- Production of self-adhesive materials, labels and labelling machines in future without a CO2 footprint.
- "Probably the pioneer in this field in the industry".
- Logical next step based on the "Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard".
Self-adhesive specialist HERMA GmbH continues to take climate protection seriously: from 2021, the company, headquartered in Filderstadt, Germany, intends to make the emissions in its direct sphere of influence climate-neutral. This applies to emissions that fall under Scope 1 and 2 of the internationally recognised "Greenhouse Gas Protocol". "We then develop and manufacture adhesive materials, labels and labelling machines without leaving a CO2 footprint". This has now been announced by the two managing directors Sven Schneller and Dr. Thomas Baumgärtner. "With this step, we are probably the pioneer in our industry in this field. However, our main priority was to achieve significant results quickly. The accelerating climate change threatens mankind on an unimaginable scale. We must step on the brakes with all the means at our disposal. This applies to companies as well as to private consumers".
To achieve climate neutrality, the company is implementing a bundle of measures. For example, HERMA GmbH has been buying exclusively green electricity for several years now. This alone saves the company around 10,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. A further 10,000 tonnes of CO2 are currently generated annually by the use of fossil fuels, for example for heat generation. For this reason, HERMA will in future purchase "green" gas, which has already been made CO2-neutral by the energy supplier. In addition, however, emissions are also generated by the extraction and supply logistics of the gas, for the transport infrastructure of the green electricity and for the use of oil. "In order to achieve actual climate neutrality in accordance with Scopes 1 and 2, we will fully compensate for unavoidable emissions in the foreseeable future through compensation measures," explained the two managing directors. HERMA is investing in social and ecological projects worldwide through the Swiss foundation myclimate.
The measures are based on a greenhouse gas balance sheet that HERMA has previously prepared in collaboration with myclimate. It is based on the "Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard" and includes the climate-relevant greenhouse gases that fall under the operational control of the company (known as Scope 1 and 2). The climate-neutrality measures implemented or initiated at HERMA relate initially to the plants in Germany, all of which are located in Filderstadt. "However, since we manufacture almost exclusively in Germany and almost all climate-relevant emissions are produced here, we have not yet involved the international subsidiaries in the quite complex process of preparing the greenhouse gas balance sheet.
In the past, too, HERMA has repeatedly implemented innovative concepts to reduce CO2 emissions. For example, we have succeeded in reducing the specific energy consumption per square metre of adhesive material - by far the most energy-intensive HERMA business unit - by around 20 percent in recent years. In the new coating plant, which went into operation in spring 2020, a new type of combined heat, power and cooling system has made it possible to significantly reduce energy consumption compared to the plant in 2008. The amount of electricity saved corresponds roughly to the annual consumption of 200 single-family homes. In terms of heat, the savings correspond to the annual consumption of around 100 single-family homes.
"In this way we try to achieve the highest possible degree of additional sustainability in every new operational investment and innovation project and, beyond this, to achieve further substantial results in additional intermediate steps", Sven Schneller and Dr. Thomas Baumgärtner explain the HERMA overall strategy for environmental protection