THE AIM OF TOGETHER FOR SUSTAINABILITY
The aim of Together for Sustainability (TfS) is to jointly develop and implement a global assessment and audit program for the responsible procurement of goods and services. In this context, TfS contributes not only to making environmental and social standards in supply chains assessable, but also to improving them in a targeted manner.
The harmonization of global standards in the supply chain creates transparency and makes it easier for suppliers and customers to reliably assess sustainability performance. To this end, the chemical industry founded the TfS initiative in 2011, of which Evonik is one of the six founding members. The aim of TfS is to jointly develop and implement a global assessment and audit programme for the responsible procurement of goods and services. Webinars and training sessions on sustainability will also be conducted. In this way, the initiative not only contributes to making environmental and social standards in supply chains assessable, but also contributes to improving them in a targeted manner.
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.
As a member of the initiative, we also face the assessments of TfS ourselves. The rating agency EcoVadis has awarded Evonik platinum status in 2024. This puts us in the top 1 percent of companies evaluated by EcoVadis, both in the chemical industry and all other industries.
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.
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.
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.