Stakeholder management

We understand the power of the value chain logic clearly and the necessity of cooperation between business partners. Therefore, we proactively engage with our stakeholders using various channels. Apart from our internal stakeholders (ALPLA employees), we differentiate between five main external stakeholder groups: customers, suppliers, policy makers and associations, financial partners as well as end consumers.

Employees

Employee engagement is crucial for maintaining high levels of retention and overall satisfaction. We connect with our employees globally through various channels. ALPLA’s intranet features daily blog posts on a range of topics, including sustainability. Our quarterly newsletter, available in both German and English, covers similar topics and is distributed in print to colleagues in Austria and Germany as well as online.

In 2024, ALPLA conducted its latest global Cultural Survey to assess how well we adhere to our values, promises and principles, especially in light of our dynamic growth across regions. All ALPLA employees were invited to share their thoughts and feelings about the organisational culture. With a high 66% participation rate, ALPLA is now developing actions to address the identified areas for improvement.

Customers

Our customers increasingly recognise that sustainability is no longer a mere option, but rather a prerequisite to operate. Consequently, various aspects of sustainability are integrated into customer contracts and regular business reviews. Operational discussions on enhancing the sustainability of our products lead to collaborative projects focused on lightweighting, incorporating recycled raw materials, designing for recycling, reusable solutions and utilising renewable energy sources in production. We are pleased to support our customers with robust product carbon footprint calculations to understand the GHG emissions impacts of these initiatives.

Apart from personal engagement, we engage our customers through press releases, blog posts and social media. Moreover, adhering to similar international platforms/initiatives such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) or EcoVadis enables us to exchange data and insights in a mutually beneficial manner.

We are in contact with our customers’ sustainability departments, global and regional leadership as well as procurement functions. ALPLA’s Sales colleagues lead the discussions with the support of different functions as needed, including Sustainability and Product Development. At a strategic level, senior management also regularly exchanges information to ensure a common understanding of longer-term strategies. The overall purpose of customer engagement is to maintain and potentially expand the current business relationships while helping our customers fulfil market and regulatory requirements.

Our customers are actively involved in the internal strategy development process as part of the external micro- and macro-environment analysis, with an aim on reflecting on their satisfaction and future needs. The latest analysis revealed that our end consumers are demanding more sustainable packaging solutions. Consequently, we have decided that every customer offer must include at least one sustainable aspect, such as lightweighting, design for recycling, inclusion of recycled raw materials or the use of renewable energy in production.

Suppliers

In 2024, Corporate Procurement and Corporate Sustainability launched a strategic partnership to integrate sustainability into ALPLA’s procurement processes and actively support key raw material suppliers on their respective sustainability journeys. Several new actions were initiated internally, including adding a sustainability clause to supplier contracts, updating our Supplier Code of Conduct, creating a Sustainable Procurement Policy, providing annual sustainability training to procurement managers, conducting risk-based supplier assessments and piloting on-site audits for high-risk suppliers.

A significant milestone in 2024 was our inaugural Global Supplier Webinar on Sustainable Procurement. Over 100 participants from 28 selected key raw material suppliers joined to learn about our updated approach to supplier onboarding and management as well as to better apprehend our sustainability expectations, particularly the push for low-carbon raw materials. We also started discussions with selected suppliers on the potential for decarbonising bio-based plastics. Finally, Corporate Procurement introduced the newly developed Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) programme, an incentive scheme that differentiates suppliers based on commercial and sustainability criteria.

ALPLA consistently ensures timely payments and maintains a strong partnership with its suppliers.

Policy makers and associations

The Corporate Circular Economy & Public Affairs team engages with policy makers and associations through various strategic approaches to effectively share ALPLA’s positions on plastic packaging and the circular economy. The team collaborates closely with internal ALPLA experts and actively participates in associations such as the Business Coalition, EuPC (European Plastics Converters), PRE (Plastics Recyclers Europe) and IK (Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V.). Through these platforms, we focus on key circular economy legislation like the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). By contributing to the development of position papers and taking part in expert panel discussions, we ensure that ALPLA’s viewpoints are represented well. The feedback gathered from this stakeholder engagement is carefully considered to align ALPLA’s strategy and business model with the latest regulatory developments and stakeholder expectations, fostering a collaborative and responsive approach to industry challenges.

Financial partners

As a family-owned company, our exposure to the financial market is limited. However, with our ambitious growth targets, we have seen increasing collaboration with financial institutions. Sustainability performance is a critical criterion for a company active in plastic packaging. Our financial stakeholders prioritise sustainability and expect clear targets and related actions, all presented in a yearly report. This concise information is then used in their respective ESG risk assessments.

End consumers

During the reporting period, ALPLA conducted end consumer media campaigns under the ‘aVoice’ brand in 23 countries. The initiative involves 42 social media channels with 340 million impressions and roughly 800,000 followers. The aim is to share fact-based insights about ALPLA’s products and, in some cases, challenge long-held myths around plastic packaging.