Sustainability requirements

Responsible procurement

Essity creates value for customers and consumers through high-quality hygiene and health solutions. Responsible sourcing and strong supplier partnerships play an important role in delivering on that commitment. Expectations and requirements from customers, consumers, investors, NGOs, regulators, and other stakeholders continue to evolve, particularly regarding transparency, supply chain due diligence, and robust documentation. Consumers and customers should feel confident that our products are manufactured and distributed sustainably and responsibly. Therefore, we promote responsible business practices throughout Essity and across our supply chain.​

Sedex​

Suppliers shall register with Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange)¹, complete the Self-Assessment Questionnaire, and share information with Essity through a confidential link. You can share the information in Sedex with any of your customers through confidential links. The self-assessment exercise also provides valuable feedback and best practice information for your business. Essity assesses individual suppliers as part of the supplier qualification process. In addition, Essity conducts annual screenings of its entire supplier base, combining external sources (such as Sedex data and other relevant risk indices) with internal focus areas. The results of these assessments form an Essity supplier risk profile that triggers various mitigation activities. One such activity may be an ethical audit at a supplier's production site(s) (see the "Ethical Audits" section for more information).​

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Ethical audits ​

We may require sites supplying products or services to Essity to undergo an independent third-party ethical audit. Audits verify compliance with local legislation and Essity's Supplier Code of Conduct, while helping identify and address potential social and environmental sustainability risks. Essity applies a risk-based approach when onboarding new suppliers, and audit requirements may be determined based on recognized risk indices. Essity has selected the SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) methodology as its preferred audit standard. SMETA is one of the most widely recognized ethical audit frameworks and enables suppliers to share audit results with multiple customers while gaining valuable insights to support continuous improvement. We view audits as an opportunity to strengthen performance and promote responsible business practices throughout the supply chain.​