"New KraussMaffei" is to be climate-neutral by 2030

25.07.2022

At the trade show, the KraussMaffei company is reaffirming its claim to expand its market position as a leading supplier of sustainable solutions for the plastics industry. KraussMaffei also aims to be completely climate-neutral by 2030.

"As a major player in the plastics industry, KraussMaffei always keeps its responsibility for current and future generations in mind. That is why we are building the new KraussMaffei," says KraussMaffei CEO Dr. Michael Ruf. The company's 185th anniversary in 2023 also marks the beginning of a new, sustainable era: In eight years, in 2030, the entire company will be climate-neutral.

The sustainability goals of KraussMaffei

Image: A view of the future buildings of the new KraussMaffei headquarters in Parsdorf (rendering). On its roofs a huge photovoltaic system; Copyright: KraussMaffei Group GmbH.

A view of the future buildings of the new KraussMaffei headquarters in Parsdorf (rendering). One of the largest rooftop photovoltaic systems in Europe with an output of 8.0 megawatt peak (MwP) is currently being built there. Source: KraussMaffei Group GmbH

On the way to this goal - the "new KraussMaffei" - the company has set itself the following milestones:

By 2023, KraussMaffei achieves the "Silver" rating level of the world's most reliable sustainability rating from EcoVadis.
By 2025, KraussMaffei is one of the best machine system manufacturers for the plastics industry in the areas of sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
By 2027, KraussMaffei reaches the EcoVadis rating level "Gold".
By 2030, KraussMaffei will achieve a corporate carbon footprint of zero - all plants worldwide will be operated in a CO2-neutral manner.
By 2035, KraussMaffei achieves a Product Carbon Footprint of zero - all machines are manufactured in a CO2-neutral manner.

CEO Ruf says: "Generally speaking, sustainability is an added value - for us and for our customers. In line with our motto "We make plastic green", we therefore aim to be a leading global supplier of sustainable solutions for the plastics processing industry by 2025 - with increasingly sustainable production. That is our aspiration. That's what we measure ourselves against."

New plants make the sustainability strategy visible

The new plant in Laatzen and the new Group headquarters in Parsdorf near Munich will meet the highest environmental standards. This means modern building technology with one of the largest roof-mounted photovoltaic systems in Europe, a combined heat and power plant, heating and cooling sails in the offices, active hall ventilation and intelligent LED lighting with light and motion sensors. Both sites are certified according to the DGNB system (German Association for Sustainable Building).

State-of-the-art recycling technologies and digital solutions

Image: Future location of KraussMaffei Extrusion in Laatzen (rendering). Three large and two small building complexes on one road and at the same time in the countryside; Copyright: KraussMaffei Group

The future location of KraussMaffei Extrusion in Laatzen (rendering). A center for the development of solutions for the circular economy - a supporting pillar of KraussMaffei's corporate strategy - is being built here. Source: KraussMaffei Group GmbH

In order to achieve the ambitious sustainability goals, the circular economy is a supporting pillar of KraussMaffei's corporate strategy. As a recycling pioneer, the company already has more than three decades of experience in researching as well as developing the preparation and reprocessing of recycled plastics. Customers have already recycled more than one million tons of plastics with the help of their KraussMaffei systems. To this end, KraussMaffei offers its customers state-of-the-art recycling technologies and digital solutions - ideal for the business models of our time.

KraussMaffei relies on mechanical as well as solvent-based and chemical processes. These enable our customers to achieve higher energy efficiency in production, waste reduction and circular economy with recycled material. "With our pioneering line-up, many of our customers are already meeting their own sustainability targets," says CEO Ruf.

New product strategy

KraussMaffei is continuously improving the design of their products to achieve consistent or even improved product quality with less energy and material input. Some of the innovative solutions will be on show at K 2022: the new precisionMolding and powerMolding injection molding machine series, the new DCIM (Direct Compounding Injection Molding) ZE Blue Power, and digital solutions such as APCplus and socialProduction. This is also reflected in the order intake. In the first quarter of 2022, order intake was just under 370 million euros - an increase of 27 percent compared to the prior-year quarter.