing in one of the high schools near our Israeli facility, where together, we’re building an innovation lab for research and promoting technological education through different activities. Our Italian facility is one of the founding members of the ITS FOUNDATION — New Technologies of Life, which carries out free two-year and post-diploma courses to train senior technicians in the fields of design, production and quality assurance of the biomedical sector, bringing highly specialised skills and innovation capacity to companies.
- Environmental responsibility in Elcam comes in many ways — recycling plastics and cartons, maximising efforts to save energy by adopting innovative technologies, and employing natural gas and solar energy as environmentally-friendly energy generation for self-consumption in our facilities. We also encourage our employees to be more environmentally friendly through recycling, reducing the use of plastics, sustainable mobility and more.
- Governing responsibility means being obligated to high standards of ethical and business conduct. Elcam operates both internally and externally in a fair and non-exploitive manner, according to the laws and regulations in all the countries we operate in. Our managers and employees abide by a comprehensive set of internal procedures and guidelines which are consistent with our commitment to acting with integrity in all that we do. As part of Elcam’s ongoing improvement processes, we are currently refining our code of conduct. Furthermore, in order to promote the ESG concept among our suppliers and help them do better for their stakeholders, we also ask our major suppliers to acknowledge our code of conduct for suppliers.
Elcam believes that through our ESG responsibilities, we can enhance collaboration with colleagues, strengthen relationships with customers, partners and society, and create added value.