TOGETHER FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Harmonizing global standards in the supply chain creates transparency and makes it easier for both suppliers and customers to reliably assess and evaluate sustainability performance and compliance with social standards. The chemical industry set up the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative for this purpose in 2011. Evonik is one of the six founding members.
As of July 2025, TfS encompasses 57 international chemical companies and pursues the goal of implementing a global assessment and audit program for the responsible procurement of goods and services. These audits are mainly conducted on site by independent service providers and include aspects such as assessing working conditions. TfS additionally provides webinars and training on sustainability. Furthermore, all suppliers and their employees can access information and training materials free of charge in the TfS Academy, which is an online learning platform. In this way, the initiative does not simply make environmental and social standards in supply chains quantifiable, but also contributes to a targeted improvement.
As a member of the TfS initiative, we similarly subject ourselves to the TfS assessments. In 2025, the EcoVadis rating agency awarded Evonik gold status. This places us among the top 5 percent of the companies evaluated by EcoVadis in both the chemical industry and in other sectors.
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. 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.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.
Furthermore, a data exchange platform enabling the direct sharing of supplier-specific emissions data was established as part of the Together for Sustainability (TfS) Initiative. Alongside acquiring primary emissions data, we discuss additional mitigation actions with our suppliers.