TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA
Sustainable
Development
Report2021

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Who are we?
Simplifying and organizing modern work!
That is what we aim to do at ACCO Brands. And our portfolio of wellestablished brands are at the very core of what we do. We aim toprovide our end consumers with products which delight and fulfil thenecessary tasks. And where they can feel confident, that all efforts arebeing made to work toward reducing their environmental impact andthe impact on the communities and partners with which we work.
This report aims to provide some insight into our company, how we
operate and how we work towards reducing those impacts.

For more detail about our company see the additional information
section at the end of this report and www.acco.com

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Company Profile$2 billion company listed on NYSE,$660+ million in EMEA
Products sold in more than 100 countries

21 factories around the world, 10 in EMEA
6 000 employees, 2 100 in EMEA

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

This is the time for re-thinking what really matters!

Cezary Monko

EVP & President ACCO Brands EMEA

For much of 2021 many countries were in lockdown with people working from home as far
as possible, families separated, pubs and football stadiums empty. This created challenges
for us as a company but it also made us think! What really matters in all of this? Yes, wewant to be successful but we want to be successful in a way that cares about the people
involved and the planet which we need for everything we do. This is what really mattersand this is why we must integrate this thinking deeper into everything we do!
In preparation for setting our goals for 2025 and beyond, we therefore considered carefully
what our key stakeholders think we should be doing. One thing was clear: Climate change isa key concern for everyone and therefore working to reduce our emissions must be a focal
point of everything we do moving forward, whether in our operations, offices and of course
also in the development and improvements of our products! This is a long and complex
path, it will not be easy but we are committed to making progress and strong
improvements!
Of course there are further key issues which we have not left aside and have also formed
into goals for 2025. Now we must all ready ourselves and think every day, in every decision
we make, how we can work to integrate this thinking into what we do. We haveremembered what really matters and that is what we must embed into our working, as wellas our private lives.
I am proud of what we have achieved so far which you can read about in this report for2021. But I expect much more from us in the years to come!
Yours
Cezary Monko

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW
Stakeholder View
Whilst preparing our new sustainability vision and goals for 2025, we of course took
into consideration what our stakeholders believe to be the most important aspects
for our company’s sustainability strategy and goals. This ranges from ourshareholders, for whom it is very clear that working towards climate change
mitigation and supply chain responsibility are a necessity for success in the coming
years, to our management, customers and consumers. Looking at all the information
we have and feedback we received, we could clearly see three core areas of focus for
us moving forward:#1: Climate change mitigation
measuring and reducing our emissions#2: Responsible & circular customer
solutions – innovating to provide
products & services for the future#3: Engaged workforce andprincipled working relationships
Further to this, we believe that focusing on emissions reductions will help us toconcentrate our efforts across the board. Whether in our operations, offices or
product development, working on emissions reduction will always help us to makebetter decisions and improvements. This focus therefore forms the core of ouractivities in the coming years.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA
Vision & Strategy for
Sustainable
Development

ACCO Brands EMEA Sustainable Development Key Targets 2025••

Zero emissions from electricity(scope 2) used at our manufacturing
and distribution sites
15% reduction in electricity
consumption•

A more sustainable choice in every key
category we operate in*•

A minimum of 500 products containing
a minimum of 30% recycled plastic(from 50 today)•

We aim for 25% of our total EMEA
management group being women by2025 (from 20%)•

We will coach and involve all
employees to help us achieve oursustainability goals* A more sustainable choice is a product with notable improvements compared to standard products in points listed in the ACCO Brands Product Philosophy

ACCO Brands EMEA Sustainable Development Targets 2025
Reducing our Operational
Environmental Impact• We will drive our emissions from electricity
consumption (scope 2) to zero at our manufacturing
and distribution sites, an overall reduction of total
scope 1 and 2 emissions of 75%• We will reduce our electricity consumption at thesesites by 15% (or kWh)
• We aim to further reduce our total water
consumption by 15 percent• We have the ultimate goal of achieving a zero waste
rate in our manufacturing and warehouse facilities• 33% of our company car fleet will be hybrid orelectric• We will measure and improve emissions and otherenvironmental impacts of our sales offices

Reducing our ProductEnvironmental Impact• We will offer a more sustainable choice* in every key
product category we operate in• We will offer a minimum of 500 products with(minimum 30%) recycled plastic content (base is 50)• We will increase the % of revenue from sales of
products certified to 3rd party environmental andsocial sustainability standards by 10pp (base year
2019)
• We will design our new products for sustainability andaim to have a reduced CO2 footprint compared to theprevious model where one exists• We will only use plastic in our packaging where
necessary or ecologically worthwhile and where weuse it, we aim to use a minimum of 30% recycledmaterial• We will build our understanding of carbon emission
from our productsWorking Relationships& Social Commitment• We aim to have a transparent and principled working
relationship with all our stakeholders, from employees
and suppliers, to customers and consumers• Our principles are based on the international
standards set by the UN and the ILO Declaration of
Fundamental Principles and Rights• We require our suppliers to fulfil the same standards
and monitor this according to a set of specific metrics• We aim for 25% of our total management group being
women by 2025 (from 20%)
• We will maintain a safe and healthy workplace with atarget of zero accidents• We will train all our sites in our sustainable approachand invite them to create a local plan to support thefulfilment of our goals* A more sustainable choice is a product with notable improvements compared to standard products in points listed in the ACCO Brands Product Philosophy

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA:
Sustainable Foundations
Working in a lean way is thefoundation of all oursustainability efforts.
Reducing waste in all areas
and keeping processes
simple and short, help withmany of our objectives. Our
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
certifications provide theframework and tools to
help achieve this.

