The aim of our procurement organization is to guarantee long-term reliability of supply for the production of Evonik products and to secure competitive advantages for our operating businesses. Alongside economic requirements, our procurement strategy takes account of criteria such as health, quality, safety, social factors, and environmental protection.
PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
Procurement is organized globally at Evonik and comprises direct procurement (raw materials, logistics, and packaging) and indirect procurement (general and technical goods and services). Both are subdivided into strategic and operational procurement activities. Global procurement is managed from Germany, with the support of regional units in Asia and North and South America.
PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT AT EVONIK
The group procurement policy contains clear-cut specifications for sustainable procurement and dealings with suppliers. Compliance with these principles and their implementation are reviewed when selecting suppliers. If a supplier does not satisfy these requirements, Evonik expects that it will work consistently to remedy the defects identified as a precondition for entering into or continuing a business relationship. Exclusion criteria primarily constitute the supplier’s failure to comply with the ILO’s Core Labour Standards, serious occupational safety shortcomings as well as severe violations of recognized environmental and safety standards. Evonik is fundamentally willing to support suppliers in remedying any shortcomings. The chief procurement officer is responsible for implementing such actions. These specifications are detailed in the Procurement management manual and thus at a central organizational location.
The code of conduct for suppliers is based on internationally recognized human rights and formulates corresponding expectations of all suppliers.
The values and expectations set out in our code of conduct are communicated to all suppliers also via our general terms and conditions of purchase. We are aware that actively involving those people who are (potentially) affected by human rights breaches, such as those who work in the supply chains, is a key component of human rights due diligence processes. Our aspiration going forward is to establish a structured dialogue process with the people who are (potentially) affected, related groups, and their representatives in order to give adequate consideration to their interests in our decision making as well as when defining and monitoring relevant targets and actions.
Further information:
Validation and evaluation of suppliers
We expect our suppliers to share our principles and honor their responsibility toward their employees, business partners, society, and the environment. As shown in the chart “Supplier validation and evaluation”, we apply a validation process based on the values defined in our code of conduct for suppliers before entering into any new supply relationship. All details are entered online and evaluated using a validation matrix. Successfully completed TfS assessments can similarly be used as evidence of validation.
We apply the same care to evaluating existing supplier relationships. To minimize risks in connection with our management of contractors, we request and evaluate from existing suppliers evidence and self-assessments on compliance with the relevant German legislation (the German Minimum Wage Act, the German Employee Secondment Act, and the German Ordinance on Craftsmen).
SUPPLIER VALIDATION AND EVALUATION
As regards our target of examining by 2030 over 90 percent of all significant raw material suppliers 1 with an annual procurement volume of more than €100 thousand from sustainability perspectives through TfS or equivalent assessments, we had validated around 86 percent of the major raw material suppliers in accordance with applicable criteria as of the end of 2025.
In 2025, the TfS member companies examined suppliers worldwide using audits and assessments (see table “Supplier validation and assessment”). Evonik also used this framework to initiate audits and assessments. About 86 percent of our direct and over 74 percent of our indirect procurement volume—slightly less than in the previous year—were covered by TfS assessments.
In addition, 1,429 new suppliers of raw materials, technical goods, and services were validated in 2025. This is equivalent to over 79 percent of new suppliers, compared with around 80 percent in 2024. Taken together with the TfS audits and assessments initiated by Evonik, a total of 1,784 suppliers were validated and examined. In this context, we identified no procurement of conflict minerals.
The chart “Sustainability performance of our suppliers” shows their performance in the various evaluation categories used by the EcoVadis rating. Taking all criteria together, around 76 percent of our suppliers are within our target range of 45 to 100 points, scoring an average of 62.1 points. The overall average was 55.7 points.
