Concrete paths to sustainability

Sustainability is undoubtedly one of the great buzzwords of the 21st century. In concrete terms, this means that our ecological, economic and socio-cultural resources on earth should only be used and consumed to the extent that they will still be available to future generations in the same quantity and quality.

The corporate goal of sustainability consciously has its place alongside other values in the brand essence of DREI V GmbH and, to be honest, represents a new challenge for our team every day. Because in addition to environmental issues, social components and the type of corporate governance also play an important role for us. Experts also speak here of ESG criteria (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance), which are to be taken into account. The ecological footprint of a company is a very good way of identifying relevant key figures. Here you can see an example of the factors that determine the ecological footprint of DREI V GmbH, among others:

Key figures documenting the ecological footprint of DREI V GmbH.

In the meantime, private individuals and company managers in almost all sectors know that it will not work without nature today and in the future. The environment and the economy are almost always in an ambivalent relationship with each other, because economic success requires raw materials from nature and without intact nature, renewable raw materials, such as wood for our corrugated cardboard products, will become scarce. We at DREI V have therefore decided that we will follow words with measurable actions that result in concrete projects. Here are a few examples:

Beehives on the company premises

Beehive on the DREI V company premises.

Since 2019, there have been a total of 6 beehives with lots of busy bees on the extensive company premises of DREI V GmbH in the east of Munich. We are not saving the world with this, but we are setting a visible sign against the threatening insect and bee mortality. From the professional organisation of a bee colony, we can even gain valuable insights for our own management, be it the division of labour, the climate in the hive or the organisation and communication among each other. Honey bees have existed for over 40 million years and have been practising "agile management" ever since - a term that has recently also become "state of the art" in successful corporate management.

Do you know the DREI V organic blossom honey from Bavaria?

Our bee colonies collect their pollen in the surrounding fields and, under the guidance of a professional beekeeper, we even produce genuine DREI V organic blossom honey. Of course, our team also takes care of the bees' well-being and likes to visit the hives from a safe distance during the break. Many a jar of blossom honey has already made it onto the desks of our customers as a sustainable gift.

Solar panels on the company building

The keyword is renewable energies: Everyone is talking about the energy turnaround, but we at DREI V have also decided to take concrete action in this area. Therefore, in 2011, for example, the flat roof of our company building with office and production site in Kirchheim-Heimstetten was completely equipped with modern solar collectors. With a total area of around 2,000 square metres, we generate around 93,000 kilowatt hours of emission-free solar electricity year after year. Admittedly, this amount of electricity is still nowhere near enough to fully operate our energy-intensive production facilities, but we see it as an important step towards sustainable business.

Solar panels on the company building in Kirchheim-Heimstetten.

Of course, we also pay attention in production to ensuring that only as much energy as necessary is used and that large electricity consumers in the company are successively modernised or completely replaced. Since 2015, we at DREI V have been consistently pursuing our own sustainability strategy in the building and production area with a working group.

Some examples:

  • ­In 2015, the entire company building was professionally insulated. This enables us to save around 10 percent of gas energy and significant amounts of CO2 in heating costs every year.

  • ­In 2016, our experts completely modernised the compressor technology for our own production machines, enabling us to achieve electricity savings of around 15 percent per year in the area of compressed air supply.

  • ­In 2017 and 2018, the PLC control for controlling the drive motors was replaced on 2 gluing machines, so that there is now an annual electricity saving of approx. 15 percent per machine.

  • ­A further 15 percent electricity can be saved annually since 2019 through the purchase of a new baler.

In all these projects, DREI V GmbH was also allowed to take advantage of government subsidy programmes, as the energy savings mentioned could be proven accordingly. And of course our team will continue to look for measurable energy-saving solutions in the future, because every step, no matter how small, is an important building block on the way to a sustainably managed company.

Solar electricity can be generated without emissions.

Communication and fleet with modern technology

Online conferences have been an integral part of communication at DREI V since before the 2020 virus crisis. Our field staff only visit our customers by car when there are specific projects to discuss. This saves fossil fuels, unnecessary kilometres and valuable life and working time.

Online video conferences complement on-site visits.

Since 2018, we have also been successfully working with our partners to optimise our fleet management. In 2020/2021, for example, the first company vehicles with diesel engines were replaced by more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. Of course, we are continuing along this path: that is why we have also had two electric charging stations on the company premises since 2020, which can be used by our employees and our customers.

Electromobility and its own charging stations are part of the equipment at DREI V GmbH.

The forklifts used in our production halls offer additional savings potential: new vehicles in the forklift fleet, in which we are successively investing, require around 10 per cent less energy. We are always open to new, innovative ideas and technologies when it comes to our vehicle fleet, because after all, there is nothing that can't be done just a little bit better.