* ISO 50001 for 8 sites in Germany and the UK only
ISO 9001 and 14001 for all ACCO Brands EMEA sites + Shanghai

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWKey Achievements

2021

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Highlights 2021

Longer Term Achievements:• A further 13% reduction in total CO2
emissions compared to 2019*• 94% of waste from operations
recycled• 20% of our management group are
women* Comparisons drawn with 2019 as the Covid 19 pandemic
led to inconsistent results in 2020

Highlights 2021

• 21% reduction in emissions fromelectricity compared to 2019*

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Highlights 2021
• PEFC certification on Derwent pencils• 130 carbon neutral products• 4326 products with 3rd party
certifications• 99.6% of paper & board used for
products & packaging recycled, FSC®
or PEFC certified• 58 products containing 30-100%
recycled plastic

Highlights 2021

• 36% of sales made with products withat least one 3rd party certification

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

PlanetReducing our Operational
Environmental Impact

Scope Emissions

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW••

Raw material suppliers

OEM suppliers
Sales offices
Products

European
Factories

ACCO
Brands
EMEA

Warehouses

Customers /Distributors

We continue to report the Rapid Shanghai factory as most of the
production is for EMEA and it is a key facility for us.

Waste

Consumers

All European manufacturing facilities were monitored from the start in2010, except Arcos, Portugal, and Lillyhall, U.K. (added in 2017). Lillyhall(pencil manufacturing) runs a biomass boiler to heat the plant using
waste material. This has been classified as carbon neutral by the Carbon
Trust and is therefore not included in the results.

TravelCompany cars(leased)Service
ProvidersOwned fleet
vehiclesExternal
warehouses

Freight
companies

Warehouses have been included since 2016, except Halesowen added in2017.
In 2021 we added CO2 caused by HGV fuel of our owned truck in
Halesowen, UK. This added ~126 tonnes CO2 and is around 1.5% of thetotal.
All facilities are listed on Page 51. Sales offices, which are not physicallypart of one of the listed facilities, are not included, as they are classed as
immaterial.
Scope 3 emissions are not included to date (all other indirect emissions
such as from raw materials, external logistics, outsourced activities etc.)

Emissions

ACCO Shanghai
factory

Scope 1 (direct)
Scope 2 (indirect emissions from consumption of purchased
electricity, heat or steam)TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW(kg CO2)
11.687.678
9.744.506
7.985.879

8.523.672

Target2025:
2 250 000 kg

2018

2019
Factories

2020

2021

Warehouses

2021: HGV fuel for truck owned in UK added makes up ~1.5% of the total
2019 figure is slightly higher than reported at the time due to a correction of the Santa Perpetua data

This has been achieved throughelectricity consumption reductions atsites with higher conversion rates
and buying more renewable & lower
conversion factor electricity, partly
via a REC in Poland.
We have set ourselves an ambitious
and challenging target for 2025, toreduce emissions from electricity
consumption (scope 2) to zero! The
remaining scope 1 emissions (gas, oil,fuel), make up around 25% of our
total emissions today, hence the 2
250 tonne CO2 target.

Emissions

CO2 Emissions ACCO Brands EMEA: Factories & Warehouses

Total CO2 emissions in 2021
(according to scope on page 14) were
8.52k tonnes, 12% lower than 2019.
This shows that compared to prepandemic times our emissions arestable on a lower level.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW
Total ACCO Brands EMEA electricity
consumption in 2021 (according to
the scope on page 14) was on a levelwith 2019.

Emissions: Electricity in kWh
30.000.000

Recovery from and consequences ofthe pandemic were quite different bysite. Some sites are producing much
more than before and some less. Thiscan have an positive or negative
impact on efficiency.

20.000.000
15.000.000
10.000.000
5.000.000
0

2018

2019
Factories

2020
Warehouses

Target 2025: 22 830 000 kWh

2021

With our zero emissions fromelectricity target for 2025, we will
have a sharp focus on electricity
consumption and have many projects
planned to help reduce consumption
in the coming years!

EmissionsElectricity used in kWh

25.000.000

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWOur overall CO2 emissions
per tonne produced
dropped clearly again
compared to the prepandemic results in 2019.
This shows that ourfactories continue to run
more and more efficiently
and the energy saving
projects implemented
thus far are taking effect.

