Environment and Resources
Limiting global warming and preserving biodiversity are generational tasks and global challenges. As an international manufacturing company, we have a big responsibility: Our use of raw materials, energy and water in production creates waste, wastewater and emissions.
We cannot cut this to zero, but we are taking measures to improve the sustainability of our raw material consumption, reduce the amount of waste generated and continuously lower our greenhouse gas emissions.
Effective climate protection
We are committed to climate protection and support national and European greenhouse gas reduction targets. Climate and environmental impacts are a key consideration in all our risk analysis and management systems.
We have set ourselves the goal of continuously reducing our emissions and, by 2026, reducing our Europe-wide Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by at least 50% compared to 2019. By 2040, we aim to be carbon neutral in Scopes 1 and 2 across the company. Our focus is clearly on avoiding emissions; offsetting through CO2 certificates is planned only in exceptional cases.
To achieve this goal, we are currently investing heavily in the construction of PV systems: at our headquarters in Albstadt, Germany (pictured here), and internationally at our subsidiaries in Portugal and Vietnam.
Our goals in the area of Environment and Resources
Carbon neutrality
We are reducing our Europe-wide CO2 emissions in Scope 1 and 2 by at least 50 percent by 2026. By 2040, we aim to be carbon neutral company-wide in Scope 1 and Scope 2.
Additonally, we are developing a concept to reduce CO2 emissions in Scope 3 by 2026.
Reducing harmful substances
We are reducing the use of environmentally harmful substances in production.
Circular economy
We focus on extending the product life cycle and the goal of a circular economy.
Packaging concept
We develop a systematic and resource-saving packaging concept.
Sustainable products and services
For us as a manufacturing company, all sustainability issues are directly or indirectly linked to our products. What and how we produce our tools has a direct impact on our stakeholders and the corporate environment. The longer our products can be used by our customers, for example, the more potential energy and resource savings arise in our value chain.
An important component in the development of more sustainable products is our in-house Technology and Development Center (TEZ) at our headquarters in Albstadt. As a platform for research and cooperation, we work here on holistic answers to complex practical challenges. Together with various partners - users from industry, mechanical engineers, research institutes and start-ups - we improve all processes along the textile value chain in order to continuously increase quality throughout the industry.
Environmentally-friendly products
Even during development, Groz-Beckert places high value on the potential of its products to conserve resources and reduce emissions.
A prominent example is the Litespeed needle for circular knitting machines. As compared to standard needles, its optimized shaft geometry drastically reduces the energy consumed and thereby CO2, while at the same time boosting productivity. In 2010 Groz-Beckert was awarded the Kyocera environmental prize and in 2011 the Korea EU Award for the first generation of Litespeed technology.
The product EcoStar in the area of Nonwovens has also proven sustainable. The universal felting needle for extreme requirements needs very little energy.
Approaches for a sustainable product management
Energy savings
Reducing the energy consumption of our tools is an important aspect of our product development - both during production and when the products are later used.
With our litespeed® technology, for example, we have been enabling more sustainable operation of circular knitting machines for more than 10 years. With our LCmax™ circular knitting needle, launched in 2023, up to 20% of energy consumption can be saved thanks to its innovative shank geometry.
Product safety
“Highest precision” has been an important principle for everyone at Groz-Beckert for more than 170 years. We also place this requirement on our products: We always want to offer the best and safest tool possible.
To this end, we are in close contact with our customers in all divisions in order to continuously optimize our product range to meet their requirements. With training offerings, we increase the customer’s expertise and encourage the best possible use of our tools.
Academy mobile
The Groz-Beckert Academy Mobile has been making a special contribution to the sustainability of our knowledge since 2020. It reduces the CO2 footprint of knowledge transfer as participation is possible from anywhere in the world.
Created during the corona virus pandemic, when it was not possible to travel to our headquarters in Germany for training, the program continues to reduce the number of unnecessary trips.
Recycled raw materials
The use of raw materials is an important factor when considering the sustainability of our of our product portfolio and our processes. Our aim is to use a high proportion of recycled raw materials in the production process.
We are already achieving this in key areas. For example, the recycling rate for our needle strip steel is already 100%
Resource-saving packaging
We are currently developing a cross-departmental program for a systematic and resource-saving packaging concept. The program takes into account in particular the possibility of further use, recycling, the use of recycled material and the reduction of resources.
For example, when transporting our needles from Kandla in India to Albstadt, we switched from single-use cardboard boxes to recycled boxes. Due to their nature, the reusable plastic boxes not only replace shipping boxes, but also make the use of Euro pallets unnecessary. This decreases the quantity of our packaging waste, the energy required for recycling and the transport routes for disposal and reprocessing.
Holistic approach
Sustainability is more than just environmental protection. We can only contribute to a sustainable and liveable world in the long term if we equally consider the environment, people and society as well as responsible corporate governance.. In doing so, we have identified key issues and opportunities for us to take action. Learn more about our activities and goals in each area.