Our focus on resource use and circularity
6
Our focus on
resource use
and circularity
Resource use and circularity represent one of the four material environmental topics in Hager’s DMA matrix.
This section sets out how Hager applies circular economy principles in two complementary directions: on the input side, by integrating recycled materials into its production operations; and on the output side, by designing products that can be repaired, reused, and recovered at the end of their lifecycle. This ambition is governed by the Environment and Energy Charter and the Sustainable Sourcing Charter.
Circularity is a structural lever for Scope 3 reduction: less dependence on virgin materials means lower upstream emissions, lower exposure to commodity price volatility, and lower regulatory risk as circular economy legislation tightens across the European Union.
A Group-wide circular economy roadmap is under development for 2026. Capitalising on Hager’s engagement with its markets, the Group has identified different potential levers: design for recycling in new developments, reduced material complexity, better disassembly and end-of-life treatment, stronger recycling partnerships, and tighter production waste management. Refurbishment and reuse remain constrained by current economics and infrastructure, but the building blocks for material-level circularity are now in place.
Circularity cannot be improvised. Building the right strategy upfront is essential to turn material scarcity, customer expectations, and regulatory pressure into long-term business resilience.
While the Group-wide circular economy strategy is under development, this year’s report discloses progress achieved during the reporting period through a leading pilot in the product portfolio: the new Hager One Switch System. This product-range focus supports the completeness of the ESRS E5 disclosures by providing concrete evidence of design, partnership, and governance measures already in place and under development.
How we are building the circularity roadmap
Hager is building the roadmap from the outside in: starting from external drivers (regulation, competition, and customer expectations) and structural constraints such as resource scarcity; translating these into circularity levers using the 10R framework1; and then defining concrete use cases across the value chain (circular supply chain, circular product, circular process, and circularity as a service) and prioritising them using the Global Circularity Protocol for Business2 to focus on the most material opportunities and disclosure needs.
The ambition, objectives, and KPIs referenced in this approach are illustrative at this stage and will be validated and refined as part of the 2026 Group strategy work.
The 10R framework for circularity
6.1
Circularity principles in our inflows: sourced materials
ESRS E5-1 E5-2 E5-4 GRI 3-3 GRI 301-1
Purchased goods and services are one of Hager’s most significant Scope 3 emission sources. Reducing dependence on virgin raw materials is therefore both an environmental and a strategic imperative – it is a key lever for achieving the 25% Scope 3 reduction target by 2030, and it reduces exposure to resource scarcity and tightening sustainable sourcing regulations.
6.1.1
Sustainable Sourcing Charter
Introduced in 2024, the Sustainable Sourcing Charter provides a framework for exploring how sustainability considerations can be more consistently integrated across Hager’s direct sourcing activities. It focuses on three interconnected areas: carbon footprint reduction and resource efficiency through more sustainable material inflows, including opportunities to increase the use of recycled content materials and to work with suppliers on processes that optimise resource use. Progress towards decarbonisation will depend on close cooperation across the supply base, and the Charter serves as a basis for engaging suppliers and encouraging alignment on these shared sustainability ambitions.
In 2025, Hager used approximately 109 kilotonnes of materials in production and packaging – primarily metals, plastics, chemicals, PVC, and packaging components – alongside more than 5.500 batteries integrated into E3/DC energy management systems.
Material inflows
by category in 2025
6.1.2
Our progress on integrating recycled materials into our operations
To improve transparency on recycled plastic use in its products, Hager is transforming its reporting processes to better identify, measure, and track material flows across the manufacturing value chain. This includes working with suppliers and internal engineering teams to improve the quality and consistency of data on the origin, composition, and share of recycled plastics used in components and finished products. As a result, of the 109 kilotonnes of material purchased in 2025, 2.240 tonnes were recycled materials, an increase in both absolute volume and share compared with 2024.
By building a more robust reporting baseline, Hager aims to gain clearer insight into current recycled-content levels and identify opportunities for improvement. Over time, this greater transparency will provide the foundation for setting SMART objectives to increase the share of recycled plastics in the product portfolio and monitor progress against them.
