Group Management Report Products Safety Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 87
decreases
by more than 30,000 cubic meters a year, the
CO² emissions by 660 tons.
Our German sites in Wesel and Hamburg as well as our
sites in Foshan (China) and Louisville (U.S.) also contribute
to climate
protection. At its Louisville site, ECKART was able
to reduce its gas consumption after it had replaced three
of its five devices for distilling white spirit with a centrifuge
in 2016. The Wesel site managed to reduce its CO² emissions
by more than 900 tons a year. Among other things, the
optimization of the thermal incineration system contributed
to this result. In addition, the company optimized the compressed
air and nitrogen facility such that no more leaks
could arise. Such leaks had been identified by the company’s
trainees within the framework of a so-called energy scout
project.
In Hamburg, ELANTAS managed to reduce its CO² emissions
by 370 tons a year. This was achieved, on the one
hand, by improving the energy efficiency of the cooling systems.
On the other hand, the thermal exhaust air cleaning
system was optimized. It harnesses the exhaust heat resulting
from combustion of waste gases to heat the production
vessels and the buildings. At the same time, this leads to a
reduction of the annual costs for the purchase of natural
gas. In Foshan, ACTEGA ensured a significant reduction of
VOC emissions by installing a new thermal exhaust air
cleaning system.
The introduction of innovative LED technologies for
lighting is another measure that will enable several Group
companies to reduce electricity consumption in the future.
In 2016, our Bremen, Hamburg, and Hartenstein sites
in Germany, and our Chester, Gonzales, Louisville, Painesville,
and Schererville sites in the U.S. made corresponding
investments.
Another way of driving climate protection forward is by
choosing a suitable electricity supplier. With its selection
of the company that will supply electricity to the ten manufacturing
sites in Germany from 2017 to 2019, ALTANA
managed to identify a sustainable supplier. This was preceded
by a Germany-wide request for proposal in which eleven
companies took part. The selection criteria included the sup-
pliers’ service (20 %) as well as economic efficiency and
sustainability (each 40 %). Among the sustainability criteria
were the CO² values of the potential supplier, the share
of renewable energies
in its electricity mix, and its sustainabil-
ity strategy.
Conserving Water
At ALTANA, water is playing an ever more important role in
many manufacturing processes. In general, the Group’s
companies treat the resulting wastewater such that it can
be fed into the sewage system or, if there is no other
option,
disposed of as special waste. Wherever possible,
ALTANA
invests in technologies that foster careful management
of the valuable resource water. In 2016, the companies
also made progress in this area, and their efforts
will pay off in the years to come.
At its Schkopau site, BYK installed a new cooling circuit
system that will curtail the use of river water by 90 % in
the coming year. With the new system, the cooling capacity
remains constant throughout the year. There will be a slight
drawback, however, as the resulting electricity consumption
will increase moderately. At their Chester and Foshan sites,
BYK and ACTEGA, respectively, invested in special recycling
technologies in 2016. These technologies ensure that used
water can be utilized in the process of waste disposal and to
clean plants, thus cutting the total water consumption.
Furthermore,
at the Chester site changes in the organization
of production should reduce the amount of water needed
to clean the production vessels.