Award for Sustainability by Tradition
Drum roll, sting! ZF receives the German Sustainability Award 2023 in the Automotive category above all for its long-standing remanufacturing activities in Bielefeld.
Wikipedia seems to have an article on almost every topic. Also on environmental awards. Under "List of environmental awards", the popular online encyclopedia provides an overview of prestigious sustainability awards worldwide. The National German Sustainability Award, actually the German Sustainability Award (DNP), is in position 69 of the lists sorted by world regions. The award ceremony has just taken place for the 16th time in Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the Automotive category, the 140 DNP jury members selected ZF Friedrichshafen AG with its remanufacturing plant in Bielefeld as the winning company in 2023.
The activities with which ZF is driving the transformation within the automotive industry were decisive for winning the award. "Promoting an efficient circular economy system is an essential lever for achieving our self-imposed goal: full climate neutrality by 2040," says Dr. Michael Karrer.
He is responsible at ZF for sustainability, environmental management and occupational safety and health. In this regard, the technology company is reducing its CO2 emissions and increasing the share of electricity from renewable sources. ZF products for electric mobility also contribute to lower emissions in road traffic and to greater sustainability, while ZF's wind turbine gearboxes contribute to clean energy generation worldwide.
More Sustainability through increased Recycling
The company is also increasingly using recycled materials in its products. This saves resources. For example, most of the transmission housings are made of recycled aluminum. The longer use phase through recycling saves primary materials. In its 25 remanufacturing plants across the globe, ZF prepares used parts on an industrial scale for a "second life". At the Bielefeld location, this has been happening since 1963.
Delighted about the German Sustainability Award 2024 in the Automotive category: plant manager Jörg Witthöft.
Here, around 200 employees process between 40 and 50 tons of used parts every day. They produce car driveline components by means of remanufacturing: clutch cover assemblies, clutch disks, clutch control systems, dual-mass flywheels and torque converters. The remanufactured products are absolutely equivalent to new parts in terms of quality and save more than 90 percent of material and energy. This saves more than 80 percent CO2. About 95 percent of the product range is already certified according to the cradle-to-cradle standard for consistent circular economy. In addition, the Bielefeld plant has solely used electricity from renewable energy sources since 2018.
The Bielefeld site focuses on industrial remanufacturing. Here, the individual, remanufactured components of a clutch are assembled.
About the German Sustainability Award
Since 2008, the German Sustainability Award Foundation has been giving the award of the same name in various categories. This is done in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and other partners. Among other things, the foundation awards prizes to companies that are particularly successful in meeting ecological and social challenges and thus use sustainability as an economic opportunity. The award is the largest of its kind in Europe.
Find out more about the German Sustainability Award for companies here.