ACCO Brands EMEA Manufacturing
CO2 Emissions in kg/tonne Production

180
145,9

140
119,5

116,5

120

104,2

100
80
60

2018

2019

2020

2021

Energy consumption
reduction, in particularelectricity over which wehave more control, is a key
part of our zero emissions
from electricity and other2025 targets.

Emissions

160

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO BRANDS EMEA WAREHOUSESCO2 Emissions in kg/m³ shipped
3,50

2,93
3,00

2,76
2,50

2,46

2,50

2,00

A much higher proportion of
the emissions caused by ourwarehouses are caused byheating. They are of course
large, voluminous spaces andthey don’t have theavailability of heat generated
by operations which thefactories have. The harshnessof the winter therefore plays
a much bigger role. The
winter at the beginning of2021 was much colder than inprevious years.

1,00

2018

2019

2020

2021

Some corrections to gas and electricity consumption in Halesowen and volumes shipped in Prague in 2018 mean that the figure for 2018 is now slightly
lower than reported at the time.

Although our strategy focuseson electricity for the coming 5
years, we will of course also
be looking at how we canmake heating these buildings
more efficient and less CO2
intensive.

Emissions

1,50

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Energy Saving Projects

Heat exchanger fitted to thestrip oven (left)
Pencil strips (below)

Our pencil factory in Lilyhall, UK completed two
projects to improve energy efficiency. First, heatexchangers were installed to the pencil strips (cores)
ovens. Prior to this, the heat from the ovens was
exhausted externally, but with the exchangers now
feeding heat back into the ovens, less natural gas isrequired. So far this has resulted in a 2.8% reduction
in overall site energy and with increasing volumes atthe Lilyhall site, these savings have a double effect on
climate protection!
Second, the efficiency of the wood furnace wasgreatly increased by adding a wood level sensor. The
factory engineers experimented with how to makemaximum use of the wood waste to reduce heating
gas consumption. This resulted in an overall siteenergy reduction of 8.5%.

(Left) Biomass wood furnace
at Lilyhall

Emissions

Derwent Factory, Lilyhall, UK

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Although overall, the energy needed to run our operations sites has
most influence on our overall emissions, we nevertheless want tolook increasingly at other causes of emissions caused by our businessactivities outside of the scope 1 and 2 which we measure today.
Along with this, we hope to reach our employees outside of ouroperations sites with our aim to reduce emissions. Business travel isan obvious place to start. As well as encouraging our people to have
online meetings where it makes sense and take the train wherever
possible, we aim to start to move our company car fleet to electricand hybrid models as far as possible. This reflects both social trends
as our people look to see sustainability become embedded incompany culture and also governmental policy in many EMEA
countries that encourages hybrid and electric vehicles, often throughpersonal and corporate tax relief. We recognize however, that thechanges in EMEA will occur at different rates as the infrastructure forelectric vehicles is not yet advanced enough in all countries tosupport widespread use. Especially as many of our cars are used bysalespeople with long journeys.
Hence, we have set a goal of switching 1/3 of our EMEA company car
fleet to electric or hybrid by 2025. So far, we have increased from 17
to 30 out of 302 cars, that is now 10%, with a goal of 33% by 2025.

Emissions

Emissions from Company Cars

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Scope Water Consumption
Raw material suppliers
OEM suppliers

Data shown covers all ACCO Brands EMEA plants
and warehouses plus the Shanghai factory. All
facilities are listed on Page 51.

Sales offices

Europeanfactories

Customers /Distributors

ACCO
Brands
EMEA

Serviceproviders
Products

Warehouses

External
warehouses

Freight
companies

Local sales offices, which are not physically part ofone of the listed facilities, are also not covered but
as these are generally small, we can conclude thatthese would not have a material impact on the
result.

Water

ACCO Shanghai
factory

Consumers

Total water consumption for all ACCO Brands EMEA
plants and warehouses.

Our water consumption
increased in 2021 toabove 2019 levels. Thiswas mainly caused by alarge volume increase in
the Derwent factory in
Lilyhall, which is a morewater intensive production
and led to higher water
useage. A leak at theBarcelona warehouse also
led to higher water
consumption there.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Water Consumption
Water consumption in 000 L
36.00034.00032.00030.00028.00024.000Target 2025: 25 345K Litres22.00020.000

2018

2019

2020

2021

Some small corrections were made to the Lillyhall and Halesowen, U.K., figure for 2018 means that the figure shown here is slightly
different than reported at the time.

At the same time,compared to 2019, we
saved almost 2 000 000 L
of water at 11 out of 16
locations. We will continue
to work to reduce andmanage our water
consumption as far as
possible.

Water

26.000TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Scope Waste Management & Recycling
Aim: Zero Waste
Raw material suppliers
OEM suppliers
ACCO Shanghai
factories

Sales offices

Europeanfactories

Customers /Distributors

ACCO
Brands
EMEA

Serviceproviders
Products

Data shown covers all ACCO Brands EMEA plants and warehouses plus the
Shanghai factory. All facilities are listed on Page 51.

