Sustainability
We drive technological progress with our systems and process solutions – for a world that moves forward responsibly. As we shape the world of tomorrow, the well-being of people and nature always takes centre stage. Sustainability at SUSS is more than an obligation. It’s our commitment to combine innovation with responsibility and to make technology a force for positive impact.
SUSS develops customised and technologically leading solutions that support the trend towards new ways of living and working. We also work on efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. This benefits our customers and society as a whole.
As a global company, we are facing up to the challenges of this age. We want to make a contribution to future generations. We therefore include economic and ecological factors in our business decisions. For us, sustainable thinking and action encompasses the careful use of natural resources, respectful interaction with one another, equal opportunities for all employees and legally compliant behaviour. We firmly believe that a consistent approach to sustainability will help the company to realise new growth potential.
The entire Executive Board is responsible for sustainability. The ESG core team is responsible for implementing the comprehensive sustainability programme. The team is made up of two members of the Executive Board and employees from all departments with a sustainability focus and meets regularly under the leadership of our ESG Manager. She reports directly to the Executive Board and sets the sustainability targets together with the Executive Board, the operating departments and the company's functional areas.
We align our strategy with the three ESG dimensions of environmental, social and governance. As part of a materiality analysis (double materiality), we have defined nine material topics that are decisive for our actions.
Our environmental and climate protection measures have two dimensions. On the one hand, we aim to improve the energy efficiency of our products and thus ultimately reduce the carbon footprint of our customers, who in turn contribute to the development of increasingly energy-efficient devices such as mobile phones. On the other hand, we are constantly endeavouring to increase energy efficiency in our own production and administration and to work in a way that conserves resources. ISO 14001 serves as the framework for our environmental management system.
Our employees are what SUSS is all about. We offer them working conditions that suit their lives, enable them to develop personally and value them for their diversity. Their health is our top priority.
By continuously improving our training and further education programmes, we aim to empower, support and develop our employees. At our two German production sites in Garching and Sternenfels, we train between 10 and 15 new apprentices in technical and commercial professions every year. In cooperation with Pforzheim University, we also offer a StudiumPLUS programme in mechatronics that combines training and study. We offer our employees a wide range of further training programmes.
Our international presence means that people of different nationalities, cultures and religions work together at our company. A balanced age structure ensures that knowledge as well as professional and life experience are retained for as long as possible in the interests of the company and that new impulses and ideas are brought in at the same time. Employees with disabilities are also an integral part of our workforce. Women are specifically promoted as part of the company's diversity concept.
More than half of our employees work in the areas of production and technology. Working in the cleanrooms and handling electricity and chemicals, for example in the application laboratories, harbours particular dangers if handled improperly. To protect health and prevent injuries and accidents, regular training and safety briefings are therefore held, in particular to ensure the proper handling of hazardous substances.
We stand for responsible behaviour: Respect for human rights, an ethical supply chain, strict compliance and the highest level of information security. In terms of quality, we also deliver what the name SUSS promises.
As an internationally active company, we inform ourselves about the current legal and cultural framework conditions of all countries in which we operate and observe them. We expect the same from our business partners. A code of conduct applies to our employees. Violations of this or critical behaviour can be reported to the compliance officers or via whistleblowing channels. With regard to information security, we ensure that data is protected against unauthorised access and defend against criminal attacks on our systems.
Our promise to deliver the highest quality and our aspiration to perfectly fulfil our customers' requirements with our products and solutions have earned us our leading technological position in the areas of Advanced Backend and Photomask Solutions. Our processes are monitored and continuously improved in accordance with the ISO 9001 quality management standard.
Several internationally renowned ESG rating agencies regularly analyse the sustainability performance of SUSS.
In August 2025, SUSS was rated by Morningstar Sustainalytics in the "low-risk" category for material financial impact of ESG factors. The rating is in no way to be interpreted as an investment recommendation or expert opinion within the meaning of the applicable legal provisions. *
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SUSS was given a rating of C- in the ISS ESG Corporate Rating in March 2025. The score of 33.46 corresponds to a result in the 5th decile in the Semiconductor Equipment sector.
We achieved a score of 41 out of 100 in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2025 (publication date: 29 August 2025). In the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment sector, this is a result in the 80th percentile. This means that 80% of companies in the sector have an equally high or lower score.
In April 2025, SUSS was awarded a rating of C on a scale of A to D- in the CDP climate rating. The Carbon Disclosure Project has thus confirmed that we publicly disclose our climate protection strategies and measures in detail.
In 2024, SUSS was rated "AA" in the MSCI ESG Rating. MSCI ESG Research analyses and evaluates how companies deal with ESG-related risks and opportunities. The rating is based on a seven-point scale from AAA ("Leader") to CCC ("Laggard").
