11/22/2019 / News
Acting sustainably: Ensinger in the spotlight
With our insulbar insulating profiles we essentially already provide energy saving windows and façades. And our Development department is constantly working on even more efficient solutions. Not least, we offer – in the form of insulbar RE – an insulating profile made from 100 % recycled polyamide, especially for green construction. But that on its own is not enough. Environmental and energy policy are also firmly enshrined in our corporate guidelines.
Environmental and energy policy at Ensinger
Thinking long term, working together as partners, acting responsibly – that is what sustainability means at Ensinger. The guidelines for this are a firm component of our corporate policy:
Thinking long term, working together as partners, acting responsibly – that is what sustainability means at Ensinger.
| Values: | |
Our responsibility for the environment motivates us to manage resources sustainably and to check the ecological impact of our action in advance. |
| Employees: | Environmental protection depends on everyone’s behaviour. That is why every one of our employees makes his contribution to environmental protection. In order to achieve our goals, we provide our employees with the necessary resources and inform them regularly about progress. |
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| Resources: | We are continuously reducing the use of natural resources. We try to substitute hazardous substances where possible. We avoid or reduce waste and emissions. | |
| Improvement: |
We are constantly improving our processes, equipment and products, as well as our environmental and energy-related performance. |
The core of our sustainability management is the ongoing improvement of our processes and workflows, our equipment and products, and reduction in the quantity of waste and increase in recycling rate. The activities are regulated by the management systems ISO 14001 Environmental Management, ISO 50001 Energy Management and ISO 45001 for Health and Safety at Work.
5,800 tonnes fewer CO2 emissions
The key form of energy at Ensinger is electricity. We are working to continually reduce energy consumption through diverse measures:
- through on-site energy teams
- through the use of new technologies such as compressed air machines or heat recovery in ventilation technology
- through conversion of lighting to LED standard
- through new buildings built to KfW standard 50, including photovoltaic installations
- through digitalisation of energy flows
- through the use of hybrid and/or fully electric injection moulding machines
- by reducing downtimes, compressed air leakages and many more things
Thanks to the improvement projects, the purchase of green electricity and changing the electricity mix, the German parent company alone was able to emit around 5,800 tonnes less CO2 in 2018. That equates to the planting of 464,000 trees!
Achieve great things on a small scale
Sustainability starts small and ought to reach the whole workforce. Ensinger is actively promoting this, for example through:
- Skype conferences to reduce business trips and flights
- Mobile working to reduce commutes
- Integration of environmental topics into improvement workshops and innovation processes
- Provision of leased bicycles, yoga courses, running groups, volleyball and other activities to promote health and a sense of community
- Promotion of social projects through the Wilfried & Martha Ensinger foundation
And what else?
Everyone’s efforts are needed to counteract climate change and environmental pollution noticeably and in the long term; Ensinger is not ducking out of this and is planning further measures:
- Preparation of a carbon footprint analysis, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol for the parent company
- Development of a sustainability strategy aimed at CO2 neutrality
- Certification of additional sites to ISO 14001 Environmental Management
- Development of a concept for promoting closed materials cycles
- Joint further development with our business partners towards “green” plastics