Warehouses

External
warehouses

Freight
companies

Hence, data for all types of waste is collected from all sites. We have somedifficulties with recycling companies which do not disclose if or how much waste
has been “thermally recycled” but will work further to see if we can gain more
knowledge on this.

Local sales offices, which are not physically part of one of the listed facilities, arealso not covered, but waste volumes here are far smaller than at the plants andwarehouses, meaning we can conclude that these would not have a material
impact on the result.

Waste

Consumers

Zero Waste is generally defined as 98 percent of waste being recycled. “Thermal
recycling” (burning) is not counted as recycled and hazardous waste is notincluded.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Waste Reduction & Recycling
waste) was recycled in 2021, which is a 4pp
improvement on 2019 (Target 98%).
15 out of 18 sites increased or held theirrecycling rates. The warehouses inparticular have greatly improved theirrecycling rates since the bigger
consolidation projects have been finalized.
We will focus on the remaining sites forfurther improvement.
There is a difference across Europe as towhich materials are accepted for recycling,
not only regarding available facilities but
also available volumes. Where highvolumes of material are available forrecycling, service providers are more
selective about what they are prepared tobuy and recycle. We experience this in
Germany in particular.

Non-recycled waste
6%
Other recycled
9%

Recycled metal
19%

Recycled plastic
16%

Recycled paper / board
50%
Recycled metal

Recycled paper / board

Recycled plastic

Other recycled

Non-recycled waste

Waste

94% of all waste (excluding hazardous

Waste in kgs

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Waste Reduction & Recycling
Waste in kg

2019
2020
2021

Recycled metal

Recycled paper / Recycled plastic
board

Other Recycled

Non-recycled
waste

Total waste

Overall, the warehouses continued toreduce total waste. The factories
however, saw a larger increase in 2021.
We will be looking into this in detail tofind further ways to reduce our waste.
A high recycling rate is of course very
important and 94% is well on the way to
the 98% goal. But it is of course better toavoid waste all together than to recycle
it! This is embedded deep into our LEAN
philosophy and we continue to focus on it
every year! See the example on the next
page as to how our factory in Arcos
reduced waste by re-thinking how toclean the machines!

Waste

Total waste in 2021 was 9% above 2019.
Although most sites managed to hold or
improve their recycling rate, only halfmanaged to actually reduce total waste.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Waste Reduction Projects

To reduce waste, our Arcos facility
installed pasting machines that
apply glue to the substrates ofboards that utilize a low rotation
system which prevents the glue
from drying during rest periods.
This eliminates the necessity fordaily cleaning of dried glue, which
creates waste that is hazardous andcannot be recycled. These
improvements yielded a saving of
13 metric tons of hazardous andnon-recycled liquid waste in 2021.

(Left) Nobo Move & Meet Board

Waste

Arcos Factory, Portugal

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Products
Reducing our ProductEnvironmental Impact

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA
Sustainable Product Philosophy

Quality lasts is intentionally at the top of the circle. Continuing
to use a product for a longer period saves resources andemissions. Buying one product instead of two halves the
carbon footprint! It is thus our aim to create robust, long
lasting products.
Of course, the social impact of creating our products is also
very important and you can read about our approach to thaton pages 35 to 42.

Products

We have identified the key factors for our product ranges
which will lead to products with a lower environmental impact– and a lower carbon footprint! This forms our productphilosophy. If we focus on improving these aspects incomparison to previous models or standard / similar available
versions of a product, we know the carbon footprint andoverall environmental impact will be reduced. It may notalways be possible to improve on all aspects at once, but eachand every aspect we improve will lower the footprint of the
product.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands offers a huge range of products frompaper folders to complex business machines and wewant to gain experience and understanding of the full
impact of those products in all the key categories wework in. We’re challenging our design teams to findmore sustainable alternatives for key products in our
key ranges and to study the impact of the new
products we develop. In both of these cases, theproducts should show notable improvements in the
points listed in the ACCO Brands Product Philosophy
compared to standard products. This can also lead toa reduction of the product carbon footprint. We havedefined 21 key categories, where we already have amore sustainable choice available in 10 today (see liston page 54). The tenth of these is Drawing & Writing
instruments, where we added PEFC certification to
our Derwent pencils in 2021. These pencils are madeof responsibly sourced, PEFC certified wood, sold in
re-usable, refillable tins and manufactured in anenergy efficient, ISO 50001 certified factory in the UK!

2025: A more sustainable choice in all key categories from 10/21 to

21/21
Result 2021:

11/21

Products

A More Sustainable Choice inall Key Categories

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

With focus on broadening our sustainable offer
and reducing the carbon emissions created by our
products, we have set ourselves some ambitious
targets for 2025. Using recycled material is a great
way to reduce the carbon footprint of our
products. We have already increased our use ofrecycled and sustainably sourced fibres in ourpaper-based products and packaging in the lastyears to a constant level of >99% (see page 33.)
Now we want to challenge our design teams toalso use more recycled plastics. From a base of 50
products containing recycled plastic, coveringvarious files, folders, staplers, punches anddesktop items, we increased to 58 by the end of
2021. We want to broaden that to offer many
more different products with recycled plastic
content over the coming years.

