SDG 9 R&D and innovation: a priority for investment
Circular economy: the key to achieve our goals

Innovation is in our DNA: it’s the way we respond to the needs of our customers and society at large. This translates in a commitment to offer leading edge technology products and services, while taking full ownership for a responsible production process across the whole value chain.

To continue being the partner of choice for the long term, our performance builds on few key pillars:

  • A proactive management of chemicals to deliver safe and useful products to the market
  • A constant investment of turnover in R&D and the set-up of collaborative innovation projects
  • A competitive business approach, while acting independently, ethically and fairly

These pillars are supported by our internal policies, which guide us in the day-to-day, and by our culture, which is grounded on them.

Responsible production and sustainable innovation

We take full responsibility for our products throughout each stage of the product’s life cycle via a three-step approach:

  • A strong product stewardship & quality assurance
  • Research & innovation to develop new sustainable solutions
  • Engagement across the full value chain

Our product stewardship is built on the basis of our corporate Safety, Health and Environment (SH&E) policy and is complemented by additional measures, tailored on each products or service needs, e.g. specific products certifications, end-customers’ own restrictions’ list, …

On top of that, product and technology innovation at Agfa strives for sustainable value creation for our customers and other stakeholders, an objective which is embedded in our ideation processes.

The engagement across our value chain is then essential, first to ensure safety and efficient use of our solutions, but also to capture the needs of our partners and steer our innovation efforts. Our sales and service teams are our first line of interaction, but we complement their work with many tools. For instance, via dedicated communication channels, e.g. our corporate website to make Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) for all our products  available.

One way we share our chemistry expertise is via Agfa-Labs, our open innovation platform for materials and coating research. Through this platform, we support the industry to investigate the potential use of materials in applications such as life sciences, construction, plastic & polymers, ….

Ethical Business

As a socially responsible company, our goal is to compete vigorously, independently, ethically and fairly.

This is why our strategy for growth is rooted on our corporate Governance Charter  and its rules on ethics and integrity, annexed in the Code of Conduct, and is complemented by our Global Information Security and Privacy Policy. To ensure compliance with these principles, our Group Compliance Office has implemented whistle-blowing arrangements to deal with any issues that arise.

We not only hold ourselves to the highest standards, but we also expect our key partners to do so. This is why, since 2012, we strive to have all our suppliers contractually agreeing to our Agfa Supplier Code of Conduct.

To know more of our overall strategy and performance, read the dedicated chapter in our annual report: here.