OX-ON's Sustainable Choices

OX-ON's Work on Sustainability and EU CSRD ('Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive'):

We have mapped our current efforts and set specific goals within the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) areas. Together with the Abena Group, we are actively working towards compliance with the EU CSRD ('Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive') and as a result preparing for the required reporting of our companies' sustainability efforts and CO2 emissions.

This work will benefit both OX-ON and our customers. In the sustainability field, we can support our customers with in-depth product knowledge and specific sustainability data, which large customers are now required to collect from their suppliers. We aim to make it easy for our customers and plan to develop a digital solutions that can support their ESG reporting data needs.

As part of the Abena Group, OX-ON will contribute to the group's CSR reporting. The first full CSR report following the EU's CSR Directive will be completed by the end of the 2025/2026 fiscal year. Abena Group's current report already follows the ESG reporting framework. See Abena's ESG report here.

OX-ON will continue to prepare a detailed independent sustainability report, outlining OX-ON's specific efforts, carbon footprint, and other results.

At OX-ON, we continually strive to enhance our efforts, which increasingly is reflected in our products:

• Reducing negative environmental impacts
• Decreasing resource consumption
• Lowering energy consumption
• Transitioning to sustainable energy sources

OEKO-TEX - Made in Green

Our products increasingly incorporate recycled materials or new bio-based alternatives. Additionally, several of our products are OEKO-TEX® - MADE IN GREEN certified. This certification serves as evidence that our products, both in content and production methods, prioritize significant environmental considerations.

We never compromise on quality and safety, but rather balance our choices with environmental considerations. What proves harmful to the environment often also turns out to be detrimental to the well-being of the employees who use our products.

REACH Compliant

We always comply with applicable EU legislation, and our products only contain authorized chemicals.

We proactively work to incorporate new requirements before they become mandatory. Consequently, we are actively investigating and ensuring that our products do not contain any forms of PFAS substances, even before the total EU ban is enforced. You may trust that we always are fully REACH compliant, and all our products consistently meet current legislative requirements.

FSC Label

We are not only optimizing our products, but we are also taking steps regarding product packaging. We continuously strive to reduce resource consumption and choose alternatives with a lesser environmental impact, such as FSC-certified cardboard

OX-ON ENSURES RESPONSIBLE SUPPLIERS

We also place a strong emphasis on social sustainability when selecting and collaborating with our suppliers. Our products often come from suppliers in the Far East, where, for example, labor rights may be interpreted differently than in the EU. OX-ON ensures contractual commitments to comply with UN Global Compact principles and, through local visits and audits by an independent third party, we verfiy that human rights and international conventions are fully upheld.

Through a committed collaboration, we work steadily to influence and enhance the social conditions with our partners.

Our products are designed and created to ensure the individual user's safety, and with our sustainability approach, we have laid the foundation to also ensure environmental and social responsibility throughout our supply chain.

As a trading company, we operate in significant parts of the world. Here, we specifically focus on ensuring that our suppliers act socially and ethically responsibly concerning human rights, labor rights, environmental, and occupational health and safety conditions.

OX-ON has clear ethical and social guidelines.

Since 2019, OX-ON has been a member of the Amfori BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) – one of the leading international business organizations for open and sustainable trade. Amfori BSCI specifically works to improve conditions in global supply chains.

OX-ON has developed guidelines, a Code of Conduct, reflecting the ethical and social standards we aim to follow and expect our partners to adhere to. OX-ON's ethical and social guidelines are based on UN Global Compact and Amfori BSCI principles. These guidelines are a contractual supplement signed by our suppliers before entering into a partnership. Suppliers are also obligated to cascade similar requirements for compliance with ethical and social guidelines down through their value chain.

Suppliers are assessed by Amfori BSCI regarding their adherence to Amfori BSCI principles and the improvement of social, ethical, and environmental conditions. If suppliers are located in a geographically high-risk country, we utilize our membership in Amfori BSCI to ensure independent third-party audits of the supplier's facilities, management approach, occupational health and safety, and environmental conditions. Through audits, we continuously monitor that our suppliers maintain or enhance their compliance with Amfori BSCI principles.

OX-ON is locally present

In addition to the Amfori BSCI system, we aim to assess suppliers' approach to the UN Global Compact's 10 principles through personal contact and presence. Many of our major suppliers and development partners are located in the Far East and Asia. Therefore, as part of the Abena Group, we have established a local subsidiary including quality control under Danish management. Local presence enhances the dialogue on social, ethical, and environmental issues. Our strong local engagement has fostered an inspiring collaboration with our suppliers, where innovative solutions and sustainable progress are the focus. We specifically collaborate on developing more sustainable and circular products.

How do we compare the climate impact of different products? How do we know that one choice is better than another?

At OX-ON, we rely on factual data and conduct Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) on our products.

We have initiated a comprehensive effort with our suppliers to map and calculate the environmental impact of our products throughout the entire life cycle.

Following ISO standards 14040/44, an LCA is conducted for the product's climate footprint and water consumption. The LCA can assess 15 different environmental impacts, with OX-ON focusing on the product's CO2 footprint and water consumption.

The LCA, along with the product's durability, forms the basis for an objective comparison between different products with the same intended function. Therefore, based on LCA data, we can advise our customers on which OX-ON product with the desired functionality has the lowest climate impact (CO2 emissions and water consumption).

Long Product Lifespans

Longevity enhances the environmental profile of products. Most OX-ON products have a long lifespan, evident from their usage tests. A significant portion of OX-ON gloves achieves the highest durability categorization.

We prioritize functional design and continuously work on the development and use of materials that have the least possible impact on the environment without compromising on protective capabilities and durability.

We use recycled materials.

We produce durable products made from recycled materials (or biobased residuals) that also promote recycling. An example is the development of our Recycle glove series – a range of work gloves containing recycled materials, and the gloves are also washable

We advise our customers in balancing functionality, requirements, durability, price, and sustainability to achieve the best possible product solution for their needs.

We are working on conducting Product Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for the majority of our products. The data will eventually be available on the OX-ON website under product information.

The data collection process for a product LCA calculation is relatively extensive; therefore, we are far from completing the task for all our approximately 3400 product numbers, but we are working on it.