Enabling transformation: Feintool publishes sustainability report.

Feintool has published its first sustainability report for the year 2019. The report transparently communicates the company’s long-standing achievements in the areas of economics, environment, and social affairs and makes it possible to compare them with other organizations around the globe. The company’s aim is to conserve natural resources, offer healthy and fair working conditions, and operate cost-effectively with sustainable products in order to achieve long-term market success.

Knut Zimmer, CEO of the Feintool Group, explained: “We’re aware of the fact that we not only have a responsibility to achieve business success, but also to the environment and society. Challenges such as climate change or the coronavirus pandemic show that sustainable solutions are required both in business and society. We are actively contributing to this transformation. We want to play an instrumental role in shaping the efficient and sustainable transportation systems of tomorrow.” As such, the Feintool Group’s executive board views its sustainability reporting as part of an ongoing improvement process and is carrying it out in accordance with the leading international Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard.

The Holding introduced environmental and energy management based on the international ISO 14001 standard many years ago, which applies to all of the company’s production facilities. At more than 86 percent, electricity consumption was the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions at Feintool, followed by the consumption of combustibles, fuels, and district heating. By systematically reducing its energy consumption, the company was able to cut greenhouse gas emissions by almost 540 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in 2019. Regarding the waste management, Feintool achieved a recycling rate of 98 percent. The group recycles 100 percent of its metal waste, which accounts for the lion’s share of the production waste, as well as waste paper and cardboard. To make these key figures more meaningful, the next step  will be to define targets. “Our objective for sustainability reporting is to specifically support us fine-tune our strategy and further enhance our management systems uniformly throughout the group,” said Knut Zimmer.

Feintool is also reducing the environmental footprint of its products themselves – “blanking more efficiently with less energy” summarizes the benefits of the new “FB one” fineblanking press, for example. In 2019, Feintool developed this new hydraulic press generation for fineblanking metal parts ready for assembly with a multitude of complex innovations and released it for comprehensive field testing. The FB one’s environmental performance is impressive, with a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption and up to 50 percent reduction in oil consumption.

In line with its “Expanding Horizons” claim, the group wants to expand its environmental activities into a comprehensive sustainability management system. Key areas of activity in this regard include resource efficiency in the supply chain, HR recruitment and development, and employee health and safety. “When it comes to production, our focus is on being the leader in the market for sustainable technologies and on our presence in attractive markets,” said CEO Zimmer.

Media release as pdf

Under Publications you can download the Sustainability Report directly or find further information on this website under the menu item Sustainability.