Sustainability at BENTELER

Our colleague Henner is a true jack-of-all-trades when it comes to diversity of species and biodiversity. Responsible, amongst other things, for the vehicle fleet at the BENTELER site in Salzburg, he’s also committed to flora and fauna in his spare time. An amateur ornithologist, he’s dedicated to the creation and control of meadow breeding areas and looks after around 500 nesting boxes, about 30 of which are in the middle of the city of Salzburg.

And that's not all. He takes care of the creation, preservation and maintenance of wetland biotopes and the preservation of old fruit tree orchards, which are home to numerous species of insects and birds. And among other activities in the service of nature and the environment, he looks after nature reserves and European protected areas and takes care of the creation, supervision and maintenance of hedge plantings.

We want to move away from fossil energy. Where the sun isn’t enough, wind helps us. Our plant in Kleinenberg is connected to the nearby wind farm. And we are currently converting our sites in Warburg and Schwandorf to green electricity.

When it comes to sustainability, BENTELER is on track. At our Swiss plant in Rothrist, literally so. There, we have modernized our factory railroad and replaced the old diesel locomotive with a new diesel-electric locomotive.

Separation can be painful – but not when we’re doing something for the environment! That’s something our colleagues at our site in Wresznia, for example, know about. There, we conscientiously separate waste into categories such as paper, cardboard, plastic, and gloves, and thus send it for proper disposal or recycling. You’re welcome, and the pain of separation is not so bad...

Digitalization is one of our biggest concerns. But when administrative processes require paper form, we print paper on both sides as standard at our Bangkok site.

At our Corby plant, there was a small area of barren land. We thought that was a shame, so we recently planted a flower meadow on it. Because we support biodiversity wherever we can. Our employees are delighted. And the insects and birds especially so.

Less is Mór!

Regular checks and constant monitoring are essential – especially when it comes to the responsible use of perhaps our most precious resource – water. At our Hungarian plant in Mór, this paid off when we discovered a burst underground pipe. We repaired it and thereby saved large quantities of water. And that makes us happy – because every drop counts.

Recycling isn’t just about waste paper! Our colleagues Petr and Vladimir from Jablonec are specialists in the field of welding. They realised that a large part of welding tips that are thrown away could still be used if the aluminum spatter on the surface could be removed. With the support of the team at Chrastava and the Technical University in Liberec, they developed a process to clean the tips and reuse them. The result: around 25,000 saved in just over a year!

Renewable energy is the future. That is why our plant in Pune is being equipped with solar panels and will thus use solar energy instead of fossil fuels in the future. That’s great, and not just in warm India!

Recycling rather than throwing away and buying new: At our Port Elizabeth plant, we’ve switched from disposable sleeve warmers and cleaning rags to washable models, significantly reducing waste.

We are hunters and gatherers – in our plant in Holland, we hunt for leaks and gather information using digital monitoring. In this way, we identify and repair weak points at an early stage, reduce resource consumption and also save costs.

Recycling paper is now standard practice in most countries. And then there are materials that are difficult to recycle. That’s where TerraCycle comes in and, since recently, our plant in Palencia. TerraCycle is an innovative recycling company that is now the world market leader in the field of hard-to-recycle materials. Our plant is now the collection point for the entire city of Palencia. The materials collected earn points that are converted into money and donated to NGOs. That’s how we give something back to the environment and society!

Shorter transport distances = lower CO2 emissions. That's why we try to produce with our plants as close to our customers as possible – around the globe. For example, in China, where several of our plants are located in the immediate vicinity of the manufacturers.

Reusable instead of disposable = the right way! In Goiana and Porto Real, for example, we’ve introduced personal bottles and reusable cups, we’ve reduced the use of disposable cups to a minimum. That pleases our employees just as much as the environment!

How do we save a lot of energy in one fell swoop? By using the waste heat generated in production to heat factory and office areas and by equipping our plant in Malacky with LED lamps. Okay, gotcha – two fell swoops... 😉

Plants from the refuse bin? That's possible! At our plant in Gebze, our colleagues learned during a workshop how to make seed balls from used labels. The recipe in a nutshell for making it yourself: fish paper out of the refuse bin, cut into small pieces with a sharp knife, stir vigorously with water and allow it to dry. Form prepared flower seeds into balls with the paper strips, wrap them well, give them to dear friends - and finally serve them in the (flower) pot. Voilà - the bouquet is ready. Have fun with it!

Can 20-year-old robots live on? Of course they can! Just because an old power supply unit has given up the ghost, doesn’t mean the whole machine has to. So instead of buying a new one, we went looking for a power supply in our plant in Ghent and found it in another region. The replacement unit was sent free of charge with the next material delivery and has now given our metal colleague a new lease of life. It’s very thankful and runs like clockwork!

They say that the sum of many small things can make a big impact. If so, our site in Burlington is a good example. The facility offers numerous charging stations for electric vehicles. Our two employees at the site are in part even more environmentally friendly and, as passionate mountain bikers, often come to the office on their bikes. Reusable water bottles and lunch boxes are a matter of course for them.

LED lamps have a significantly better environmental balance sheet than conventional incandescent and halogen lamps. That's why, for example, we have replaced the previous lighting in our factory halls and offices in Skultuna with around 1,500 LED lamps. In this way we save around 400,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year, reduce CO2 emissions, produce less waste, avoid harmful environmental toxins during disposal, increase the recycling rate, and and and...

We don’t have a production site in Japan. Nevertheless, even in office buildings you can do a lot for the environment. Meticulous waste separation, for example. Therefore, in Nagoya we separately collect paper and plastic waste as well as used office materials and recycle them.

As private individuals, we’re all aware that driving fewer kilometers reduces fuel consumption and, consequently, our impact on the environment. But what about the numerous vehicles in use at our production sites, which of course also consume energy? Forklifts, for example. At our plant in Palmela, our colleagues set about recording the routes traveled. By analysing the data they were able to optimize the routes and make savings in distances, time – and energy consumption!

Plastic in the environment is a global problem. We find it in countless items – from bottles and packaging to carrier bags. The latter, however, no longer at our Seoul location: There, the familiar plastic bags have been replaced by ecologically sustainably produced fabric bags. Easy on the environment – and look good, too!

Helium has a much better image than CO2. Are we therefore carefree with it? Of course not. Through routine monitoring, our colleagues in Puebla have detected excessive consumption. Working as a team, our colleagues Salomon, Isaias and David developed a multi-stage plan to reduce consumption. By improving piping, establishing leak detection procedures, and commissioning a helium recovery machine, we drastically reduced the amount of helium emitted into the atmosphere. And, yes, our costs have also gone down as a result of these measures. Is that bad? We think not!

More power to the environment! That's why our team in Raufoss has been testing a battery-powered forklift truck for outdoor use – and the feedback from our drivers has been overwhelmingly positive. Now we are waiting expectantly for the availability of the new variant with a lithium battery. This offers huge advantages such as three times the service life, 30% greater energy efficiency, no need to refill fluids, it‘s virtually maintenance-free and doesn‘t require battery replacement systems.