Sustainability at Winterhalter

In 2023, the headquarters in Meckenbeuren and the production facility in Endingen were converted to green electricity. This is an important step towards achieving our CO₂ target.

The Winterhalter Code of Conduct underscores our social responsibility as a group of companies. It provides a guideline for lawful conduct as well as fairness and integrity in our internal dealings and in our relations with customers, suppliers, business partners and competitors. An e-learning course developed by Winterhalter for German-speaking employees offers concrete application examples for a better understanding of the Code of Conduct. Our colleagues from the e-learning team are already working on having it translated into other languages.

The Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz (UNK) focuses on the sharing of knowledge, experience and best practices. A digital platform serves as the heart of the project. Together with the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, the UNK provides practical assistance, organises events and facilitates additional qualification in various areas of corporate climate protection.

With an output of 420 kWp, the second PV system at the headquarters in Meckenbeuren was installed on the new logistics centre that was built the previous year. This means that a total of more than 500,000 kWh of renewable electricity can now be generated in Meckenbeuren on an annual basis.

Serving as a pool vehicle, our first electric vehicle was put into operation at the Meckenbeuren headquarters in 2017. In the years that followed, the first electric vehicles were also used as company cars, with charging facilities installed at all parking areas in Meckenbeuren. As of 2023, there are 14 charging points in the company parking areas and a further 16 charging points in the employee parking area. They are operated by the Regionalwerk Bodensee.

In cooperation with the Carbon Trust, back in 2014 a CO₂ calculator was developed for the UK market. These product carbon footprints look at the machines from the perspective of production, logistics, use by the customer and disposal at the end of the product’s service life. The results show that, as a general rule, more than 90% (depending on usage parameters and surrounding conditions) of CO₂ emissions result from product use. This is another reason why we are always working to further reduce the energy consumption of our machines and offer additional energy-saving features (e.g. heat exchangers and heat pumps).

In 2013, a new development centre with an adjoining assembly hall was built at the Meckenbeuren headquarters. In addition to a PV system, the buildings are equipped with a brine-water heat pump system and a combined heat and power plant (service life expiry in 2022). The parking area, also newly built, offers our employees covered bicycle parking spaces with free charging points for e-bikes.

Resource conservation and environmental compatibility have always been very important topics at Winterhalter. This has been independently controlled and certified in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard since 2010.

Winterhalter’s carbon footprint in Germany (Scope 1 and 2) with data from 2018 to 2022 enables us to better understand our CO₂ emissions and derive effective measures to achieve our CO₂ target. Drawing on data from 2023, an extension of the frame of reference for our entire group is planned for 2024.

Based on the results of the first materiality analysis, the Winterhalter sustainability strategy was developed in 2022 and 2023. Building on the established environmental management system and considering various stakeholders, five fields of business were identified.

As we know, the trend towards take-away food and to-go drinks has led to an increase in waste in public spaces. Food service businesses are increasingly acting in a more sustainable manner in this respect – and have been doing so since before it was a legal obligation. Reusable packaging reduces waste, but requires a professional and practical warewashing solution – such as the warewashing system for reusables that we launched in 2020. Winterhalter has been dealing with this topic since long before then: A drying cabinet for plastic cups was developed way back in the 1990s.

In addition to the PV system that will be connected to the grid in 2019, the new logistics centre at the headquarters in Meckenbeuren is equipped with a brine-water heat pump system.

In 2015, the “F 420 e” detergent and the “B 220 e” rinse aid were the first chemical products with the EU Ecolabel to be included in the Winterhalter product range. The EU Ecolabel is awarded to products that have a lower environmental impact compared to similar products.

With an output of 126 kWp, the first PV system was installed on the new development centre and assembly hall at the Meckenbeuren headquarters in 2013. Most of the generated energy is used directly for production and for the development centre.
 

Preventing accidents and protecting our employees in their daily work is an integral part of our corporate responsibility. Since 2010, Winterhalter’s occupational health and safety management system has been regularly monitored and certified according to the ISO 45001 standard (formerly OHSAS 18001).
 

As early as 1977, Winterhalter equipped the WBA (“Winterhalter Band Anlage”) conveyor dishwasher with a heat exchanger. Today, our machines are available with different heat recovery systems to take maximum advantage of the energy used.