At technology leader Sto, sustainability has a long tradition (Text medium)

Motto: “Building with conscience.”

Sto SE & Co. KGaA (Stühlingen, South Baden, Germany) is an internationally leading manufacturer of paints, renders, plasters, lacquers and coating systems as well as external wall insulation systems for the construction sector. Further focal topics are concrete restoration, floor coatings, acoustics and rainscreen cladding systems. Group-wide turnover in 2023 came to a total of EUR 1,718 billion.

The Stühlingen-based manufacturer registered significant growth especially in the past two decades. Today, more than 1,500 products and systems are in use; Sto SE & Co. KGaA is represented worldwide. In 2023, the technology leader employed more than 5,750 employees in 37 countries with 50 subsidiaries and production facilities. The secret behind the success is the company’s long-sighted, strategic positioning. This is the result of a corporate policy with a traditional orientation. Since the end of the 1980s already, the motto “Building with conscience” has represented Sto’s social responsibility and an active sustainability policy. The facade and interiors specialist serves architects, tradesmen as well as investors and building owners and also offers them technical consultation. The company has its roots in a lime works which was founded in 1835 and was then acquired by Wilhelm Stotmeister in the 1930s. Until the end of 2016, the company was run by the third generation of the Stotmeister family, which also holds 90 per cent of the voting shares (10 per cent Sto SE & Co. KGaA). The Stotmeisters continue to stand by their company and now take part in decision-making by the Supervisory Board.

Responsibility for society and the environment

The Sto motto becomes especially apparent in the ecological and social activities of the company: memberships to the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) and the UN “Global Compact” initiative as well as the Sto Foundation set up in 2005 are clear evidence of this. With regard to its portfolio, Sto makes sure that the products are produced in a sustainable way and that they can be integrated into a sustainable materials cycle. This is documented and demonstrated by numerous ecological certificates, for example. Today, Sto SE & Co. KGaA regards itself as “Technology leader in the sustainable design of living space tailored to human needs.”