Recycled plastic can be post- or
pre-consumer recycled

500

Products with minimum 30% recycled plastic

Result 2021:

58

Products

Designing More Sustainable
Products

2025: From 50 toTAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Made using recycled water bottles, the 12” and14” Eco-Friendly Laptop Sleeve carrying cases
not only help protect laptops and tablets fromscratches, bumps and drops, they help protect
the planet by saving resources and reducing
waste. Exterior storage pockets keep
accessories and adapters stowed and protected
when not in use, while helping to avoid
accidentally scratching or damaging the laptop.
An adjustable shoulder strap and integrated
handle offer multiple carry options.
With premium zips and stitching as well as
tough material, these sleeves are built to last
and will also help to keep your laptop or tablet
in great condition for longer, also saving
important resources and energy over time.

Products

New in 2021:
Kensington Laptop Sleeves made using recycledwater bottles

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

4326
Products with 3rd party labels

941
Products with
PEFC certification

1256
Products withGS safety certification

2025: Increase 10pp from 29% (2019) to
Result 2021: 36%
Of course it is always good to have a product’s
environmental or health & safety credentials verified
by a third party, when an appropriate third party
certification is available. We have a long history ofthird party certifications, the oldest being our firstBlue Angel certification for recycled products in 1995.
Today the certifications verify claims across the whole
ACCO Brands product philosophy. In 2021, the IGR
certificate for ergonomics as well as the GS safety
label was awarded to most of the products in the Leitz
Cosy Ergo range and the PEFC label added to many
Derwent art products. Additionally, our sales mix is
shifting towards tools and machines, many of which
are GS safety certified.

223
Products with other certifications(UL Recycled content, Nordic Swan,
IGR Ergonomics, Austrian Ecolabel)

As of 27.12.2021. Some products have more than one certification!

39%

1662
Products with
FSC® certification

750
Products withBlue Angel certification

131
Products with
Climate Neutral certification

Products

Increase sales of Products witha 3rd Party Environmental or
Health & Safety LabelTAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

2019

2020

2021

Percent of paper purchased which is
FSC®- or PEFC-certified, or recycled

99.2%

99.1%

99.6%

Paper/Board from non-FSC / PEFC,
virgin fibres

0.8%

0.9%

0.4%

Recycled paper total*

95.1%

93.3%

95.8%

FSC® / PEFC certified paper / wood*

78.8%

71.7%

79.6%

Paper types in use* Material can be both recycled and FSC / PEFC certified.

ACCO Brands is committed to the responsible use of
paper and paper-based materials used for the
manufacturing of our products and packaging. Overall,well over 99% of our paper & board is either recycled,
FSC®- or PEFC-certified. Our target is to source 100
percent of our paper / wood used in the production of
our products and for our packaging from FSC®- / PEFCcertified or recycled sources. 11 factories andwarehouses are FSC® certified, 1 factory is PEFC
certified.

Paper Stewardship

Paper Usage in Manufacturing and Shipping

FSC® certified Leitz Cosy
notebooks

Removing plastic packaging

Reducing packaging

In an effort to reduce plastic packaging waste, ourRapid® Tools business have shifted two products tomore sustainable packaging. First, they shifted a
portion of their Glue Sticks packaging from plasticbags to FSC® certified boxes. Then, they introduced
the EG Pen Glue gun in an FSC® certified box,
replacing the PET clamshell. Additional packaging
changes are being planned for 2022.

Certain information always needs to be conveyed when aproduct is sold and this is usually found on the packaging.
Single Lever Arch Files are sold without box and for many
years the required information was available on a paper
insert sheet, which often also informed consumers aboutother product ranges as well as features and benefits of the
product in hand. In 2021 we decided that this could bedone better: We re-designed the product label to include allnecessary information and moved all communications to
our websites, thus saving almost 220 tonnes of paper, theequivalent of over 5000 trees, every year!

Products

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWTAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

