Basis for preparation

(ESRS 2 BP-1), (ESRS 2 BP-2)

Our transition to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)

Vetropack has prepared this Sustainability report in accordance with Articles 964a-c of the Swiss Code of Obligations regarding Transparency on Non-Financial Matters, as well as the Swiss Ordinance on Climate Disclosures.

At the same time, this reporting year marks our first application of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) following our transition from the GRI standards. Due to the presence of some of our entities in the European Union, we originally would have been required to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) for the 2025 fiscal year (so-called wave 2). We therefore prepared for the new reporting standards by conducting a Double materiality assessment in 2024.

Due to the ‘Stop-the Clock Directive’ (part of the ‘Omnibus’ proposals), the mandatory application of ESRS was postponed for wave 2 companies including Vetropack. While we were preparing this Sustainability statement, several political negotiations were in progress on issues such as the revision of ESRS Set 1 and further increases to the CSRD employee and financial thresholds.

Nevertheless, Vetropack has decided to apply ESRS Set 1 voluntarily for the 2025 fiscal year. The Sustainability statement has not undergone external assurance, as would have been required under the CSRD. We regard the systematic application of these standards as an opportunity to identify strengths and weaknesses in our sustainability management, and to ensure the proper implementation and monitoring of policies, actions and metrics addressing our material impacts, risks and opportunities. It was for these reasons that we chose to adopt ESRS at an early stage.

In preparing our first ESRS Sustainability statement, we reviewed several ESRS reports 2024 for structural guidance and sought advice from external consultancies (including our assurance provider) on the application and implementation of the Disclosure Requirements and datapoints.

Reporting scope, consolidation and value chain coverage

This Sustainability statement has been prepared on a consolidated basis, covering the entire Vetropack Group. It covers the same entities as in the consolidated Financial report, unless otherwise indicated alongside the respective datapoints. The value chain coverage in the Sustainability statement aligns with the scope of the double materiality assessment and the value chain position of the material impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs).

Our sustainability reporting scope includes direct suppliers and business partners (tier 1) and, where material, also tiers 2 and 3. In the downstream value chain, we address our customers and consumers where material. The chart in Strategy, value chain, stakeholders indicates where material impacts, risks and opportunities occur along the value chain and how each topical standard is reported.

Our reporting approach, data selection and omission

The basis for this Sustainability statement was ESRS Set 1 as per December 2023 and the EFRAG IG 3: List of ESRS Datapoints as per May 2024. The material sustainability matters (Double materiality assessment) formed the foundation for determining the Disclosure Requirements reported in this Sustainability statement. We used the EFRAG guidance on Mapping of sustainability matters to topical disclosures and applied the concept of materiality of information. In addition to ESRS, we continue to address material datapoints that were reported previously but are not covered by ESRS. This ensures consistency and comparability with our previous sustainability disclosures, and meets rating requests.

The ESRS index (ESRS 2 IRO-2) shows the Disclosure Requirements which are covered in this Sustainability statement. We have endeavoured to cover as many of the required datapoints as possible. We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement in our sustainability management and in the harmonisation of processes across our sites. Consequently, this Sustainability statement does not yet fully respond to all material ESRS datapoints. It reflects our objectives and the efforts we have made to prepare thoroughly and to continuously improve the completeness and accuracy of our reporting, and its alignment with the ESRS standards. In the future, we plan to continue updating and refining our sustainability disclosures, and to ensure that management of material impacts, risks and opportunities is more closely integrated into our corporate strategy.

Several ESRS datapoints require disclosing the financial implications of sustainability-related aspects. With the exception of climate-related risks and opportunities, where we qualitatively assessed the financial effects in fiscal 2024 in order to comply with the Swiss Ordinance on Climate Disclosures, this Sustainability statement does not disclose any finance-related metrics.

Disclosures in relation to specific circumstances

We aimed to align our measurement and calculation processes as closely as possible with ESRS, while recognising that we are not always fully in line with the standards. Information on the reporting principles for the quantitative datapoints (ESRS 2 MDR-M), such as the use of estimates, is provided alongside the respective data tables. Following the change in the reporting framework and methodology, data previously reported for 2024 may differ slightly in the 2025 reporting cycle (for example, energy consumption and GHG emissions under E1 Climate change). We apply professional judgement to determine whether data should be restated, and we indicate where restatements have been made.

As a result of the ESRS methodology, the number of employees reported for 2024 is higher than that previously disclosed in the Annual report 2024. Under GRI, apprentices, interns and trainees were classified as non‑employees and therefore excluded from total employee figures. In contrast, ESRS define employees as all individuals in an employment relationship with the undertaking, which includes trainees, apprentices and interns. Further details are disclosed under S1 Own workforce.

For the Double materiality assessment, we have applied three time horizons: short-term (0–1 year), medium-term (2–5 years), and long-term (>5 years). These horizons are consistent with those defined in ESRS 1 section 6.4 Definition of short-, medium- and long-term for reporting purposes. In this context, we have also aligned the time horizons for the climate risks and opportunities identified in fiscal 2024 with the new ESRS definitions.

As we transitioned to the new reporting standards, we encountered some challenges where methodologies applied at our sites did not yet fully meet ESRS requirements. Where datapoints were not robustly or sufficiently aligned with ESRS requirements, we omitted them from public disclosure rather than using estimates.

Incorporation by reference

We make use of the ESRS concept of ‘incorporation by reference’ to cover selected datapoints outside the scope of this Sustainability statement. This integrated reporting approach increases the readability of the entire Annual report and avoids repetition. We have incorporated by reference datapoints of the following Disclosure Requirements:

Further requirements

The Swiss Ordinance on Climate Disclosures and its Explanatory Report require that climate-related disclosures must be published in an internationally recognised electronic format readable by humans and machines. At the time of preparing this Annual report and the climate disclosures, there was no existing electronic format in widespread international use that was applicable to climate disclosures. Therefore, Vetropack has not published its climate disclosures in the suggested XBRL format but instead, has continued to provide its report as a PDF and via an online-first website format.