We want to set goals we can actually reach.
Our actions are based on set values and clear rules. We are convinced that environmental laws and economic laws go hand in hand: they are two sides of the same coin. This belief feeds into our vision and gives rise to the goals we want to reach.
We also make sure nothing is lost in the process of reaching these goals. Waste is something we do not want, particularly in the midst of the bureaucratic pressure that comes in the wake of ever-increasing compliance requirements. We act carefully, precisely, truthfully and attentively, and create value. We accept responsibility towards our customers, partners, employees and the environment, and create value.
This country is surrounded by countries that are part of a currency experiment that is politically motivated and out of touch with reality. Shortly after the introduction of the euro, a debtor country becomes the world's export champion because its currency is weaker than the one that suits it. And other countries from the South have to be «rescued» with massive transfer payments because the currency is stronger than it naturally should be and too cheap, thus tempting them into debt. The European Central Bank threatens further «bailouts, at any cost». Meanwhile, almost all central banks are covering their respective domains with a form of monetary socialism. This lowers the inhibition threshold to deprive citizens of their freedom of trade and commerce when a pandemic arises. The over-indebtedness of the public sphere thus spreads to the private sphere as well. It is to be feared that the confusion of money and capital will continue until, with the money floodgates fully open, capital is completely consumed by a rent-seeking society. In the context of such damaged, i.e. parasitic and non-learning societies, the longing for sustainability must grow - and this is cause for hope!
As an employee in a company that is in its 140th year of operation, I am more committed to sustainability than to the loud call to report on it. So I admit to doubting the sustainability of the push for a sustainability report. Isn't this precisely an issue we should keep quiet about to be able to do more? After all, the truth will come out eventually.
But that presupposes a basic trust that is being chased away today by sowing fear from every corner. Whoever propagates silence is already suspicious. Our strange times thus manage to reverse the saying «Talk is silver, silence is gold». With the increasing pressure for reports of all kinds, do we want to be led to believe that silver is worth more than gold? How glad I am that the price signals from the worldwide interaction of supply and demand prove the popular saying right and not the zeitgeist!
The speech noise could be also fed by the fact that the mouth is permanently indignant about its numerical inferiority compared with the two ears. How gladly it follows the seduction of equality with the consequence that both sides suffer. The mouth must say more than it is predisposed to say, so that sounds emerge there that are empty, unreflected, discordant, stammering, or lying. And the ears have to hear more than they can bear and begin to shut down. Strangely many look forward to the weekend, the «home office» and the vacations to be able to «switch off».
And my final confession: I can write all I want here; I've given in to the pressure to produce a sustainability report primarily because I can keep it short: Our constant transformation of the old, the used, and the discarded into the new, the beautiful, and the important are illustrative of sustainable value creation par excellence. It helps us in our perceived appreciation for customers, employees, fellow human beings, indeed life, the world, and creation in general. For us, economy and ecology come from the same family.
Weinfelden in June 2022
Daniel Model
Our actions
Reporting Approach
This Sustainability Report covers 2017 to 2021.
This Sustainability Report encompasses all the activities and key figures of every company within the Model Group.
This report has been drafted in compliance with the GRI standards, ‘Core’ version. The Sustainability Report itself has not been reviewed by an external expert.
GRI disclosures
Documentation of GRI indicators
This report complies with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and aligns the key aspects of the GRI with the four pillars of the Model Group’s sustainability strategy.