Sustainability - TK Elevator

Sustainability is an integral part of TK Elevator and our company strategy -- it shapes our values and how we work. As a world-leading urban mobility company, we are dedicated to sustainable urbanization, enhancing accessibility, and fostering a culture of safety and inclusion.

_{“Our transformation is about a stronger, more resilient TKE that’s prepared for long-term sustainable success. Sustainability is not a standalone initiative – it runs through everything we do.”}

Uday Yadav, CEO TK Elevator

Our Sustainability Report

Our 2023/24 Sustainability Report provides transparency on the key transformation priorities and progress across climate action, innovation, safety, and responsible business practices which are integral to TKE’s growth strategy.

Download sustainability report 2023/24 Download sustainability report 2022/23 Download sustainability report 2021/22

Key Ratings & Memberships

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do – from ambitious climate goals and leading ESG ratings to safe industry standards and global responsibility. These achievements demonstrate that sustainable business at TK Elevator is not just a vision, but a lived reality.

Supplier Engagement Leader 2024

We have been recognized by CDP as a “Supplier Engagement Leader 2024” for taking action to measure and reduce environmental risks within our supply chain.

Top Rated by Sustainalytics

TK Elevator has demonstrated a commitment to ESG practices and is being recognized as one of the top-performing companies rated by Sustainalytics.

EcoVadis Gold Medal

We have been awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal, recognizes the top 5% of all companies assessed by the EcoVadis rating. Our current score actually places us in the top 2%.

UN Global Compact Signatory

TK Elevator is signatory of the UN Global Compact. Our sustainability report details the progress we have made towards the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact.

Member of RE100

TK Elevator has joined the worldwide RE100 (Renewable Electricity) initiative and committed itself use renewable electricity only across its global operations by 2030.

Key Targets and Accomplishments to Date

53 %

Reduction of absolute Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 2030 from a 2019 base year

Status 2024: 28%

23 %

Reduction of absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from the use of sold products by 2030 from a 2021 base year

Status 2024: 4%

100 %

Renewable elecrticity across global operations by 2030

Status 2024: 76%

100 %

Completion of a 360° sustainability assessment of risk-critical suppliers by 2026

Status 2024: 71%

Our Sustainability Focus Areas

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Sustainable Products & Services

Efficiency:

By maximizing energy and resource efficiency, we are significantly reducing the emissions and environmental impact of buildings. Taking the steps to increase sustainability is a top priority in our product development.

Lifecycle:

Understanding the environmental footprint of an elevator’s life cycle and being aware of the various ways to recycle components helps us to understand the overall environmental impact of our products, as well as to optimize R&D processes.

Product Safety:

Keeping our passengers safe is fundamental to the success of our business. By applying cutting-edge processes and tools, we ensure optimal safety in the production, installation and maintenance of our elevators.

Green Building Certifications:

We help our customers meet their sustainability goals and obtain green building certifications, such as LEED and BREEAM to enhance living and working conditions in buildings, protect natural resources and raise property values for all stakeholders.

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GOVERNANCE & COMPLIANCE

Governance & Compliance

Business Ethics:

Our values and principles form the foundation for how we do business as well as for how we interact with each other and the people we do business with. Our TK Elevator Code of Conduct defines clear standards for how we behave as individual employees and as a company. All our employees are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct and regularly receive trainings to learn about it.

Compliance:

Compliance – a key aspect of risk management – is an integral part of our operations. Our state-of-the-art Compliance Management System is focused on the key areas of antitrust law, corruption prevention, anti-money laundering, foreign trade control, and data protection. Our global Compliance team is headed by a Chief Compliance Officer.

Sustainability Governance:

Our strategic decisions on sustainability receive the attention of top leadership and are aligned with all relevant stakeholders within the organization.

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SUPPLY CHAIN

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Code of Conduct:

We expect our suppliers to adhere to the principles laid out in our Supplier Code of Conduct. It includes our principles on human rights, fair working conditions, environmental protection, bribery and corruption, as well as anti-competitive behavior. It also requires our suppliers to focus on and avoid climate-related risks.

Supplier Risk Management:

In 2022/23, we completed our successful transition to a comprehensive supply chain sustainability risk management. Our new approach includes continuous supplier risk monitoring, risk evaluation with defined actions plans and tracking, and deep-dive sustainability self-assessments for suppliers.

Dialog with our suppliers:

TK Elevator engages in continuous dialog with our suppliers to identify opportunities for improving our relationships and to deliver on our sustainability commitments. We regularly host “supplier days” in our operations across the globe. These events promote trust and transparency and foster a common understanding of priorities as we move forward.

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EMPLOYEES

Employees

Equal Opportunity:

We value inclusion and equal employment opportunities to attract, retain and promote a highly qualified global workforce based on merit. We want to empower all our employees to reach their full potential. We’re proud to be an international organization with over 130 nationalities represented in our workforce and more than 20 among our top executives.

Attractive Employer:

Our success as a market and innovation leader in the elevator and escalator industry is based to a large extent on the commitment and expertise of our employees. We promote both their professional and personal development through a wide range of training and development courses.

