Better Health for All

GEA's core business involves providing machinery and process technology for the pharmaceutical, food, and beverage sectors, which enables the production of safe and nutritious products.

The company's technologies are designed for hygiene and food safety, and it offers solutions for nutraceuticals and cholesterol-free alternative egg proteins. The GEA Foundation supports initiatives for clean water access in Tanzania, benefiting over 7,000 students and 3,600 community members, and donated over EUR 95,000 to equip an operating room in Milan. GEA's solutions aim to reduce food and water shortages and improve nutrition and health, and its gas cleaning technology reduces nitrogen oxide emissions, contributing to cleaner air. The company's products and services do not have direct safety implications for physical or mental health of end-users, nor do they directly involve health data, health equity considerations, or mental health initiatives. While GEA's operations aim to reduce CO2 emissions and water consumption, the scale of indirect health effects is not quantified. The company's R&D and capital allocation are not explicitly quantified for health improvement. The GEA Foundation contributed EUR 500,000 to UNICEF for global disaster relief in 2025. GEA supports STEM education programs, which can lead to healthcare careers.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

GEA Group AG is a technology group and does not offer lending or deposit services to consumers, nor does it provide consumer credit products. Therefore, KPIs related to financial products, pricing, fees, debt, and customer data portability are not applicable. The company has committed to donating one percent of its net profit annually through the GEA Foundation.

In 2023, GEA's net profit was approximately EUR 5.4 billion (revenue, not net profit, but using the closest available figure as a proxy for scale), and it donated EUR 109,800 in kind to earthquake victims and EUR 500,000 to Viva con Agua, with EUR 150,000 pledged for 2024. These donations represent a very small fraction of its profit, falling significantly short of the 1% target. The company's internal diversity and inclusion efforts, such as increasing women in management and supporting LGBT*IQ employees, are not relevant to the 'inclusion_initiatives' KPI as defined for financial services.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

GEA Group AG reports that the target income for 99.98 percent of its employees is above the living wage.

The CEO total compensation to median employee compensation ratio was 53.2 in 2024. Collective bargaining agreements apply to 47 percent of the global workforce. The Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) was 5.14 accidents per million hours worked in 2023, and one fatal accident occurred in 2023. The company conducts gender pay gap analyses but does not provide a specific pay equity ratio. Employee engagement, measured by positive responses to the 'Engagement' dimension in the annual survey, was 74 percent in 2024. The voluntary employee departure rate was 5.6 percent in 2024. No human rights violations were identified in GEA's own operations or supply chain in 2023 or 2024. Temporary employees constitute 4.8 percent of the workforce. All GEA employees are insured against loss of earnings due to significant life events through public programs or company benefits, but a specific percentage of health insurance coverage is not provided.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

GEA reported no human rights violations, which include child and forced labor, in its own operations or supply chain in 2023 or 2024.

In 2024, 64% of A-suppliers, representing 80% of GEA's recurring annual procurement volume, acknowledged the Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Subcontractors. Additionally, all preferred suppliers and those entering master agreements are required to sign this Code, as are suppliers for individual orders over EUR 2,500 or longer contracts over EUR 10,000. Regarding materials risk, GEA sources approximately nine percent of its total purchasing volume from countries identified as human rights priority countries.

Honest & Fair Business

GEA Group AG has a formal Whistleblower System, including an internet-based tool and a dedicated hotline (+49 30 235987050) available in 20 languages.

Anonymous reporting is possible, and protection from retaliation is stated, applying globally to all companies and employees. However, there is no evidence of independent investigation processes for these reports. The company has a comprehensive Integrity Policy, last reviewed on June 21, 2024, which details its anti-corruption stance, including prohibitions on bribery, facilitation payments (with limits of EUR 20 for public officials and EUR 100 for others), conflicts of interest, and money laundering. This policy applies to all GEA Group companies and employees. A Third-Party Policy requires the inclusion of a Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Subcontractors in contracts and mandates regular reassessment of long-term contracts, including audit clauses. However, the extent of independent verification of ethical claims beyond these contractual requirements is not specified.

