Responsible culture:

Communities

Our commitments

We are committed to engaging with local people to understand how we can make a difference in our communities as part of our wider ambition to deliver positive impact for people and the planet.

Our approach

We channel support through the SIG Foundation, which focuses on projects that strengthen civil society and create positive impacts for the environment.

We also mobilize our people to support their communities through local initiatives led by our network of Future+ Ambassadors, with support from employee volunteers.

Supporting communities through the SIG Foundation

We contributed €260,000 in grants in 2024 to support the work of the SIG Foundation, including its flagship Cartons for Good initiative and Recycle for Good initiative.

SIG’s community contributions in 2024

Measures taken in 2024

Mobilizing our people to contribute to positive change

At SIG, the ownership of initiatives is placed in the hands of SIGers, who drive campaigns and community engagement efforts on a local level, guided by our Future+ Ambassadors Network and supported by dedicated employee volunteers. The network fosters programs that connect with communities, respond to their needs and address local environmental priorities, creating a positive impact aligned with SIG’s sustainability strategy. In 2024 the Future+ Ambassadors Network covered 19 locations from all our regions worldwide.

The Biodiversity campaign launched in 2023 continued in 2024, with activities focusing on ecosystems enrichment, clean-up and restoration, followed by educational activities. Over 1,000 employees from all SIG sites engaged with the topic of biodiversity, sharing images that highlighted the diversity of flora and fauna across SIG locations, and starting conversations about their local natural heritage and the importance of biodiversity.

In the second half of the year, SIG reinforced its commitment to responsible culture and community engagement through volunteering. Volunteering is at the heart of SIG’s culture, with employees worldwide contributing to education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and community support. From Bangkok to São Paulo, SIGers shared over 40 inspiring stories under the #volunteerforbetter initiative.

See Our people: International volunteering day

In China, SIG employees actively contributed to environmental awareness and sustainability through initiatives such as mountain cleaning, a recyclables trading day, or the Yangcheng Lake Water Protection Plan project that engaged more than 150 participants in the clean-up of the lake, learning about water treatment processes, and advocating for water conservation. Altogether, these activities accumulated over 560 volunteer hours, significantly enhancing environmental awareness and community participation.

SIG employees in Thailand planted 400 trees to restore forest ecosystems in Pong-Yang, Chiang Mai Province and donated to the Rajapruek Institute Foundation to support local conservation efforts. Our Rayong team released 1,000,000 juvenile blue crabs and planted 100 mangrove trees in EOD Beach in Sattahip, Chonburi, Thailand, supporting marine biodiversity and coastal ecosystem conservation.

In Australia, efforts focused on addressing community needs through employee-driven engagement and fundraising activities, strengthening ties with local organizations.

In Germany, SIG employees from Linnich engaged in a variety of initiatives that addressed diverse community needs including blood donations, the Linnich Children’s Mile, facilitating a space for children and youth with creative and educational activities, the Cycle to Work Campaign, and food bank support. These activities involved over 270 volunteer hours from SIG employees, benefiting local communities and vulnerable groups.

SIG Romania continued the Biodiversity Campaign involving employees on raising awareness about ecosystem conservation, while also delivering tangible outcomes through community-driven conservation actions. Employees engaged in a clean-up initiative, that resulted in almost 8 tons of municipal waste collected from the forests near the main roads in the Apuseni mountains in Cluj County.

In Switzerland, the initiatives engaged employees, their families, and the community trough biodiversity excursions and cycling initiatives, that fostered environmental awareness. SIG Switzerland also continued partnership with diheiplus, donating gifts to the people with disabilities that are in the care of the organization.

SIG South Africa has established an annual tradition of beach clean-ups in Cape Town, demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainability and recycling. In 2024, in partnership with local NGOs Fair Cape Dairies, Save a Fishie, and the City of Cape Town’s Urban Waste Management, volunteers collected over 300 kilograms of waste and plastics. These events exemplify a collaborative approach to environmental stewardship, fostering a cleaner environment and strengthening community engagement.

SIG Mexico promoted environmental awareness through a biodiversity photo contest. And supported education through annual improvements to a local school. There, the employees undertook an annual project to improve the conditions of a local rural school, replacing deteriorated areas with a more welcoming and functional environment.

In Brazil, SIG spearheaded impactful programs such as Recicleiros and so+ma vantagens, advancing recycling efforts while supporting vulnerable populations through fair wages, safe working conditions, public education on waste management, and incentives for sustainable practices. Seasonal donation campaigns provided essential food and gifts to underserved communities, further strengthening SIG’s commitment to addressing local societal needs.

Channeling support through the SIG Foundation

The SIG Foundation’s purpose is to identify, drive and promote activities and projects that strengthen civil society and create positive impacts for the environment.

We have provided over €2.0 million in grants to support the SIG Foundation since it was founded in 2018. Its two key programs deliver social and environmental benefits through innovative models for preventing food loss and recycling packaging waste:

Cartons for Good – The SIG Foundation’s flagship initiative helps prevent food loss and malnutrition by using SIG’s filling technology and packs to turn surplus crops into nutrition for people in need. The pilot in Bangladesh has turned over 21 metric tons of food loss into more than 73,300 nutritious meals for underprivileged children and people in need since it began in 2019. Excessive monsoon rainfall in August 2024 caused five major rivers in Bangladesh to burst their banks, resulting in devastating floods. We were able to provide relief to the flood victims by distributing 4,000 nutritious meals in Cartons for Good cartons.

Following the SAVE FOOD competition win for Cartons for Good in 2023, a study was carried out for Egypt in 2024 with the support of the cooperation partner NRCP (Natural Resources and Climate Protection Foundation). The study identified the most impactful geographies for food loss, as well as potential beneficiaries. This has provided a basis for expanding Cartons for Good in Egypt.

SIG and the SIG Foundation have also worked on a Cartons for Good project with SIG customer Ampol Foods in Thailand. To offer elderly people with mouth and swallowing problems a nutritious option, a recipe for a puree made from mango and longkong was developed in collaboration with the Institute of Nutrition (INMU), Mahidol University. The test filling was approved by the Thai FDA and the first production can therefore start at the beginning of 2025.

Recycle for Good – In 2023, the SIG Foundation launched a Recycle for Good project in Indonesia to incentivize recycling and provide social support for low-income people by offering rewards in exchange for recyclable waste – with a strong focus on used beverage cartons and polymer pouches. The program was expanded in Indonesia in 2024 to multiple pick-up points and households to reach more people and increase the collection rate of recyclable waste. By the end of the year, more than 2,871 people had already collected 21 metric tons of waste in exchange for rewards.

Find out more about the SIG Foundation on our website.

Assessing effectiveness

Overall, community engagement programs run by employees achieved a total impact score of 26,807 during 2024, up 57% from 2020.²

Total impact score of our community engagement programs by country

Our targets and performance

Targets, progress and performance