PeopleWorking Relationships& Social Commitment

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWAt ACCO Brands, we are very proud of our team and the passion they show for
their work and fulfilling the needs of our customers and consumers! We also knowthat our teams are very passionate about sustainability topics, from the efficientuse of energy and resources in our plants, warehouses and offices to providing
products which are made responsibly and with a low environmental impact. Apartfrom the many projects run in our plants and warehouses, local initiatives in
offices, such as replacing lamps with LEDs, recycling coffee pods and plastic waterbottles (or use of re-usable glass ones), have been in place for years already.
Towards 2025, we want to ensure that every ACCO Brands employee is aware of,and helps us to work towards, our overall company goals and a more sustainable
working environment.
Equally, we want to continue to look after and nurture our teams and people. We
have a comprehensive H&S management policy and plan, which stood us in goodstead throughout the Covid 19 pandemic years*. During this time, many of ouroffice employees worked from home, giving them a chance to test our extensive
ranges of home office products such as the Leitz Cosy and WOW ranges. This is
now transitioning to hybrid working, with some days in the office and someworking from home.
We are working hard on achieving our goal of 25% of our management group being female. Initiatives to support this include gender balanced
shortlists, improvements to and better communication of maternity pay and leave, gender pay audits, and training for our HR team on D&I.
Our Code of Conduct is an essential guide to the way we conduct business and promotes ethical, lawful and transparent behavior in all aspects ofbusiness for employees, officers and directors and third-party agents. All our workforce take part in an annual code of conduct training.
* See more about this on pages 40 and 41.

PeopleOur People: The Heartbeat of ACCO Brands

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW
Supply Chain Responsibility
Suppliers• ISO 9001 and 14001 certified• Focus on long-term relationships• The ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work forms
the basis for social standards on everysite• Compliance with REACH and the ACCO
Brands Restricted Substances List

• Follow the ACCO Brands H&S policy
and Comprehensive Environmental &Safety Management Plan with regulartraining• Sustainability reporting: CO2, water,
waste, paper and board use• All suppliers sign ACCO Brands Supplier
Code of Conduct• Finished goods suppliers in risk countries
are risk segmented and audits coveringsocial and environmental aspects arecarried out and followed up on by a 3rdparty service provider as required withclose monitoring by the ACCO Brands
Vendor Compliance and Sourcing teams

Products/Marketing• Compliance with REACH, RoHS, WEEE,
packaging and all relevant EU
regulations• Environmental labels:
FSC®, PEFC. Blue Angel, Nordic Swan,UL Recycled Content, Climate Neutral
certifications held for 4,300+ products• Use FSC® -certified/recycled paper andboard• Honest and transparent
communication

See the ACCO Brands Social Responsibility Policy at https://www.accobrands.com/values/corporate-social-responsibility/

Supply Chain Responsibility

ACCO Brands-Owned Facilities

Supply Chain Monitoring

ACCO Brands is committed to ensuring that its employees and contract workers
are treated with respect and dignity, working conditions in our own facilities aswell as our global supply chain are safe, and manufacturing processes areenvironmentally responsible. We have a Social Responsibility Policy which isguided by the international human rights principles encompassed in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization’s
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the United
Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The core of our Social Responsibility Policy is our Supplier Code of Conduct
which establishes our standards and expectations regarding working
conditions, safety, security and environmental responsibility. We conduct auditsof our suppliers as well as our own manufacturing facilities according to a risk
segmented approach. For any failures to conform, or “non-conformances”
which are identified during the audit, we require the supplier to create acorrective action plan and monitor the progress until all major nonconformances are resolved. Our compliance experts provide support tosuppliers with tailored training and coaching on specific social, environmental
and governance issues, capacity building, e-learning and sharing best practices.
All audits are conducted by a specialized third party. Our audit approach isdesigned to align risk, influence, compliance, corrective action and investment.
Worker Sentiment Surveys are a critical part of our audit process. Using
automated technology, workers share their views on topics such as grievancemechanisms, work atmosphere, wages and hours, and production efficiency.
Their responses offer insight into issues that may not otherwise surface andprovide workers’ perspectives that help validate the overall assessment ofcompliance. A Worker Sentiment Survey was completed as part of 96% of ACCO
Brands-initiated, third-party EMEA supplier audits in 2021.

Supply Chain Responsibility

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWTAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Supply Chain Monitoring: Results

2021 Result

Highlights

In-scope suppliers attested to compliance with the
ACCO Brands’ Supplier Code of Conduct

100%

95%

Some new suppliers missing at year end

Percentage of Priority and Moderatelevel (>$100K annual spend) supplierfactories audited

100%

100%

53 EMEA suppliers determined to be in-scopefor audits in 2021 using a risk-based supplier selection.

Social responsibility audit
assessment overall performance

100%

98%

98% of all audit checklist points indicatedconformance with applicable standards

Priority issue non-conformance rate

0%0%

Priority non-conformances are defined as
the highest severity of non-conformance

Other non-conformance rate0%2%

All other non-conformances

Supply Chain Responsibility

TargetTAKING CARE OF TOMORROWOur Aim: Zero Accidents!

We strive to achieve a culture where all employees contribute and takeownership for creating and maintaining a safe working environment. Our
Health & Safety management system is laid out in the “Comprehensive
Environmental and Safety Management Plan,” which is activated in every
ACCO Brands EMEA location.
This year, ACCO Brands EMEA earned the Patron’s Gold Medal award in theannual program sponsored by the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (RoSPA), an organization dedicated to accident prevention in the
U.K. and around the world. This year marked the 25th consecutive year that
ACCO Brands EMEA received the honor. The award marks achievement at
merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. The Patron’s award, which ACCO
Brands EMEA has earned, is the highest achievement award.