Fairness & Respect:

In 2021, TK Elevator signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with the Group Works Council and the global trade union IndustriALL. This agreement is key to safeguarding human and employee rights globally. It protects the interests of workers across all company operations and outlines standards for trade union rights, as well as health, safety and environmental practices, and quality of work principles.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Health & Safety

Keeping people safe is a core value for us that may never be compromised. Basically, it is our license to operate and do business. Any accident can be devastating – not only to the injured persons, but also to their families, friends, and colleagues. It is therefore imperative for us to consistently and uncompromisingly ensure the health and safety of our employees and contractors.

60% of our employees work at sites that are certified according to ISO 45001 and/or OSHAS 18001.
We co-founded the Global Elevator Safety Forum for pursuing a safe and fatality-free industry.
We have developed our 10 Safety Rules which are applicable to employees and subcontractors around the world.

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ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

Environment & Climate

Climate Protection:

We aim to reduce our carbon emissions across the entire value chain. Our vehicle fleet of more than 16,000 vehicles has the largest impact on our emissions. We are therefore concentrating our efforts on reducing our carbon footprint by reducing the mileage covered by our technicians and successively switching our fleet to hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

Energy Efficiency:

The main focus of our energy management is boosting our energy efficiency measures and the use of green energy, across all our operations, our factories, buildings and fleet of vehicles.

Environmental Management:

Our policies define the minimum requirements for our environmental and energy management systems, following ISO 14001 and ISO 5000.

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Key Documents & Links

Code of Conduct

Our TK Elevator Code of Conduct defines clear standards for how we behave as individual employees and as a company.

Download PDF

Policy - Environmental &Climate

This document represents the external publication version of TK Elevator’s Policy for Environment and Climate.

Download PDF

Compliance

Compliance – a key aspect of risk management – is an integral part of our operations.

Learn more

Whistleblowing hotline

We have a hotline, which can be reached via mail, telephone, postal service, or by contacting our compliance officers directly.

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Supplier Code of Conduct

We expect our suppliers to adhere to the principles laid out in our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Learn more

10 Safety Rules

We have developed our 10 Safety Rules which are applicable to employees and subcontractors around the world.

Download PDF

Have you discovered EOX yet?

EOX, the latest addition to our elevator portfolio, brings advanced eco-efficiency and digitalisation to the mid-and low-rise market.

Get to know EOX

Proven Success, Powerful Impact

Join us on our journey toward a more sustainable future! Below, you'll find details on two projects that are central to our sustainability efforts. This is just a glimpse of our ongoing work, and we look forward to sharing more of our progress with you soon.

TKE Heroes Awards

In May 2024, we launched the first annual TKE Heroes Awards. This program honors individuals and teams across our global community who go above and beyond to create a safer and healthier work environment.

The awards feature six categories, celebrating outstanding achievements in safety practices, cultural transformation, innovation, safety leadership, and wellbeing initiatives. Open to all employees and subcontractors, the awards encourage recognition of colleagues who embody the spirit of heroism, drive meaningful change, and ensure that everyone gets home safely. The winners were honored at a global ceremony, shining a spotlight on those who are making TK Elevator a safer place for all.

Mitigating Risks

In 2023/24, we piloted a new approach to strengthen how we identify and assess environmental and climate risks across our companies with a tailored questionnaire, standardized risk assessment template, and robust evaluations. Seven entities across six countries participated and based on its success, we plan to roll out this approach more widely.

The relevance of this work becomes clear with extreme weather events, such as the 2024 flooding in Brazil which displaced over 150,000 people and impacted our Guaiba factory. While operations were temporarily halted due to road damage, our assets remained unharmed, and partial operations quickly resumed thanks to a structured recovery plan and strong local leadership.

Exchanging Perspectives

At TK Elevator, we believe in the power of connection and shared experiences. Everyone benefits from exchanging perspectives in supportive groups.

That’s why we actively support Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as platforms for colleagues to connect, share, and drive topics that matter deeply to them. Building on the success of our CONNECT Women’s Network, we recently launched the TKE CONNECT Veterans Network.

Through initiatives like these, we continue to foster inclusion, strengthen community bonds, and celebrate the unique backgrounds and experiences of our team members.

Supporting Future Professionals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Worldwide, more than 68 million young people are looking for a job, 270 million are neither employed nor receiving education or training, and over 123 million are working but still living in poverty. Young people who lack adequate parental care are at a particular disadvantage.

With our partner, SOS Children’s Villages, we rolled out the Education4Future program in Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Thailand, and India. Since the program start in 2017, more than 350 TKE employee volunteers have shared their time, skills, expertise, and career stories with around 1,200 young people -- one-to-one and in groups, in person and virtually. In 2023/24 we carried out more than 20 activities across the program’s countries.

Carbon Footprint Awareness Recognition

We launched our Carbon Footprint Awareness Recognition this financial year to highlight the importance of CO₂ reduction as a strategic issue in our business developments, and to recognize suppliers who reduce their environmental footprint.

Invonace was our first honoree and then Scanfil, an important partner in our EOX program, was honored for their efforts to create a more sustainable business. “Sustainability work within Scanfil is a collaborative effort,” noted Andreas Bohner, Scanfil’s Global Sales Manager. “We have consistently improved our sustainability practices and aim to be among the top EMS companies leading the change towards a greener future.”