more resource-efficient.
matters.
more resource-efficient.
matters.
The sustainability initiative vemag_sustainOur ecological, economic and social responsibility
At first glance, you might think that a book like this is a thoroughly sustainable product. Made from renewable material and completely recyclable. This is true, but books still require large amounts of resources (wood) and cause considerable CO2e emissions.
This is one of the reasons why, within the vemag_sustain initiative, we analyse our key sustainability issues in the four areas of economy, ecology, social affairs and culture. Based on these results, we can appropriately formulate, evaluate and measure our company-wide sustainability goals.
The resulting measures enable us to continuously and effectively optimise the sustainability of our products and our company.
One of the most important and effective goals is to make the production of our books more resource-efficient; we are already working intensively on this with our suppliers.
We will provide a detailed overview of all targets in our first sustainability report. The report follows the standard of the German Sustainability Code (DNK); we will publish it in 2025.
Because nature matters What we are already doing
We have already achieved these milestones as we continue to make our products and business more sustainable:
Sustainable use of FSC paper
We have been printing exclusively on FSC-certified paper throughout the Group since 2011. In this way, we prevent illegal deforestation, support responsible forest management and contribute to the protection of biodiversity.
BSCI auditing
VEMAG has been a member of amfori BSCI, a leading corporate initiative for improving working conditions in global supply chains, since 2011. The Business Social Compliance Initiative helps our suppliers to continuously improve and ensure socially fair services and production methods. Through regular audits by independent organisations, we support our suppliers in risk countries in implementing and permanently complying with the BSCI Code of Conduct. The BSCI Code is an integral part of our supplier contracts.
Reduction of plastic
Since 2016, the majority of our books have not been shrink-wrapped individually to avoid plastic waste.
ISO 14001
Since 2021, VEMAG companies have only worked with producers who comply with the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard.
Sustainability strategy
Since 2023, VEMAG has been working with Publisher Consultants, a consultancy specialising in sustainable publishing, to find the best possible sustainability strategy.
CO2 balance
Because precise figures are so important in this emotional topic: VEMAG has been working with the CO2 balancing company ConClimate since 2024. The results form an important pillar for our ESG reporting and also provide the basis for the concrete development of our company-wide climate targets.
Emission reduction
VEMAG has been using the X-Degree Compatibility Model from right. based on science since 2024. The XDC model is used to calculate the climate impact of a company and express the result in a simple degree Celsius figure. The model provides an answer to the question of how much global warming would occur if the whole world had the same climate performance as the assessed company. This enables VEMAG to make the right decisions and take the right measures to be successful in a 1.5 degree economy.
Safety and qualityOur certificates
Our in-house quality assurance department consistently ensures these high quality and safety standards in the publishing world. Our QA team prepares audits (e.g. for FSC and EcoVadis) in collaboration with our sustainability management team. It has products tested in external laboratories to ensure they are free of harmful substances (e.g. for TÜV and CE reports). It also monitors our suppliers to ensure a high level of product safety, for example in children’s books, which meets the very high standards for toys.
Experiment a success!Learn from our start-up pen2nature
Puzzle books, colouring books and any other type of entry book usually only accompany our customers for a short time. This is precisely why they should be produced in a way that conserves resources. Let’s tackle that now - thought a small group of VEMAG employees. In 2023, the first programme of the small VEMAG subsidiary pen2nature was launched. The young publishing house formulates its self-image as follows:
“As a publishing house, we want to make a contribution to the long-term future of our planet. We do something good for the environment with our products, because:
We only print on premium recycled paper. This means that no new trees will be felled.
CO2 is emitted during every book production. To compensate for this, we invest in environmental protection projects in cooperation with ClimatePartner. At the same time, we are working flat out to ensure that our book production emits even less CO2 in future.
We donate 10 cents to reforestation projects for every book produced. So we are helping to ensure that new trees are planted.”
The concept was a complete success, also thanks to the support of the VEMAG network. The contemporary notepads and books quickly found fans in bookshops and online. The resource-conserving titles for children and adults are now also available in organic markets and drugstore chains.
The latest milestone in the young publishing house’s history: the innovative books can also be found in food retailers under the “naturalis” label.
Our social commitmentHelping with books
VEMAG companies support organisations, institutions and foundations both nationally and locally in the Cologne area, including with book donations. In many of these campaigns, the company follows suggestions from its employees. A selection:
- Every year before Christmas, we donate books to the children’s home in Cologne, the children’s hospital in Cologne and the children’s hospital in Solingen.
- We support the KinderpAHRadies indoor playground, which was set up for the children affected by the flood disaster on the Ahr, with donations of children’s books for the reading and craft corner
- Since 2016, we have been a cooperation partner of Stiftung Lesen, a nationwide foundation that promotes reading and media skills. Under this partnership, high-quality titles for first-time readers and children's read-alouds have been published and sold at take-away prices, primarily in the grocery retail sector.
We believe that promoting reading and media is an important building block for the preservation of our democracy.
Measure and improveFigures from our vemag_sustain project
Approx. 2 millionbooks already printed on recycled paper
Since 2020, we have printed 119 titles on recycled paper across the Group, with a total circulation of 1.8 million copies. The fresh fibre content of our recycled books is 0 %. Nevertheless, the paper is pure white and is ideal for filling in puzzles or colouring in.
150measures already implemented
At the start of our sustainability initiative, the project team compiled over 150 measures that have already been implemented at VEMAG and contribute to sustainability issues. Our sustainability report will describe the most important ones.
> 50%fewer kilometres travelled due to working from home
If our employees spent every working day on the company premises, they would travel a good 37,210 kilometres to work each week. Our home office regulations reduce this figure to 17,000 kilometres per week.
>100.000books donated to the food banks
Since 2015, we have donated a total of more than100,000 books to the Selbst. Los! foundation. Through the food banks in Germany, this foundation supports children and young people in income poverty who are unable to buy their own books due to their family and social situation.
VEMAG InsideNews from the area of Responsibility
02.05.2025 | Culture, Partner, Responsibility5.000 Büchertüten für Kinder
17.01.2025 | Business, Responsibility5,000 square metres of additional logistics space:
06.11.2024 | Responsibility, Culture, BusinessImplementation of the Code of Conduct begins
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Please send an e-mail to our contact person.
