In the future, the family-owned company Thimm will obtain its electricity from renewable energy sources. The conversion of all Thimm locations to climate-neutral green electricity is planned for 2021. Through this measure, the company will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30 percent in the future. The CO2-neutral electricity will be sourced mainly from hydroelectric power plants.
The plan is to switch all production and office locations to green electricity. In this way, the sustainable use of resources in the group of companies is to be further taken into account. Mathias Schliep, CEO of the Thimm Group, explains: "Our paper-based packaging solutions have always been made of renewable raw materials and can be completely recycled. We are pleased that with the planned changeover we will now purchase climate-neutral electricity for the production of our packaging. In this way, our packaging will be even more sustainable in terms of its carbon footprint, and we are using another lever to reduce our
carbon footprint."
The Thimm Group already permanently anchored the efficient use of energy in its operations years ago: in 2013, the first production plants were certified according to the DIN EN ISO 50001 standard and thus associated with the task of continuously implementing an improvement in energy-related performance. "The switch from grey electricity to green electricity is a logical consequence of the measures we have taken so far," Schliep explains further. "Measurable energy targets will be defined in our new energy concept, which is currently being integrated into the corporate strategy. In this way, we will keep a sustainable eye on our ecological use of resources."
Electricity consumption in the Thimm Group last amounted to 54,350,000 kilowatt hours. Consumption in the last four years has risen by 4.2 percent, which is clearly disproportionately low compared to the growing production volume. Schliep comments: "Our investments in modern technologies and innovative production facilities are paying off here. These are already leading to energy savings in the medium term. By switching to green electricity, we will avoid an estimated 19,131 tonnes of CO2 per year in the future."
Depending on regional availability, the green electricity for the German sites is sourced from hydroelectric power plants. The Thimm plants in France and Eastern Europe plan to make the switch via the local electricity suppliers, who will then carry out the necessary labelling of the green electricity certificates.
Schliep concludes: "Economic success and corporate responsibility are firmly linked at Thimm. To this end, we anticipate not only the ecological but also the economic and social challenges in order to meet them successfully. In this way, we also provide the best solutions to those customers who have increased requirements in terms of sustainability. As a responsible family business, we always act sustainably and think in terms of the future. We are well on our way to achieving our strategic vision."
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