Our ESG commitments

Diverse and multicultural team

More than 20 nationalities and with an equal distribution between men and women

Environmentally friendly

We look for the most environmentally sustainable solution in every decision

Ethical and responsible work

Respect and equal treatment between people are indispensable for us

Our mission

We work every day to keep our customers’ memories printed on high-quality photo products, so that their precious memories will last for many years to come and be preserved over time.

Our vision

We have embraced the power of digital to offer our customers the opportunity to keep their memories, valuable pictures and photo projects not only as prints, but also in a digitally secure format which they can access from any device, anywhere, and share online.

Our values

Integrity

All Saal employees have adhered to codes of conduct and internal policies which govern their basic behavior in terms of ethical work, impartial and equal treatment, diversity, data protection, and respect for the environment. These codes are continually revised and expanded to adapt to the current needs of society.

Excellence

Offering the best quality is a major commitment for us. We ensure this with strict quality controls and by always listening to our customers' opinions. This lets us guarantee and constantly improve the quality of our service and products to meet our customers' expectations.

Efficiency

We are constantly asking ourselves how we can avoid wasting materials, energy and effort without compromising on quality and the other important values we have listed so far. This approach keeps the Saal Team actively seeking ways to keep improving for all stakeholders while being sustainable.

Equal treatment

There is no room for discrimination at Saal. Discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, world view, disability, age or sexual identity is strictly prohibited in our organization. This applies in particular when dealing with employees, customers, business partners and sponsors.

How we care for the environment

We are aware of our environmental responsibility and we constantly encourage our employees, clients and partners to work towards a more responsible natural resource management while reducing environmental impact when possible. Only by raising awareness, all stakeholders can be aligned to the same goal: identify and measure risks as well as opportunities to reduce environmental impact, while contributing to sustainable business development.

Green energy

Our goal is to generate or purchase as much energy as possible from clean, green sources. Not only does this approach contribute to reducing our carbon footprint, but it makes us more autonomous and less reliant on third-party energy providers, especially when it comes to auto-generated solar energy.

Our solar panels

More than 3,000 m2 of solar panels (with more than 600 kWh installed capacity) were connected to Saal’s network in November 2020. Since then, we have been proud to be able to meet a significant percentage of our production energy demand with just our solar panels, covering up to 100% of our energy needs on many occasions.

Transition to electric mobility

We have implemented a sustainable mobility plan involving the electrification of our vehicles and have provided the means for our employees to optionally transition to electric mobility free of CO2 emissions as well. This mobility plan has resulted in the acquisition of many vehicles with electric or hybrid propulsion for the company's fleet.

Recycling

We are also aware of the importance of waste sorting and recycling. For this reason, we have been sorting waste into separate bins in all our offices and facilities for years. These recycling stations use the same color-coding scheme as the dumpsters on the street and are labeled with lists and pictures of the corresponding waste.

Optimization of resources

The optimization of resources is one of the most significant aspects of our commitment to the environment. That is why we have been optimizing all processes related to the use of materials and energy for years in order to reduce our environmental footprint little by little. With this premise in mind, we adjust all our internal processes at the organizational level by raising personal awareness in our employees and by judiciously selecting the partners with whom we work.

Energy efficiency

We optimize our facilities to obtain high energy efficiency. Our production halls, offices and all our machinery are optimized to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.

Raw material usage (less scrap)

Our demanding production processes are aimed at making the best possible use of raw materials and thus generating as little waste as possible. To this end, we apply universal quality standards, perform meticulous studies when designing and manufacturing products, have specialized machinery and implement exhaustive controls to minimize any kind of error. All these measures help reduce our production waste to a minimum.

Production and packaging

FSC® certified papers

During the manufacturing process of our products, we only use FSC® certified paper. The FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) certification ensures the paper has been produced sustainably, complying with strict environmental and ethical protocols in forest management. This way, we support responsible and sustainable development worldwide.

