Normec: Proof That Sustainability Performs
How a European leader in testing, inspection and certification made sustainability a core engine of growth, efficiency and resilience — in partnership with Astorg
At Normec, sustainability is a lever for growth, efficiency and resilience.
Normec is a leading European provider of testing, inspection, certification and compliance (TICC) services — the independent assurance that keeps critical industries safe, compliant and trusted. Founded in the Netherlands in 2016, the group today operates across four core divisions — foodcare, life safety, sustainability and healthcare — with some 7,000 employees across 160+ locations, in a global market worth some €200 billion. Its work is, in the most literal sense, about proof: testing what is safe, certifying what is sound, verifying what is true.
Astorg became Normec’s majority shareholder in 2020. Since then, sustainability has moved from the margins to the centre of the strategy — embedded both in what Normec sells and in how it operates. As a UN PRI signatory since 2011, Astorg has long held that responsible business and strong performance reinforce one another. Normec is a clear case in point: here, sustainability is not a reporting obligation bolted on at the end. It is a service line, an operating discipline, and a source of durable advantage.
30%+
of group revenue now comes from sustainability services — high-value, recurring work that consistently grows faster than the rest of the group.
A growth engine, not a cost center
The clearest proof is commercial. Sustainability is now one of Normec’s four core divisions, and its services — environmental testing, emissions analysis, ESG assurance — are among the fastest-growing in the group. Demand is structural: tightening regulation and rising customer expectations make this high-value, recurring work. A programme of targeted acquisitions has broadened Normec’s capabilities across environmental and sustainability testing, and in 2025 the group entered the United States with three specialist laboratories — its fifth new market in five years, more than doubling the market it can serve.
Sustainability is not just about responsibility
— it is a powerful lever for growth, efficiency and long-term value
LOCATIONS
EMPLOYEES
RENEWABLE ENERGY
FOUNDED
From the lab to the boardroom
In Normec’s case study film, three leaders make the same argument from three angles
Marco Zomer - STRATEGY
Why sustainability now sits at the core of the business model — one of four divisions, and a growth engine powered by tightening regulation and rising customer demand.
Mariska van Schaik - SERVICES & OPERATIONS
Services that outgrow the group, scaled across a decentralised platform through group-wide frameworks, clear KPIs and science-based targets.
Lotty Willemsen-Tijhaar - PEOPLE & CULTURE
A stronger employer brand and real progress on diversity — 43% women in leadership — with ESG embedded in everyday life through training and engagement.
Three perspectives, one conviction: at Normec, sustainability is how the business grows, operates and competes — not a report it files.
Sustainability that performs
Beyond the top line, sustainability has reshaped Normec’s fundamentals. Renewable energy has risen from just over 1% in 2021 to around 40% today — on the road to the group’s target of 100% by 2030 — while Scope 1 and 2 emissions have fallen by close to a fifth since 2022 under science-based targets validated by the SBTi. Group-wide frameworks bring measurable rigour to a fast-growing, decentralised business, and stronger compliance, cybersecurity and supplier accountability make the whole platform more resilient — capabilities that matter in a regulated and increasingly complex market. The ambition from here is to keep scaling: more sustainability services, through both organic growth and acquisition, deeper integration across operations, and further gains in energy efficiency and emissions. For Astorg, Normec illustrates a broader conviction — that sustainability, treated as a discipline rather than a disclosure, compounds over time into resilience, competitiveness and lasting value
*Workforce, renewable-energy and revenue-share figures are as presented in the case study film; location, emissions and diversity figures are drawn from Normec’s ESG Report 24|25 and official group announcements. The global TICC market is estimated at around €200 billion. Astorg has been a signatory of the U N Principles for Responsible Investment since 2011.
