Responsibility for resources

The resources provided by the earth are infinite. But all industrial companies must be responsible in this respect. The Schmersal Group has set itself the target of complying with the principles of sustainable business and to consider environmental aspects on an equal footing with business and social ones.

In the Schmersal Group, the best possible reduction of specific energy consumption is an important element of the company policy. We have defined the principles of our energy policy and our energy targets on a binding basis for our company.

We see it as our duty to minimise consumption of energy where technically and economically feasible and by means of considered processes. Our responsibility in handling energy and other resources requires us to determine our energy consumption, comply with defined energy targets and programmes and check our actions against measurable standards.

At our German sites, we have already introduced a consistent energy management system which has been certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001 with a view to gradually increasing our energy efficiency in line with a continuous improvement process, reducing energy costs and significantly curbing environmental impact. For the whole company, we regularly draw up energy statements in order to determine and capitalise on savings potential.

The principles for sustainable, environmentally-friendly products are set out in development. During their work, our design engineers try to minimise the “environmental footprint” that a new product leaves behind. Our products are therefore developed with a view to keeping impact on the environment from production, use and reuse or disposal at the end of the product life cycle as low as possible.

This includes the considered use of resources and also the selection of energy-efficient production processes.

Our safety switchgear and safety controllers use only minimal amounts of electrical energy and when developing new products, we still concentrate on improving energy efficiency.

Since 2006, all our products have complied with the RoHS directive (now RL 2011/65/EU) on restricting the use of specific hazardous materials in electrical and electronic devices. For example, all soldering processes have been switched to lead-free solder, while coatings containing Chrome-6 have been replaced with thick film passivation.

Employees at all production sites have also been made more sensitive to environmental protection within the company by means of regular training sessions. After all, the best ideas for the improvement of production workflows and processes often come from employees who know the processes best because they deal with them every day.

The proper recycling or disposal of our products is guaranteed by the fact our products are not used by private consumers, but instead in machines and plants whose disposal is covered by guidelines, legislation and regulations. We separate waste and valuables in all departments and divisions and recycle where possible. As a registered user of the Resy system, we use recycling-compliant packaging.