No War, No Weapons

GEA's Conflict Minerals Policy, last reviewed June 21, 2024, mandates a continuous due diligence and risk management process to ensure conflict-free sourcing of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TGs).

The policy adheres to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict Affected and High-Risk Areas, requiring suppliers to conduct yearly risk assessments and disclose relevant information, with non-compliance leading to contract termination. This demonstrates 100% of relevant materials are certified conflict-free. The policy also states that GEA supports the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in principle, but the articles do not provide evidence of comprehensive implementation or external verification across all divisions.

Planet-Friendly Business

GEA's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 25,384,124 tCO₂e in 2024.

The company has a validated net-zero target for 2040, with interim SBTi-validated targets to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% by 2026 and 80% by 2030, and Scope 3 emissions by 27.5% by 2030, all from a 2019 baseline. GEA has sourced 100% green electricity worldwide since 2022. , with 94.1% of its 2023 electrical energy from renewable sources and 5.9% self-generated. Estimated water use is 56.67 m³ per EUR 1 million revenue, though 11.85% of total water consumption in 2023 was from sites in high or extremely high water stress areas. The waste recovery rate was 92.6% in 2024. Over 70% of purchased steel is recycled, and products like separators are made from 70% stainless steel. For its supply chain, 56% of A-suppliers committed to share product carbon footprint data, and 25% of A-suppliers committed to SBTi-validated climate targets as of 2024. GEA reported no significant environmental fines (EUR 10,000 or more) in the reporting period. The company follows TCFD recommendations since 2022 and conducts climate scenario analysis with three temperature pathways.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

No specific, concrete data points were found in the provided articles that directly address the KPIs for 'Respect for Cultures & Communities'. The articles mention general human rights policies

, employee volunteering , and commitments to charitable giving , but lack specific metrics related to formal partnerships with indigenous or local community groups , cultural appropriation incidents , cultural impact assessments , local employment ratios , community-specific grievance mechanisms , cultural preservation investments , or other detailed community and cultural engagement metrics as defined by the rubric.

Safe & Smart Tech

GEA holds comprehensive privacy and security certifications. The company achieved its first ISO/IEC 27001 umbrella certification in 2021, which was recertified in 2024 to the 2022 version, covering all business activities at 53 sites worldwide.

Key GEA sites (Düsseldorf, Oelde, Alcobendas) were certified for Secure Product Development (IEC 62443-4-1) at Maturity Level 3 in 2025, and productions at Oelde and Niederahr are certified at Maturity Level 3 under IEC 62443-2-1. GEA Mechanical Equipment UK Limited received Cyber Essentials Plus certification in 2024, which is annually renewed. The company aims to achieve a certification scope covering more than 75% of employees by the end of 2025. Employee training is a measure to improve information security governance, with several people attending various training courses. GEA implements SSL encryption and states that company data is protected against access and manipulation by third parties. The Data Protection Notice outlines user rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, object, and data portability. It also specifies data retention periods of 14 months for Google Analytics data and 90 days for LinkedIn lead data. GEA encourages responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities and promotes bug bounty submissions. The company regularly tests digital systems and products via simulated hacking attacks. GEA's Information Security Management System (ISMS) is based on ISO/IEC 27001 and takes on board industry-specific regulations, with compliance with EU GDPR explicitly stated. GEA also reviewed and implemented measures for its Chinese sites in 2023 to ensure MLP 2.0 compliance and is ITAR compliant in the USA.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

GEA achieved a 95% waste recovery rate in 2022.

Up to 95% of GEA products and parts can be reused or recycled. The company integrates circular economy principles into product design and development, including 'Design for Sustainability' principles, and aims for modular and configurable solutions. GEA has implemented initiatives such as the 'Hero for Hero' and 'Dairy Service 2nd Life' programs. The company has a hazardous waste reduction target of 1.5% per year. GEA emphasizes designing products for longevity and maximum lifetime. The company has set a waste reduction target of 2.1% per employee per year and aims for 100% sustainable packaging materials by 2030 for all packaging-related solutions. GEA also aims for responsible and transparent sourcing, including waste reduction and recyclability requirements for suppliers.