Policies (E5-1)
Together with the Federal Government, DB Group intends to invest heavily in the modernization of the rail infrastructure in the coming years. Due to the extremely extensive construction activities in particular, there is therefore very high demand for resources (especially for concrete ties, track ballast and rail steel), which can contribute to the depletion of certain primary raw materials (e.g. iron ore, basalt, sand). This impact is also associated with greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain, which we address as part of our net zero target. We are therefore planning to make greater use of low-emission building materials in the coming years. In this way, DB Group is combining its climate protection measures with circular economy strategies. In the downstream value chain, we work with waste disposal companies and processors to recycle our construction waste and reuse some of it as processed material in the infrastructure. Further information on waste management can be found under Output resource management.
We use various policies to ensure that we comply with legal requirements and that we record and minimize our impact both in our own operations and in the upstream value chain.
Ecological transformation of DB Group
Our strategic direction in the resource conservation area of action of our ecological transformation was resolved by the Management Board in 2022 and includes targets, actions and metrics for managing key resource flows as part of DB Group’s business activities. Prior to the drafting of this resolution, an analysis was carried out to identify the interests of external parties, including those from politics, business, industry, civil society and academia, and to incorporate their perspectives into the strategy development.
DB Group is aiming to achieve a circular economy throughout the Group by 2040, with a particular focus on Germany. For us, circular economy means using raw materials sparingly, keeping them in the value chain for as long as possible and – where economically, technically and legally possible – recycling our waste in order to reduce the need for primary raw materials and the volume of waste. The Group Sustainability and Environment function is responsible for the strategic management of the implementation. Operational implementation is the responsibility of the business units.
The analysis is based on DB Group’s main resource inflows. These include the products and materials required for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure and the manufacture and maintenance of vehicles. In the material flow accounting for 2024 conducted in 2025, these resource inflows, measured in terms of the procurement volume, were distributed across the business units to DB InfraGO (about 80 %), DB Long-Distance (about 6 %), DB Regional (about 6 %) and DB Cargo (about 5 %). Group companies with a relatively low share (less than 2 %) are not considered.
In this context, increasing the share of recycled materials in the three main resources: track ballast, concrete ties and rail steel is also planned. These are particularly relevant for our infrastructure and, according to our own calculations, account for about 80 % of the weight of our total material usage. Procurement plays an important role in this. Among other things, we have established and continuously developed framework agreements for our three main resources in order to secure capacities for processed materials on the market.
We use internal material flow accounting to document and evaluate the resources used by us on an annual basis. We are initially focusing on ballast, concrete, steel, copper and aluminum for DB Group in Germany. Since 2025, we have been gradually converting our material flow accounting into a digital resource inventory in which manufacturer-specific product and material data from Germany and Europe is recorded. We plan to complete the conversion for our three main resources in 2026. We are currently drawing up a plan for the further expansion of resource and CO₂e data transparency with a focus on the construction and maintenance of rail infrastructure and our rolling stock.
Framework guideline on environmental management
The framework guideline on environmental management formulates Group-wide requirements aimed at achieving DB Group’s environmental targets, among other things. This also includes our efforts to achieve a circular economy by 2040. Further information can be found under Policies (E1-2).
DB Code of Conduct for Business Partners
Our DB Code of Conduct for Business Partners and our procurement policy underpin the cooperation with our business partners. They form the basis for the sustainable management of our supply chains. We have further developed our social and environmental responsibility in numerous product group strategies in line with our Group objectives and anchored it in tender procedures as a suitability, performance or evaluation criterion. Further information can be found under Policies (S2-1).