Resource Conservation and Waste Management
The responsible use of resources is an essential part of our environmental responsibility. With green waste
management, we aim to reduce negative impacts on the environment.
As part of our environmental responsibility, we place a strong focus on energy consumption and emissions –
this is a consequence of the nature of our business as a logistics service provider and the associated
impacts of our activities on the environment. Thanks to management systems, ambitious targets and a wide range
of effective measures, we are well on the way to achieving our goals in these areas. In the future, we want to
be at least as successful in managing our recyclables and waste volumes. To this end, it is important to
focus even more strongly on all disposal processes and subject our waste management to a continuous
improvement process. This aspiration is also enshrined in our environmental and energy policy and is based,
among other things, on the waste hierarchy of the German Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act (KrWG).
From the point of view of the waste producer and owner, this means in concrete terms: We assume responsibility
for the environmentally compatible use of resources and define realistic targets for measures, in particular
for the avoidance, reuse and recycling of recyclable materials as well as waste.
Five levels of the waste hierarchy according to the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act (KrWG)
In this context, we have also set our sights on reducing waste-related transports. Since 2014, our
environmental management system has been certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001 at all German auto
terminals and transport centers in our AUTOMOBILE Division as well as at 13 more contract logistics locations.
This provides the framework for processes, responsibilities and, not least, the implementation of
environmental protection requirements, including those relating to waste management. For 2021, we are
reporting for the first time on the topics of resource conservation and waste management and will document our
progress here in the coming years.
Targeted capture for more resource conservation
Our sites are responsible for the legally compliant separation, collection and disposal of recyclable
materials and waste and to this end work with mostly certified waste management companies that specialize in
recycling, energy recovery and waste disposal. In this context, protecting people and the environment has
top priority. With waste management that is green and “clean” in the literal sense of the word, we can not
only reduce negative impacts on the environment but also lower disposal costs. This also gives us the
opportunity to pass on recycled materials to other market players, thus returning them to the materials and
economic cycle. To meet the growing demands placed on us by our customers in this context we also need a
standardized procedure and corresponding documentation.
A considerable proportion of the waste we generate results from our customers’ business activities – for
example, when goods are delivered to us packaged and we have to dispose of the packaging accordingly. In some
cases, the customer specifies and organizes the disposal channels. We then collect and separate according to
their specifications and thus have little influence on waste management.
Where we are responsible ourselves, we now centrally and uniformly record all quantities and types of waste
generated. In addition to the regulations of the German Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV), the basis for
this is a management system module which our employees can access at any time and which explains the
respective processes and responsibilities.
Within the organization, this topic area is the responsibility of the central Safety and Environmental
Protection and Sustainability and Digitalization departments, which perform their function in close
cooperation and coordination with the sites and with the quality management of our AUTOMOBILE and CONTRACT
Divisions. They train their own environmental management coordinators at the sites, for example, who are
responsible for capturing the data and are available as contact persons for the employees. Surveys in the
reporting year showed that the topic is important to many employees: Their suggestions and wishes regarding
sustainability in the company often relate to resource conservation in general or to waste management. Central
recording of waste volumes at all German sites rolled out in the reporting year provides us with a basis for
the central Sustainability and Digitalization department to prepare consolidated reports in the future.
These, in turn, will determine the reporting parameters for this report and for the development of
company-wide approaches to resource-saving measures.