Evolution of recycled and virgin material share
by category, 2023–2025
Significant changes compared with previous periods mainly reflect variations in purchasing volumes and product mix. When a major methodological improvement occurs – for example, enhanced unit weight data quality – previous years are recalculated to ensure consistency. Between 2024 and 2025, purchased volumes decreased by approximately 7–8%, linked to backlog recovery efforts in 2024. 2025 reflected a return to more controlled order intake to optimise inventory levels (DIO). This sequence explains the decrease in purchased volumes and ensures the consistency of the trend.
The current share of recycled materials remains modest in absolute terms, but the foundations are now in place: targeted training for category managers and regional buyers (10.5.5 Sustainable sourcing training), strengthened data management, and closer supplier collaboration.
6.2
Circularity principles in our outflows: products
Hager attempts to mitigate environmental impacts across the entire product lifecycle by embedding resource efficiency and circularity into product design and sourcing decisions. The approach is anchored in the Environment and Energy Charter, which encourages eco-design from the earliest design phase to optimise materials, durability, and end-of-life performance.
With solutions such as Witty park 2, Hager extends intelligent energy management into the built environment, combining charging infrastructure with the connectivity and usability needed to make electrified buildings work in everyday operation.
6.2.1
Blue Loop programme
Blue Loop is Hager’s circular service model for Witty EV3 charging stations in the French market. Rather than discarding outdated units, installers carry out on-site repairs using new or refurbished parts ordered from the Blue Loop Centre, and return damaged components in their original packaging. Returned components are then refurbished, reused, or recycled. The cycle extends product life, reduces dependence on new materials, and demonstrates that circular service models can scale within an existing customer relationship.
6.2.2
Hager One Switch System
Hager is progressively deploying Cradle-to-Cradle® (C2C) certification4 across the One Switch System product range – wall-mounted sockets, switches, thermostats, and decorative parts for indoor use. The focus is on material-level circularity and active recycling.
The Hager One Switch System range is primarily manufactured in Ottfingen (Germany) and is distributed across key European markets, with the highest sales concentration in Germany, Austria, and Poland; together with the Netherlands, these markets represented over 60% of sales in 2022 and 2023 and are prioritised in the active cycling plan.
6.3
Advancing our circularity effort
Hager plans to set defined quantitative targets related to specific product ranges to guide the implementation of its pilots. These targets are also intended to inform and potentially support the broader circular economy strategy currently under development. In doing so, they will provide a clear direction for continuous improvement across products, processes, and partnerships.
In place today for the Hager One Switch System product range:
Disassembly-friendly design without glued or welded components
Embedded WEEE5 labelling on product frames to guide end-of-life disposal
Production waste recycling partnership to recover copper and silver production scrap for reuse (separate from end-of-life schemes)
In development
for 2026 and beyond:
Group strategy development structured around four pillars: circular supply chain, circular product, circular process, and circularity as a service (2026)
Defining the scope: product ranges and corresponding circularity actions
Strengthened recycling partnerships and partner discussions on disassembly to optimise end-of-life treatment
Group-level monitoring of recovery and recycling performance, with internal accountability for active cycling activities
Circularity is assessed using the 10R framework, which ranks resource efficiency strategies from highest to lowest circular value: Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, and Recover. The framework prioritises preserving product value and extending material life before recycling or energy recovery.
A global framework developed by World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the UNEP One Planet Network to help companies measure, manage, and disclose circular performance across material flows and value chains. More information: Global Circularity Protocol for Business.
The “Witty” range refers to Hager Witty EV charging stations, a family of electric vehicle charging solutions developed by Hager, designed for residential and light commercial applications and supported through service and lifecycle extension initiatives such as repair, refurbishment, and component replacement.
It verifies that products meet rigorous environmental and social performance standards, assessed by an independent third party across the full product lifecycle. It also assesses company-level policies and management systems that underpin environmental and social performance.
WEEE refers to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, a regulatory framework in the European Union that governs the collection, treatment, recycling, and environmentally sound disposal of electrical and electronic products at the end of their life. It is based on the EU WEEE Directive and aims to reduce electronic waste and improve resource recovery through producer responsibility schemes.