Since the beginning of the year the family-owned company, which has 3,500 employees at 21 locations worldwide, has been using only electricity from renewable sources for the main office and production facilities in Münster. This has been achieved through a combination of green electricity and CO2 compensation. The roofs of Hengst Filtration’s buildings in Münster will soon have photovoltaic systems installed to reduce the volume of purchased electricity during peak-load periods.
“Industrial enterprises are often highly energy intensive, which means they can play a major role in protecting the environment. That is the only way to give future generations a chance for a good life,” says Hengst Filtration CEO Christopher Heine.
The company is compensating for the remaining CO2 emissions in accordance with Scope 1 and Scope 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol with selected certified environmental protection projects. These projects, which are organized by the myclimate initiative, are efficient cookers for people in Burundi, clean drinking water through UV radiation in Uganda, and recycling of plastics in Romania.
“The carefully selected environmental protection projects are certified to the Gold Standard and therefore fulfill the most stringent requirements. In addition to reduction of CO2 emissions, it is proven that they contribute to a sustainable development at the local and regional level,” explains Hengst Filtration sustainability manager Thomas Hülsdau.
To ensure economical and responsible use of resources, Hengst Filtration has introduced an in-house Sustainability Award. All Hengst locations around the world have developed innovative ideas for resource-efficient processes and production technologies, such as smart light controls, the use of extinguishing water for cooling systems, or the use of waste heat for heating. The winner was the factory in the Joinville, Brazil, where 15,000 trees are being planted on property owned by Hengst for CO2 compensation.
