Report fischer wins
Report fischer wins German Sustainability Award The fischer Group of Companies (Waldachtal, Germany) has won Europe’s biggest and most important sustainability award. The company won the German Sustainability Award in the “large businesses” category. Company owner Prof. Klaus Fischer accepted the award presented by the German Sustainability Award Foundation on the evening of the 22 nd November 2019 in Düsseldorf. “This award is very special to our company”, says Klaus Fischer. “I would like to congratulate all our members of staff and dedicate this award to them. After all, they all contributed to this success with their daily work”. The twelfth edition of the German Sustainability Award honoured companies that combine economic success with social responsibility and environmental protection in an exemplary manner. The jury selected the company due to fischer’s holistic approach to firmly anchoring sustainability within its company strategy. fischer also received further recognition for a diverse range of its activities, including the anchors and mortars of the fischer greenline range, which are made of at least 50 % biobased materials, and which were acknowledged for being exemplary. One example is the series of bio-polyamide wall-plugs (cf. p.36). The company also saves all its CO 2 emissions generated through its energy procurement, and instead uses green power made of 100 % renewable energy. The work of fischer’s sustainability team was also praised for developing the sustainability compass with the corresponding monitoring systematics. In the previous year fischer had already made it into the finals for the coveted award and was praised for its holistic approach to sustainability. “Sustainability has been an important part of our strategy for many years”, Fischer states. By applying the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP), the members of staff help avoid waste on a daily basis, thereby making a significant contribution to the fischer Group of Companies’ sustainability. “Only those companies that act sustainably can shape the future”. Which is why the term “future-oriented” is also often used nowadays instead of “sustainable”. The German Sustainability Award recognises fischer’s all-encompassing activities across all company divisions. The following three projects are examples of fischer’s award-winning sustainability: • Upon introducing a shuttle facility in the Global Distribution Center at the company headquarters, energy de-mand has remained at a constant 20 % – with an increase in output. The resulting work stations are ergonomic and noise emissions are low. • Packages are now glued together at the pallet station instead of being wrapped in plastic foil. This saves 33.6 tonnes of plastic per year while simultaneously reducing CO 2 emissions by 177 tonnes per year. • The company also purifies used oil in order to recycle it. This results in less waste oil, which is particularly environmentally friendly. The company has saved 23% in annual costs since introducing the oil purification procedure. Implemented sustainability products are displayed at various stations along fischer’s so-called Blue Path. The colour blue symbolises the sky, the earth and its oceans. The aim of the stations is to increase and expand sustainability awareness. The fischer Group of Companies’ award is the result of a multi-stage evaluation process. An independent panel of experts chaired by Günther Bachmann, Secretary General of the German Council for Sustainable Development, determined the winners of the coveted award. The German Sustainability Award is the national German award for outstanding sustainability achievements in the fields of economy, municipalities and research. With five competitions, over 800 applicants and 2,000 guests, the award is the biggest of its kind in Europe. The award is presented by the German Sustainability Award foundation e.V. in cooperation with the German Federal Government, central municipal organisations, trade associations, civil society organisations and research facilities. MT www.fischer.group 30 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/19] Vol. 14
Automotive 02-03 Sep 2020 Cologne, Germany organized by and Jan Ravenstijn Call for Papers now open! www.pha-world-congress.com PHA (Poly-Hydroxy-Alkanoates) is a family of biobased polyesters. Examples for such Polyhydroxyalkanoates are PHB, PHV, PHBV, PHBH and many more. That’s why we speak about the PHA platform. Depending on the type of PHA, they can be used for applications in films and rigid packaging, biomedical applications, automotive, consumer electronics, appliances, toys, glues, adhesives, paints, coatings, fibers for woven and non-woven and inks. So PHAs cover a broad range of properties and applications. Also depending on the type, most PHAs are biodegradable in a wide range of environments, such as industrial and home composting, anaerobic digestion (AD), in soil, freshand even seawater. As PHAs are gaining more and more interest, bioplastics MAGAZINE and Jan Ravenstijn are now organizing the 2 nd PHA-platform World Congress on 2-3 September 2020 in Cologne / Germany. bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/19] Vol. 14 31
