Corporate responsibility
Corporate Responsibility
At Eurofins, we believe that corporate sustainability and social responsibility are fundamental to the long-term success of our Company. We endeavor to conduct business fairly and responsibly, maintaining and protecting the integrity of the Company, our employees, and our stakeholders at all times. Our mission, vision and values underscore our commitment to professional and ethical behaviour. We believe that our core values allow us to remain at the frontiers of growth and innovation.
As a global company, Eurofins leverages its expertise to contribute to the health and safety of all. The very nature of our business allows us to play a key role in building a sustainable future for all.
Social Work and Charitable Donations
Eurofins contributes to various social projects and charitable work throughout the year as part of its continuous commitment to contribute to the improvement of health and social conditions of all. In addition, many of its subsidiaries and laboratories engage in social and charitable commitments independently, over and above those undertaken at the Group level.
The Eurofins Group financially supports several non-governmental charitable organizations, and has been a long-term supporter and benefactor of Plan International, whose objective is to alleviate child poverty, and ProGreffe, an organization dedicated to researching organ transplants. The Eurofins Group is also a supporter of Unicef (http://www.unicef.org/index.php), whose mission is to enhance children's rights, their development and survival, as well as of the Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/eng/), an organization focused on humanitarian help worldwide.
Plan International
Eurofins is aware that for a vast proportion of the global population, health concerns arise due to insufficient education and access to basic facilities. Eurofins is involved in Plan International, whose mission is to alleviate child poverty and its consequent social and health problems. The Group has been involved with the organization for the past 7 years, and continues to support its missions (http://plan-international.org/).
Progreffe
The involvement with ProGreffe is motivated by the recognition that treatment of life-threatening diseases is constrained not only by scarcity of donor organs, but more importantly, chronic rejection of organ transplants. ProGreffe is involved in research in the domain of immunological recognition of tissues, raising the odds of breaking down the natural incompatibility between different tissues (French: http://www.progreffe.com/ ; English: http://www.progreffe.com/images/stories/Lettre_5-anglais.pdf).
An overview of the main projects towards which Eurofins’ made donations at Group level during le last few years can be found in the table below:
|
Year |
Organisation |
Project |
|
2005 |
Plan International – China |
|
|
2006 |
Plan International – Sri Lanka |
A new school for tsunami-affected children in Hambantota, Sri Lanka |
|
2007 |
Plan International – Colombia |
|
|
2008 |
Plan International – Haiti |
|
|
|
ProGreffe |
Research on organ transplants |
|
2009 |
Plan International – India |
|
|
|
ProGreffe |
Research on organ transplants |
|
2010 |
Plan International – Cameroon |
|
|
|
ProGreffe |
Research on organ transplants |
|
2011 |
Peace Parks Mozambique |
|
|
|
Red Cross – Japan |
Disaster Relief help after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan |
Local Scientific Collaboration
Eurofins regularly engages in collaborations with academic, industrial and public sector organizations in scientific research projects that advance the cause of health and environment. These projects often aim to formulate solutions to address issues that ultimately affect consumers. Eurofins scientists, for example, have participated in several EU-funded projects, most recently the TRACE initiative, a programme designed to trace the origin of food. A Eurofins team is also leading the EU working group on food allergens, which has, in cooperation with major industrial partners, pioneered a new method for direct multiple-detection of allergens. These collaborations underscore the reputation of Eurofins’ employees, and allow us to remain at the forefront of research and development.
In addition, a number of our laboratories have long-standing agreements with universities and technical agencies to accommodate within their teams scientists and technicians in the course of their qualifications, doctorates, post-doctorates etc. In this way, Eurofins contributes to the advancement of science, and benefits from being able to identify high level scientists who have potential to join the Company in the future, and who often possess fresh ideas and insights. The secondees in turn are able to apply their theories in a practical environment with state-of-the-art facilities.