tesa Annual Press Conference: Responsibility - Milestones for 2007

Success in new worldwide environmental program – sustainability strategy gains a firm footing.

tesa AG further improved its energy balance sheet during the 2007 fiscal year. After the company exceeded its environmental goals for 2007 early on back in 2005, this reporting year marked the first time that the challenging requirements of the new environmental program, which is to apply through 2012, were the benchmark for all production locations worldwide.

The tesa plant in Harrislee / Germany was selected as one of the 100 best employers among mid-sized German companies.

For the first time, the new five-year program put a clear emphasis on reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The goal is to cut these emissions worldwide by 50% by 2012. In addition, the use of solvents is to be reduced by 15% and energy consumption by 10% during the same period, in both cases with reference to equal production quantities. The company markedly surpassed all of the proportional targets set for this reporting year. For example, VOC emissions have already been reduced by 27% based on the measures initiated. The amount of solvents used declined by 5% and energy consumption by 7% as compared to the previous year. The same is true of the CO2 emissions at the European locations, which at -7% also fell once again below the previous year’s value. This demonstrates that tesa is building on the successes it achieved in preceding years and implementing its new environmental program effectively as well. At the same time, in view of the rising costs of energy and raw materials, this will strengthen tesa AG’s ability to compete in the years to come. The measures that led the company to exceed its goals include an innovative heat recovery system at its largest location, in Offenburg, which has considerably reduced energy consumption. At the plants in Italy and China, production of adhesive tapes for bundling together wire harnesses for the automotive industry was switched to new, solvent-free coating methods.

Having joined the U.N. Global Compact initiative in 2006, tesa integrated its environmental activities and social commitment into a company-wide strategy of responsible corporate citizenship in this reporting year and issued its first report documenting these activities. The core of the company’s social involvement is to provide assistance and support to children and youth worldwide. tesa has shown its commitment to this alignment in its corporate values, which apply worldwide, and in a sponsoring strategy. A steering group composed at the executive management level coordinates and monitors the implementation of these measures.

Also in this reporting year, the tesa plant in Harrislee, near the northern German city of Flensburg, was selected by the Top Job initiative as one of the 100 best employers among mid-sized German companies. The deciding factors in tesa’s favor were innovative concepts to promote individual responsibility and motivation on the part of employees. The Hamburg-based tesa subsidiary acos GmbH also received an award for exemplary occupational health and safety. The Hamburg Office of Occupational Health and Safety praised the company’s successful integration of occupational health and safety into its corporate objectives, outstandingly low incidence of accidents, and systematic improvement of working conditions.