Less than 3% plastic usage in packaging

For years we have set out to reduce the amount of material used in our packaging. This commitment has resulted in the use of less than 3% plastic in our current packaging, having reduced the use of plastic by about 50% since 2021. As we are aware of the importance of this matter, we continue to seek alternatives to keep on improving the quality of our packaging, doing our best to find a good balance between being as environmentally-friendly as possible and delivering a safe packaging for our customers. Our goal is to reduce the material used in packaging by 30% in 2023, not just plastic, since we are already making some constant progress on the reduction of other materials such as paper or cardboard in packaging. We are convinced that it is a win-win situation for all stakeholders: organization, customers, transport partners and the environment.

Reducing the carbon footprint

Saal's goal is to reduce our activity's CO2 emissions as much as possible following the 13th goal of SDGs (Climate Action). That's why we have a photovoltaic project: we buy energy from renewable sources and are constantly optimising operational processes to make our carbon footprint as small as possible.

Our commitment to the environment also includes choosing the best partners to deliver our products to our customers. That’s why we also take into account the sustainability and CO2 emission reduction policies of the logistic companies we work with, such as the GoGreen initiative of DHL and the CO2-Neutral certificate of Post AT. CO2 neutral certification is an important part of our working relationship with these transportation companies, as we share the responsibility for climate-friendly delivery.

CO2 Compensation validated by TÜV Rheinland

In 2020 we had our CCF calculated by TÜV Rheinland for scopes 1 and 2 and 3.3, following the GHG Protocol standards. The result was 846.54 t CO2-equivalent. We decided to take action and offset our CO2 emissions by participating in a Wind Energy Project in Mexico. This CO2 compensation action has been validated by TÜV Rheinland, so Saal Digital Fotoservice GmbH has been certified as a carbon-neutral company.

Responsibility towards suppliers

Our suppliers must accept and comply with all the policies and principles contained in our code of conduct. To ensure such compliance, Saal will ask them for the necessary information to certify this.

To work with us, they need to accept our code of conduct, related to ethical work and respect for the environment.

Responsibility towards employees

At Saal, we follow a remote-first workplace strategy. As long as a job can be fully performed remotely, our employees are offered by default the option to work from home or another location outside of our corporate offices. For those who still prefer to work in a traditional office space, it is not a problem. What are the benefits?

Improved employee satisfaction. Employees value the flexibility that entails working from home.
Avoid CO2 emissions due to transportation. This is not only an environmentally friendly approach, but it also helps our employees to save commuting time and transportation costs.
Flexible working hours. We support asynchronous work for most positions, so there is no need to be present at a specific time.
Inclusivity. By removing the unavoidable barriers of having to move to a physical location, we manage to integrate more employees and create equal career opportunities for everyone.
Transparent communication. Thanks to a centralized knowledge base and remote communication, every employee, regardless of their location, has the same opportunities to be informed about general or department-specific information.

Donations and sponsorships

Supporting donation and sponsoring initiatives is important to us and the selected initiatives and partners need to be aligned with our corporate values, CSR-related statements and code of conduct. In addition, we follow specific guidelines to select the initiatives which we would like to support.

If you would like to send us a sponsoring or donation request please write to us an email to initiatives@saal-digital.com. We would love to hear more about your project.

Learn more about our donation projects

$20,000 Donation to the NGO Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V.

We are very aware that memories are a very important part of the human experience. That is why we decided to contribute to the research of Alzheimer disease, with the ultimate goal of slowing down or stopping its progression. Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. have been committed to making Alzheimer's curable through independent research funding since 1995.

Our initiative: Supporting (with a monetary donation) a specific project that aims to learn more about which cellular mechanisms lead to the spread of harmful tau deposits in Alzheimer's disease.

Photo Books for the educational community

Saal Digital has supported kindergartens and schools with free or discounted photo products for years. The goal has always been to help kids preserve wonderful memories of their school year and classmates, and also help them share these special moments with their loved ones.

Our initiative: Offering the educational community the chance to design a class Photo Book and order free copies of it for all class students.

Supporting families in pregnancy loss or infant death

Going through pregnancy loss or infant death can be very tough for a family. We know how powerful memories and photographs can be, and that’s why we chose to support an organization that specialises in taking care of families that are experiencing these tough times.

Our initiative: Providing Prints as a product donation so that they can be part of the therapy services being offered by the organization to help families heal.

Collaborating with the Make-A-Wish foundation