“We enable low-carbon, circular industry by providing biobased solutions built with our partners to benefit the environment.”
CLERMONT-FERRAND, France & LYON, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regulatory News:
AFYREN (Paris:ALAFY), a greentech company that offers manufacturers natural, low-carbon products created with technology based on natural micro-organisms, unveiled on Tuesday its Purpose, supported by a statement defining the company’s ambitions, values and major commitments. As part of its environment, social and governance (ESG) program, AFYREN also presented its new extra-financial rating.
AFYREN’s Purpose
Following several months of reflection and consultation with its internal and external stakeholders, AFYREN consulted, with the support of a specialized independent firm, all of its employees, through an online questionnaire or qualitative interviews, and conducted some fifteen interviews with suppliers, customers, institutions and partners.
This analysis led to the definition of a materiality matrix, which ensures that the group’s ESG commitments and ambitions are aligned with the main aspects of its activity and the expectations of its stakeholders.
This stakeholder consultation work also allowed AFYREN and its board of directors to define and formalize its Purpose: “We enable low-carbon, circular industry by providing biobased solutions built with our partners to benefit the environment.”
AFYREN’s commitments
The material ESG issues that AFYREN identified with its stakeholders have been integrated into three pillars of essential commitments so that its Purpose is reflected on a daily basis.
These pillars will serve as AFYREN’s ESG compass for the years to come. Nine major objectives have already been defined in order to give the pillars operational meaning and measurable scope. During the coming year, these objectives will be developed and extended so as to lead to concrete policies with quantified performance objectives and monitoring indicators by the end of 2022.
Pillar I – Provide sustainable, high-performance, biobased solutions
- Objective 1: place eco-design at the heart of our innovation
- Objective 2: offer biobased, low-carbon alternatives to fossil-based resources
- Objective 3: bring to market biobased or natural products with high societal added value
Pillar II – Enable a low-carbon, circular, and responsible industry
- Objective 4: reduce our carbon footprint
- Objective 5: preserve the planet and its resources by making our activities part of the circular economy
- Objective 6: aim for excellence in all our business operations
Pillar III – Create an ecosystem of partners, building for the environment
- Objective 7: guarantee a safe, motivating and fulfilling working environment for all our employees, without distinction
- Objective 8: become fully engaged in developing the bioeconomy in our territories
- Objective 9: cooperate with our external stakeholders
AFYREN’s Statement of Purpose explains how we want to “enable low-carbon, circular industry by providing biobased solutions built with our partners to benefit the environment.” To download the document, click here.
Caroline PETIGNY, AFYREN’s director of ESG and communication, said: “At AFYREN, we are convinced that the key to sustaining our way of living is the necessary reduction of humanity’s ecological footprint. This conviction has been reflected in our corporate vision since its inception. At the time of our transition to industrial-scale production, we wanted to take the time to formulate the Purpose of our company. We defined it thanks to the committed and qualitative contribution of all our employees and external stakeholders. AFYREN’s business model is built around this Purpose with unique resources and know-how, which allow us to create value for our economy and our environment, while relying on a clear mission, a well-defined strategy and strong values.”
Solid achievements recognized through a clearly improved extra-financial assessment
As a reminder, in 2021, AFYREN initiated a first external rating with Gaïa Rating, a subsidiary of EthiFinance, and obtained an “advanced” score of 55/100 (compared to an average of 34/100 for the benchmark sector: “Industry” with less than 100 employees).
After all of the work carried out for the implementation of the Purpose and materiality, the placement of a person in charge of ESG in AFYREN’s Executive Committee, as well as the creation of a code of conduct for its suppliers, AFYEN obtained, at the beginning of 2022, a rating of 66/100. This progress of 11 points compared to the previous year puts AFYREN in the « Avanced + » on the EthiFinance scale, highlighting a level of ESG maturity that is significantly higher (+ 33 pts) than what is observed for comparable companies (in terms of headcount and sector of activity).
Nicolas SORDET, AFYREN’s CEO said: “We are very proud of the notable improvement of our extra-financial rating, which is the result of the unwavering commitment of all AFYREN employees to sustainable development. We will continue to integrate this proactive and significant ESG approach into the company’s development strategy.”
About AFYREN
Founded in 2012 to meet the growing need of industries to reduce the use of petroleum derivatives in their production chain, AFYREN produces biomolecules derived from the reuse of non-food biomass. These ingredients are widely used in human and animal nutrition, flavors and fragrances, cosmetics, and fine chemicals. This production of renewable carbon, which is firmly grounded in the circular economy, uses fermentation technologies that are the result of 10 years of research and are patented worldwide. AFYREN is a winner of the 2030 Global Innovation Contest in the “Plant proteins and plant chemistry” category and was selected in the French Tech 120 in 2020 and 2021. In 2018, AFYREN committed to its industrial project by creating the AFYREN NEOXY joint venture with Bpifrance’s SPI fund. The AFYREN NEOXY plant under construction in the Grand Est region will produce AFYREN organic acids in 2022. AFYREN and AFYREN NEOXY employ more than 70 people at their sites in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Carling Saint-Avold. In 2021, AFYREN listed on Euronext Growth® exchange in Paris, raising a total amount of 70.4 million euros with the objective of accelerating its industrial development (Afyren’s ISIN: FR0014005AC9, ticker: ALAFY).
For more information: afyren.com
Contacts
AFYREN
Chief Financial Officer
Maxime Cordonnier
NewCap
Investor Relations
Théo Martin / Mathilde Bohin
Tél : 01 44 71 94 94
afyren@newcap.eu
NewCap
Media Relations
Nicolas Merigeau
Tél : 01 44 71 94 98
afyren@newcap.eu
Bogert-Magnier Communications
International press relations
James Connell
Tel: +33 6 2152-1755
jim@bogert-magnier.com
