Environmental Guidelines at Wincor Nixdorf.
Protecting the environment lies at the heart of our corporate strategy, which aims to promote sustainable, long-term growth. One of the ways in which we contribute towards the goal of sustainable development is by taking care to use a minimum of natural resources. We take a holistic approach that begins at the development stage and covers production, deployment, recycling and safe disposal. Our aim is to avoid or minimize any environmental impact by imposing strict guidelines that, in part, go beyond the requirements of current legislation.
Environmental Management System.
Wincor Nixdorf has implemented an environmental management system across the entire organization. This system forms the basis for further systematic development of measures to protect the environment. Our aim here is to optimize all our processes in order to improve the organization’s balance of services still further. During the year under review, we gradually extended the regular certification of management systems under DIN EN ISO 14001 to more of our subsidiaries. All the Group’s production-oriented companies have now been audited.
Reducing Emissions of Climate-changing Substances.
We take the threat of climate change very seriously and search for ways across our entire global production network by which we can further reduce our CO2 output. In Germany, for example, we are cutting our emissions using advanced cooling and heating plants. Our modern cogeneration plant in Paderborn is based on combined heat and power (CHP) and saves around 5,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. We are also commissioning a new turbo cooling system that works on the same principle as a cooling compressor. Thanks to its improved performance, it uses less power and produces lower emission levels. We are also active as sellers in the emissions trading market.
Compliance with Statutory Environmental Protection Regulations.
Protecting the environment matters to us. Therefore, we endeavor not only to comply with statutory requirements but to go beyond them in our careful use of resources. By way of example, we are implementing the European Directive entitled Restrictions on the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electronic Equipment (RoHS) in all our global production facilities. Another key focus of our environmental activities is the European Directive on the Return and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). All the necessary measures to ensure the proper implementation of both directives were finalized by Wincor Nixdorf during the year under review.
Sustainable Products and Production.
At Wincor Nixdorf, we believe that our duty to protect the environment is part of an ongoing process. We are not content to rest on our laurels but continue to search for even better solutions. Protecting the environment involves much more than just the production process; it covers the entire life cycle of our products, from their development and manufacture through to their subsequent use and recycling. As early as the development stage, we aim to create durable products and to avoid using environmentally damaging substances. Furthermore, we are about to commence operation of a new painting shop that, from an environmental perspective, provides a number of important benefits: low-solvent and solvent-free painting systems, greater energy efficiency thanks to heat-capture technology and a significant reduction in wastewater.
Not only are we reducing the amount of materials we use, we place great emphasis, too, on their reusability. If it is not possible to reuse old equipment as a complete unit, it can be given a new lease of life by extracting components and subassemblies for use as spare parts.
