Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is stepping up its sustainability management activities. Against the backdrop of the global challenges of climate change, Heidelberg has committed to climate neutrality by 2030 as part of its sustainability strategy. To this end, the company has set up an Environmental Social Governance (ESG) committee, which is responsible for the strategy and for defining, implementing and monitoring the measures. The head of the committee, Dr Eva Boll, reports directly to the CEO.
In order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality, Heidelberg has already Measures defined and implementation started. The focus is initially on, the Increase energy efficiency at all production and sales locations and supply them with green energy. This allows the CO2-emissions have already been significantly reduced. The The company will offset the remaining, unavoidable emissions with emission certificates. Heidelberg aims to achieve complete climate neutrality at its sites without certificates by 2040 at the latest.
„Heidelberg is aware of its responsibility with regard to the dangers of global climate change and Commits to the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. For many years now, we have been actively working to gradually reduce harmful emissions and environmental and health impacts at our sites. We have now also committed ourselves to, faster than the legislation stipulates, our operate our global production and sales locations in a climate-neutral manner by 2030."
Rainer Hundsdörfer, Chairman of the Management Board of the company
The ESG sustainability strategy of Heidelberg However, sustainability extends far beyond the issue of climate neutrality. The company understands sustainability to mean the Long-term balance between ecology, economy and social responsibility and focusses on the Topic areas Climate strategy, environmentally friendly products, sustainable personnel management, compliance and good governance.
„Heidelberg has joined a sustainable personnel management which, among other things New Work, demographic management, inclusion and diversity, health management and employer branding the subject matter. This is because more and more financial market participants are placing greater emphasis on sustainability management as an important criterion for future investment decisions.“
Marcus A. Wassenberg, CFO and Labour Director at Heidelberg
In addition, the anchoring of questions of Human rights and environmental aspects throughout the value chain, for example, with all suppliers and subcontractors of the Heidelberg Group.
"Heidelberg takes a holistic approach to sustainability management and includes all aspects such as climate and environmental protection with regard to the manufacture and operation of its products and social criteria. Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to develop the catalogue of criteria and the action plan step by step and draw up a roadmap with milestones for the coming years at the end of the current financial year. Ecology, economy and social responsibility go hand in hand.“
Dr Eva Boll, Head of ESG at Heidelberg
Overall, the global trend towards greater climate protection and sustainability also offers new growth opportunities for Heidelberg. One example is the company's activities in the field of electromobility. Heidelberg is already the market leader for wallboxes for electric vehicles in Germany and is planning to gradually expand its portfolio in the areas of charging infrastructure and smart homes. The focus is also on the international rollout. Heidelberg also has Comprehensive expertise in automation concepts and solutions for CO2-free production, which can also be used outside the graphic arts industry.
„Heidelberg's Holistic approach to sustainability management is not only an expression of our sense of responsibility, but also offers the company Decarbonisation solutions in a wide range of areas new growth opportunities outside of our core business.“
Reiner Hundsdörfer
Sustainability has been an integral part of Heidelberg's corporate strategy since the early 1990s.
The company has operated a validated environmental management system since 1996 and has been ISO 14001 certified since 2001. Another milestone is the Efficiency optimisation of the particularly energy-intensive foundry at the Amstetten site. Since 2012, Heidelberg has demonstrably succeeded in improving energy efficiency at this site by more than 20 per cent. To achieve this, the heating, ventilation systems and lighting, for example, have been optimised or replaced, motors have been replaced and the melting process has been optimised.
Also Energy efficiency projects are continuously being implemented at the other locations. Some halls have been modernised to KfW standard and the conversion of the lighting to LED technology has sustainably improved energy efficiency. At the site Wiesloch-Walldorf has had an energy concept in place for many years. Measures such as the construction of two combined heat and power plants and the current densification of the site also have a positive impact on the site's energy balance. Since November 2021, Heidelberg has also been the first folding machine manufacturer in the world to All machines from the Ludwigsburg plant are CO2-neutral.
With regard to the portfolio Heidelberg develops environmentally friendly and user-friendly-safe products for all phases of their life cycle, i.e. in terms of production, operation, disposal and recycling. Based on the year 1990, Heidelberg has the Energy requirement for the printed sheet reduced by 40 per cent. The company has geared the operation of its products towards sustainability in terms of paper waste, waste, energy consumption and emissions so that customers can produce their print products under the motto „think economically, print ecologically“.
Source: Heidelberg