Health & Safety

At ACCO Brands, we are committed to pursuing continuous improvement in
Health & Safety within all our locations and attaining our goal of zeroaccidents and incidents. This is ourTAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Looking After People Everywhere!

People at work everywhere were needing extra protection at thisextraordinary time and ACCO Brands EMEA also stepped up to
support this, with a broad range of acrylic screens, designed to help
protect people in all kinds of working situations.

Health & Safety

Throughout the Covid 19 pandemic we had special programmes inplace to protect our people. Anyone who was able to, could workfrom home to reduce risk. Many people, particularly in our factories
and warehouses, had to continue to travel to work and share spacewith others. We put protocols into place to protect our people as far
as possible. A global taskforce provided guidance, protocols, signage
and updates on Covid 19 related topics and created a dashboard to
give a clear overview of what was happening across the sites.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW

Healthy and Safe Work Environment

Facilities EMEA

2019

2020

2021

Warehouses EMEA

2019

2020

2021

Kozienice, Poland

3

3

3

Heilbronn, Germany

7

4

1

Uelzen, Germany

0

2

3

St. Amé, France

2

0

1

St. Niklaas, Belgium

2

0

0

Halesowen, U.K.

1

0

0

Gorgonzola, Italy

1

1

0

Barcelona, Spain

0

1

2

Cerkezkoy, Turkey

0

0

0

Lanov, Czech Republic

3

0

1

Total Accidents

21

15

15

Hotkovo, Russia

0

0

0

Hestra, Sweden

1

1

2

Arcos, Portugal

0

0

1

Lillyhall, U.K.

0

0

0

Shanghai, China

1

3

1

Health & Safety

Total Statutory Reportable Accidents at Factories and Warehouses

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA
Sustainable Development
Report 2021
Results Summary

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Sustainability Scorecard 2021: Operational Environmental Impact
Target 2025

Emissions:
Total CO2
CO2 from Electricity
MWh electricity

Target change
from 2019*2019 Result

2021 Result

Progress
In a year more comparable to 2019
(after the pandemic year 2020) we madegood progress. We also kicked off work
towards our 2025 zero emissions fromelectricity goal, with a 21% reduction!

2 250 T CO2
0
22 830 MWh

-75%
-100%
-10%

9 745 T CO2
7 550 T CO2
25 369 MWh

8 524 T CO2
5 967 T CO2
25 266 MWh

Water Consumption:
All factories & warehouses

25 345K Litres-15%

29 818K Litres

31 426K Litres

Increase on 2019 but savings at 11/16
locations show projects are effective.

Zero Waste
In factories & warehouses

98% of total waste
recycled+5pp

93% of total
waste recycled

94% of total
waste recycled

A small increase due to improvements inthe warehouses but there is more to do!

10%

The willingness of the company andpeople is there, the local infrastructure isoften missing!

33% of our company car fleet
hybrid or electric

33%

Change from 2020:28pp

2020: 5.6%

* 2019 taken as base year as the Covid 19 pandemic led to inconsistent results in 2020

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Sustainability Scorecard 2021: Product Environmental Impact

Target 2025

A Sustainable Choicein every key category

500 Products
Where minimum 30%of plastic is recycled
Increase revenue from sales of
3rd party certified products by
10pp
Sustainably sourced /recycledwood fibres used in
manufacturing

21/21 categories

Target change
from 2020+11 categories

Result BaseYear

2020: 102021 Result

Progress

11

The PEFC certification for the Derwent
brand was a great step towards a moresustainable choice for our customers!

500 Products+450

2020: 50

58

We are just starting on the road to findmore technically feasible and affordable
recyclates!

39%

+10pp

2019: 29%

36%

Increased sales of products with GS andadditional sales of PEFC certified
products.

99.6%

PEFC certification on our Derwent
pencils made in Lilyhall brought us a step
closer to our goal!

100%

+0.7%

99.1%

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Sustainability Scorecard 2021: Working Relationships & Social Commitment
Target 2025

2021 Result

Progress

25% of management group (Director+) being
women

25%

20%

Programmes have been kicked-off, initialprogress has been made.

In scope, tier 1 suppliers signed up to the ACCO
Brands Code of Conduct

100%

95% of non-European OEM suppliers have signed
our Code of Conduct.

The list of suppliers changes constantly andthe documentation must be kept up to
date.

Percentage of Priority and Moderate level(>$100k annual spend) supplier factories
audited

100%

100%

53 suppliers were defined as being in scopein 2021 as explained on page 38.

Priority issue non conformance rate
Other non-conformance rate

0%
0%

0%
2%

Of those suppliers audited, only 2% of audit
lines were assessed as non-conforming andimprovement plans were agreed on
together with the suppliers.

015

Despite difficulties around Covid 19, we
maintained the same accident rate as 2020.
But we aim for zero!

