Cologne, May2024

Verlags- und Medien Aktiengesellschaft (VEMAG), which specialises in the discount and promotional business, launched the Group-wide sustainability project vemag_sustain at the end of 2023 in addition to the resource-saving production measures it has been implementing for years.

VEMAG's publishing houses already fulfil high social and environmental standards

• Since 2011, all our printing has been done exclusively on FSC-certified paper.

• Throughout the entire supply chain, VEMAG has worked exclusively with producers audited by BSCI since 2011.

• Since 2021, VEMAG companies have only worked with producers who comply with the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard.

• Our in-house quality assurance department consistently ensures these high standards in the publishing world.

• Since 2016, books from VEMAG publishers have no longer been shrink-wrapped in plastic to avoid plastic waste.

pen2nature: a new imprint for particularly sustainable puzzle and colouring books

• Bright white recycled paper, mineral oil-free printing inks and varnishes, support for reforestation projects: with the pen2nature imprint founded in 2023, VEMAG started producing particularly sustainable activity books for children and adults at an early stage.

• The titles are sold online, in drugstores, bookshops and organic supermarkets, among others.

 

Status quo and future: comprehensive sustainability project launched

• The sustainability project vemag_sustain, which was launched at the end of 2023, focuses on a carbon footprint, a materiality analysis, the preparation of a sustainability report in accordance with the recognised and CSRD-compliant standard of the DNK (German Sustainability Code) and an expanded Group-wide climate strategy.

• The analysis will be followed by a package of further measures for the entire VEMAG Group. VEMAG is being supported in this change process by a team of consultants from Publisher Consultants, which specialises in sustainability consulting for publishers.

• This information e-mail to our customers as our most important stakeholders is part of our ongoing sustainability communication.

What does vemag_sustain mean for you as our customer?

Transparency: we expect to publish our first sustainability report in the first quarter of 2025 - out of intrinsic motivation, as we are not yet legally obliged to do so. It contains answers to all the questions you need for your own sustainability reporting and market positioning.

Reliability: you know us as a reliable supplier of books for children and adults with an attractive price-performance ratio. In future, you will also get to know us as a pacemaker of sustainable book production.

Prospects and competitive advantage: meet your customers’ growing demand for resource-saving, climate-friendly and socially fair products with the even more sustainably produced products from VEMAG publishers in the future.

Truthfulness: we have not yet found an answer to all the challenges in this demanding change process - but we are certain that we have set the right course.

Participation: would you like to join us on our exciting journey towards a sustainable book future? We will keep you informed about the progress of our project.

We will be happy to answer your questions about sustainability at VEMAG atsustainability@vemag-medien.de.