Sustainability at ElringKlinger

1 | PRODUCTS AND INNOVATIONS Although nobody knows yet what the mobility of the day after tomorrow will look like, one thing is certain: it will be virtually emission-free. This will be achieved by many countries imposing tougher laws and through society’s commitment to mitigating climate change and protecting the environment. More and more people are making an effort to shrink their personal footprint and are ready to embrace new technologies, as shown not least by the robust demand for zero-emission vehicles. The transformation under way in the automotive industry is accelerating rapidly, and the sector is working hard to align its existing production and processes with the new requirements.

ElringKlinger is not standing idly by while this major transition unfolds. As an automotive supplier, the Group has been working for over two decades on its vision of facilitating large-volume, emission-free mobility and becoming independent of vehicles powered by combustion engines. These efforts have resulted in an extensive range of products that harness the new drive technologies, that reflect the Group’s core areas of expertise – coating, punching, embossing, molding, and plastic injection molding – and that are already being mass-produced in some cases. Primarily, however, the Group has taken on an important and pioneering role in electromobility by working together with other key players. This is fostering fruitful development partnerships that will also allow other forms of mobility such as aviation to achieve net zero, for example. As an enabler of a climate-neutral future, ElringKlinger always has an eye on the environmental impact of its individual products as well, because this must also be kept as low as possible to support the circular economy.

2 | ENVIRONMENT AND QUALITY So small yet so consequential: carbon dioxide is merely a molecule. Yet its impact is manifold: it fuels the greenhouse effect, allows life to exist on Earth, and is also one of the causes of the greatest challenge of the 21st century – the climate crisis. For over a thousand years, it and other natural greenhouse gases kept the global average near-surface temperature of the Earth at just under 15 degrees Celsius. But the Industrial Revolution threw this out of kilter. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as the expansion of industrial production and changes to land use modified the mass balance of the atmosphere, thus magnifying the natural greenhouse effect and steadily warming the Earth. The consequences of this have been striking: blazing heat, lengthy droughts, hurricanes, and unmanageable floods triggered by heavy rain or earthquakes are becoming increasingly common.

Although measures to protect the environment have been put in place across the board in recent years, they are not enough. Society is still pumping out vast quantities of harmful emissions – too much to stop global heating. In fact, the eleventh hour has come and gone. Many changes, particularly in the oceans, on the ice sheets, and in global water levels, are already irreversible – even over a very long period of time – due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions. This makes it all the more important that we as a society now act fast and judiciously so that we can limit the impact of climate change in the long term.

ElringKlinger is actively embracing its responsibility to protect the climate and has set a Group-wide target for reducing greenhouse gases. The Group aims to become carbon-neutral in net terms by 2030 in respect of its own business activities (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) and has identified four fields of activity to this end. These include: (1) increasing energy efficiency at company sites by 2.5% a year (baseline year: 2019) by optimizing existing production processes and making existing systems and buildings more energy efficient; and (2) generating more of its own electricity by, for example, using more waste heat or fitting solar panels. In the third field of activity, the Group will be switching all its electricity supply contracts from gray to green electricity by 2030. Any emissions that are absolutely unavoidable will be offset by investing in external carbon reduction projects.

ElringKlinger’s stated aim is to raise awareness of environmentally sustainable behavior within the Group in order to minimize its environmental impact together with all its staff.

It will not stop there, however, because sustainability at ElringKlinger does not begin and end at the factory gates. The Group also encourages and demands full commitment on the part of its suppliers in terms of implementing sustainability programs as well as creating transparency. After all, sustainability is a key prerequisite for shared long-term success.

3 | EMPLOYEES Exactly 9,540 people shape the ElringKlinger Group and keep it moving. All of them have different roles within the Group. But regardless of whether they are development engineers, sales executives, or production assistants, they have always pursued a common aim: to guide the company into the future with enthusiasm and pioneering spirit, as the past 140 or more years demonstrate.

The skills of ElringKlinger’s employees are shaped by their different backgrounds, cultures, and experience. Intercultural diversity and tolerance are key values for a company to possess in a globalized world. For this reason, diversity, equal opportunities, and workplace equality are among the most important values that influence what goes on every day. This allows all employees to bring their professional and personal strengths to bear in the best possible way and help shape the transformation toward emission-neutral mobility.

ElringKlinger is continuing on the road to a digital, interconnected, and global world of work with agility and openness. It is making every effort to retain the long-term loyalty of its employees so that, together, it and they can work to further develop the mobility of the future. The Group therefore has a clear mission to be an attractive employer that can offer its staff the best possible conditions, including wide-ranging career opportunities, flexible working time models, fair pay, and forward-looking opportunities for continuing professional development.