Sustainability Strategy and Management

STILL is a leading supplier of internal logistics solutions, with a portfolio that includes forklift trucks, warehouse trucks, networked systems, and support services. Founded in 1920 by Hans Still, the company’s hallmarks include targeted, tailor-made solutions backed up by outstanding service. STILL has set itself the goal of making intralogistics processes ‘smart’. To this end, the company develops intelligent solutions with the aim of creating warehouse management workflows that are smoother and more efficient. These workflows provide more effective protection for workers’ health while ensuring the company can meet the highest standards of sustainability. STILL is thus forging ahead with new solutions for electric vehicles and automation—from fleet and energy management through circularity, which refers to the approach of consistently conserving resources and recycling the materials used. STILL’s ethos is to be a smart and dependable intralogistics partner. The company offers a wide-ranging portfolio of trucks, systems, and consulting services that ensure every customer receives custom solutions designed to meet their precise needs.

In addition to selling new products, STILL also offers used trucks and rental options. With an extensive fleet of over 35,000 rental trucks, the company has a solution for every customer requirement.

Since 2023, the Chief People & Sustainability Officer (CPSO) within the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG has been responsible for human resources and sustainability, including occupational health and safety. In this role, her responsibilities include ensuring that the sustainability strategy is developed and implemented in line with the company’s objectives. She also chairs the Sustainability Council, which includes the leaders responsible for the eight action fields, the sustainability coordinators of the Operating Units and functions, and members of the central sustainability management team (Corporate Sustainability). STILL is represented on the Sustainability Council as part of the KION ITS EMEA Operating Unit.

Progress is regularly reviewed by the sustainability coordinators of the Operating Units, the leaders responsible for the action fields, the central sustainability management team, and special committees. The progress reports for the individual regions and functions are submitted to the overarching central sustainability management team (Corporate Sustainability) and the Sustainability Council, and discussed at Executive Board meetings as part of the KION Group’s Group-wide strategic development and implementation. The Executive Board of KION GROUP AG involves the Supervisory Board, and in particular its Audit Committee, in the development of the sustainability strategy. The Supervisory Board monitors the Executive Board with regard to the implementation of the sustainability strategy and supports it in an advisory capacity.

In 2023, the KION Group announced its official commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), with a view to achieving the long-term climate target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2050. Significant interim targets have been set for 2030 (see targets in the Group Sustainability Report in the KION Group Annual Report 2024). STILL thus has a basic methodological framework for its climate action and is committed to the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, which was adopted at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015. The climate management targets were formally recognized by the SBTi in 2024. The KION Group’s voluntary commitment under the SBTi is publicly accessible at www.sciencebasedtargets.org/target-dashboard and is also communicated internally to its own employees, as well as customers and suppliers.

Since 2012, STILL has been regularly audited and certified as a supplier with regard to corporate responsibility by independent service provider EcoVadis. Having received an impressive Gold rating from EcoVadis in recent years, the company continued its winning streak in 2024, achieving a Platinum medal—the highest possible sustainability rating—for the third time in a row. This outstanding result puts it among the top 1% of all EcoVadis rated companies. STILL’s scores were above average across all four categories on the EcoVadis scorecard. In the “Environment” and “Labor and Human Rights” categories in particular, STILL scores nearly double the average for all rated companies, and its results in the “Ethics” and “Sustainable Procurement” categories are also excellent. The EcoVadis assessment is based on 21 criteria across the four categories and is calculated in line with international sustainability standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative, the ILO Conventions, the UN Global Compact, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the ISO 26000 sustainability standards.

STILL is also part of the Blue Competence initiative organized by the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), which aims to promote sustainability in mechanical and plant engineering and inform the industry about sustainable solutions. As a partner to the initiative, STILL agrees to comply with the initiative’s 12 guiding principles for sustainability in the mechanical and plant engineering industry.

In addition, STILL is part of UmweltPartnerschaft Hamburg, a large network of companies committed to protecting our climate and environment in the long term. Faced with the realities of climate change, the network particularly wants to help advance the energy transition by reducing energy consumption and promoting new approaches to material flow management in order to make more efficient use of available resources. By 2030, the city of Hamburg aims to cut its CO₂ emissions by 50% in comparison to 1990 levels; and by 2050 it plans to increase this figure to at least 80%. As an active member of UmweltPartnerschaft Hamburg, STILL is playing its part in combating climate change by implementing its energy policy in line with its DIN EN ISO 50001 certification.