Kräuter Mix publishes environmental goals for 2020/2021
Kräuter Mix has been EMAS certified since 2015. EMAS stands for “Eco-Management and Audit Scheme” and is the world’s most discerning system when it comes to sustainable and exemplary environmental management. As an internationally active family-owned business, Kräuter Mix holds this certification, developed by the European Union, to document its efforts to go above and beyond what is required by law to protect the environment, continuously improve its environmental performance, and report on the relevant activities regularly in the form of an environmental statement. In 2020, the company once again successfully passed its annual audit.
Certifications are a hallmark of quality for Kräuter Mix. They create trust in the company, founded in 1919, showing it is a dependable partner in the food, phytopharmaceutical and animal feed sectors. As an owner-operated company producing and trading herbal raw materials, now run by the third and fourth generation of its founding family, sustainability is a core value and treating natural resources with the utmost care a top priority for the company.
The manufacturer of dried herbs, vegetables and spices didn’t just launch environmental protection activities in time for its first successful audit in December 2014, in which it fulfilled the strict requirements of the EMAS regulation. Well before that, managers and teams in all areas of the company were already working on various projects to make Kräuter Mix more sustainable, because the company has always taken its ecological and social responsibilities very seriously. After all, manufacturing high-quality natural products requires permanently uncontaminated soil, clean air and water.
Having dealt with environmental topics for many years, it was a natural step for Kräuter Mix to release a public environmental statement defining its environmental goals and detailing how they are being implemented, and then to apply for EMAS certification, which is issued by government-supervised, independent environmental experts during an audit.
“We use this process to showcase the great consistency and sustainability of our eco-friendly activities, and to prepare our company for the future,” says Managing Director Silke Wurlitzer. “EMAS helps us continuously monitor the consumption of resources such as energy, water and waste. This allows us to take specific measures to increase our efficiency and reduce costs.”
In order to gain EMAS certification, which includes ISO 14001, companies must undergo a main audit every three years, for which a comprehensive environmental statement must be submitted. The most recent of these audits was carried out at Kräuter Mix in 2018. Following 2019, another interim audit took place this year, with an updated environmental statement announcing the environmental goals for 2020/2021.
On the technical side of things, Kräuter Mix aims to reduce energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions. Some measures put in place to achieve this include replacing the compressors for creating compressed air with two central compressor stations, and exchanging components in individual production plants. In future, bio-waste will be collected centrally and used in a regional biogas plant.
In order to reduce carbon emissions from commuting, a remote working concept is being developed. At the same time, the company continues to focus on helping employees improve their health and protect the environment, which is promoted further through the “Cycle to Work” campaign and the bike rentals on offer. Trainees, motivated by a workshop, are also keen to help protect the environment.
In terms of sustainability, there are plans to increase transparency within supply chain management, expand the product range of UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certified raw materials, increase arnica cultivation in Spain to improve species conservation, and support village communities in two countries from which hibiscus originates.
“We would like to thank all our employees, who bring our environmental management system to life by processing our herbal raw materials with appreciation and care, consistently saving resources, using the recycling facilities, and suggesting ways to improve so that we can enhance our environmental performance continuously and sustainably,” says Managing Director Silke Wurlitzer. “And special thanks to the EMAS team, whose members are highly motivated and drive the company’s sustainable development with fun and fervor.”
To read (in German language) and download the environmental statements from 2020 and/or previous years please see: www.kraeuter-mix.de/unternehmen/nachhaltigkeit
