Meet Team DESS - Mireia Corral, ESG Manager

Interview with Mireia Corral - ESG Manager at DESS Dental

As part of the introduction of Team DESS, we are pleased to introduce Mireia Corral, who has played a key role at DESS Dental for the past 6 years as part of the Administration Department.

Mireia has taken on the challenging role of ESG Manager, in charge of developing and supervising the company's Environmental Social Governance practices.

A solid vocational component and a great passion are the basis of Mireia's commitment to the project she leads. Building a better and more sustainable society are two of the pillars on which her actions and ideals are based.

"I feel fortunate to be part of DESS Dental's ESG project" she expresses with pride and enthusiasm.

In this interview, Mireia explains the part she plays in making the company a more sustainable, socially responsible and well-governed environment. We will also learn about the ESG policies currently implemented at DESS Dental and the future plans for the company in this area.

Read on and find out what Mireia has to say.

Can you describe ESG (Environmental Social Governance)?

For me, ESG stands for "it can still be done right". Moreover, they represent a guide to where we have to go in terms of caring for and respecting the environment, which belongs to all of us, taking care of society, which we are all part of, and, of course, running the company with the best governance.

The role of the ESG Manager

Can you explain your duties as ESG manager of the company?

To analyse the company's potential risks in order to identify where we have the greatest impact and try to mitigate them, making our company as sustainable as possible.

A little over a year ago, Cristina, DESS Dental's CFO, and I, based on the risk analysis, created a plan of action. It is a constantly evolving plan, with actions in all the areas covered by the acronym ESG. In addition, there is continuous monitoring with the people in charge of each area, looking for new solutions and, above all, providing continuity.

The Strategy

What does DESS' ESG strategy comprise? What policies do we currently have in place?

The ESG strategy of DESS Dental is based on reducing our environmental impact with initiatives such as the use of 70-90% of recycled material for all our packaging, the use of renewable energy sources, as well as making the most of our resources. At the same time, we try to take part in developing a fairer, more diverse, and inclusive society. In addition, the company focuses a very important part of its efforts on having all the regulatory requirements in order, given that the health sector is highly regulated, and our market is open to more than 60 countries, which means that we have specific regulations for each one of them.

The Actions

What are the actions taken at DESS to comply with our ESG policies?

I think listing them all would make the interview very long, we were very ambitious with the plan, but I will list some of them.

Environmental actions:

- The energy consumed and generated is 100% green, as we produce part of the energy we consume through photovoltaic panels and the rest is purchased from a renewable energy distributor.

- Switching from capsule to ground coffee. This one may seem like a symbolic action, but it has more impact than it appears: prior to the change, more than 100 capsules were discarded daily, with the consequence of having to throw plastic (capsule) and organic waste (coffee residues) in the same container. In addition, workers are now provided with 45 coffees per month by the company.

- Calculation of our company's carbon footprint. As a manufacturer, we generate virtually zero CO2 emissions in our production processes. However, our business development activities such as travelling, trade fairs attendance and transportation have an impact that we take into account. This is why we focus on reducing the emissions produced by these practices as much as possible.

Social actions:

- We are a cardio-protected company, with a defibrillator on our premises and approximately 80% of our staff trained in its use.

- Implementation of SMARTWORKING and flexible working hours in the departments and areas where it can be applied.

- Recruitment with social value. At DESS Dental, we have changed our recruitment philosophy towards groups of people in situations of disability. With this, we seek to transcend the donations we make on a regular basis and materialise the social integration of these collectives.

Governance actions:

- Integration of the "Compliance" model, which establishes the basic principles and general framework for the control and management of criminal risks. In addition, we have trained our entire team in this area.

- Approval and implementation of the Code of Ethics and whistleblower channel, for which we have also trained all staff.

- Realisation and publication of the company's ESG policy, for which the entire team has been trained.

This is a very brief summary of our action plan, as each section has about 15-20 actions, including those already developed, those in progress and future actions.

In your opinion, how integrated is sustainability at DESS Dental? And in terms of social and governance measures?

I think sustainability, sociability and good governance have always been part of the DNA of DESS, but with the entry of Miura, our investor group, we put a name to it and started this major ESG project. Moreover, I believe there is still some ground to cover, but we are committed to approaching it with a solid foundation and a great deal of effort. We look at it optimistically, as we are always looking to improve in order to be as sustainable as possible.

Where will DESS Dental's ESG efforts be focused in the near future?

DESS Dental is currently in the process of joining the Global Compact, a UN initiative that leads global corporate sustainability. This will give our company the opportunity to lead and align ourselves with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as well as with the strategies of other companies. It also gives us the opportunity to actively participate in UN assemblies, platforms and discussion forums.

We believe that DESS's adherence to the Global Compact will give us a big push and a roadmap for the future.

How do you foresee the future of ESG?

I think ESG has a very prosperous future; I would like to think so and I believe it will.

I think that society is becoming more and more aware of sustainability in all aspects, so much so that this awareness has become a social demand. In my opinion, this is very positive as it pushes companies to strive to put sustainability into practice. Therefore, companies that follow ESG policies improve their reputation and, as a consequence, their positioning increases.

In addition, ESG is in the process of being legally regulated, so anyone who wants to stay in business will have to jump on the sustainability boat.