Zero Accidents

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWUN Sustainable Development Goals
With our actions to lessen our impact on land and air and to improvesocial conditions in our company and with suppliers, we support
some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as listed:
5. Gender Equality
5.5.2 proportion of women in managerial positions➔ See our goal to increase women in management
positions, pages 36 & 46
8. Decent Work & Economic Growth
8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate
forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking
and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst
forms of child labour, including recruitment and use ofchild soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its
forms
8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure
working environments for all workers, including migrant
workers, in particular women migrants, and those in
precarious employment➔ See our approach to supply chain responsibility
on pages 37-39

12 Responsible Consumption & Production
12.5. By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation throughprevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational
companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integratesustainability information into their reporting cycle➔ See our actions on waste prevention & recycling, pages 2326 and this report as a whole as evidence of our adoption ofsustainable practices
13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts➔ Not specific to a UN target but we aim to reduce ouremissions to air and monitor our progress here. For our climate
neutral products, we also invested in renewable power projects.

15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification,and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable
management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore
degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation andreforestation globally
15b Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at alllevels to finance sustainable forest management and provide
adequate incentives to developing countries to advance suchmanagement, including for conservation and reforestation➔ See our efforts to use recycled & responsibly sourced paper& wood on page 33. For our climate neutral products, we also
invested in a forest protection project in South America.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA
Sustainable Development
Report 2021
Additional Information

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Key Products:
Lever Arch Files& Binders

Staplers & Perforators

Computer Accessories &Security

Pockets, Folders,
Indices & Dividers

Storage &Archiving

Binding &Lamination

Hanging Files &Presentation Folders

Paper Pads

Paper Shredders

Ergonomics &Wellbeing

Visual Communication

INTRODUCTIONGLOBAL
REACH

Letter Trays/ Moulded
Products

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA Key Products:

Manual Tackers

Hot Air Guns

Print Finishing Solutions (PFS)

Hammer Tackers

Glue Guns

Xyron Creative Solutions

Electric Tackers & Nailers

Riveting

Fine Art Supplies

Pneumatic Nailers

Cassette Stapling Units
Printers & CopiersSocial Distancing

GLOBALREACH

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWACCO Brands EMEA:
Manufacturing & Distribution:
Ten EMEA Factories plus Shanghai:• Sint Niklaas, Belgium• Arcos, Portugal• Lillyhall, U.K.
• Uelzen, Germany• Gorgonzola, Italy• Hestra, Sweden• Lanov, Czech Republic• Kozienice, Poland• Hotkovo, Russia• Cerkezkoy, Turkey• Shanghai, China
Five Additional Distribution Centers:• Halesowen, U.K.
• Barcelona, Spain• St. Amé, France• Heilbronn, Germany• Prague, Czech Republic

Sales Offices
Manufacturing
Distribution
Testing (PT), Museum (UK)

Also:
ShanghaifactoryTAKING CARE OF TOMORROWISO Certifications
ACCO Brands is committed to maintaining
internationally recognized quality andenvironmental standards across all of our
EMEA production facilities. As such, they
are all (plus the Shanghai facility) ISO
9001 and 14001 certified. In addition, allwarehouses and Sales offices in Europe
are also certified to these management
systems.
Eight sites in Germany and the UK are also
certified to ISO 50001 for Energy
Management.

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWEMEA Sustainability Steering Committee
We host a quarterly meeting to go over current position and plan future projects and goals attended by:• Senior Vice President, Operations• Senior Vice President, Marketing and R&D• Vice President, Operations, Production• Vice President, Procurement• Vice President, Human Resources• Vice President, Innovation and R&D• Sustainability Director, Europe

TAKING CARE OF TOMORROWA More Sustainable Choice in Every Key Category
Category

More Sustainable Choice
Available✓

Lamination machines &supplies

Not yetBlue Angel, recycle, climate neutral✓

Shredders

Not yet

Recycled, climate neutral✓

Whiteboards

Not yetDocument Presentation & Blue Angel certified, recycled, climate
Organisation
neutral✓Not yetArchive boxes & Storing

Recycled, FSC® certified, recyclable✓

Not yet

Suspension filingBlue Angel certified, recycled, climate
neutral✓Connect IT Docks, Hubs,
Cables &Adaptors
Control IT Trackball,Mice & Keyboards
Ergonomic products

Not yet

Not yetBlue Angel certified, recycled, climate
neutral✓Secure IT / Kensington
Security

Not yet

Staplers & Pliers

Recycled, recyclable, climate neutral✓

Health & Wellness / Air
Purifiers

Staples & staple
cartridges

Boxed versions, staples themselves arealways recyclable✓

Drawing & Writing
Instruments

PEFC certified, refillable tins✓

Hole punches

Recycled, recyclable, climate neutral✓

Stapling guns manual

Not yet

Tools, staples

Boxed versions are available but we aim toswitch more blister to boxed versions

Category

More Sustainable Choice
Available

Lever Arch Files &Accessories

Blue Angel certified, recycled, recyclable,
CO2 neutral versions

Indices & Dividers
Pockets & Folders

Desktop (Moulded)

DoneDone