Environment management

Minimizing environmental impact

GTP Schäfer places great value on manufacturing at near-zero emissions, and on delivering low-environmental-impact products. Protecting our environment and using resources responsibly are part of everything we do. We are committed to minimizing our impact on the environment. Our DIN EN ISO 14001-certified environmental management system allows us to continually improve processes within the life cycle of a product in order to reduce climate impact, improve the resource efficiency and the environment-friendliness of our purchasing, ensure compliance with legal standards, and involve employees in all of the above. To implement this system, an energy and environment team has been established, which meets regularly to discuss relevant issues, set targets, and implement measures to reduce our environmental and climate footprint.

This process starts with the choice of suppliers, who are checked according to a catalog of relevant criteria. Our purchasing team examines the following issues:

• Does the potential supplier have its own environmental management system?
• Does the choice of supplier minimize transport distances? Is packaging minimized? Is reusable packaging employed?
• How environmentally friendly is disposal after use?

The control mechanism that monitors which raw materials we use is even more intensive. This includes an interdepartmental evaluation of relevant environmental, legal, and safety issues before any new raw material is used. Moreover, we check recurrently to see if more acceptable substitutes are available for all substances used that carry environmental risks.

• We try to reuse rather than dispose of waste products. Unused materials are mechanically prepared, marginalized, and reused to the extent possible.
• Dust which is produced is filtered out of the air and reintroduced into the production process.
• The health and happiness of our employees is very important to us. We therefore regularly check noise levels and implement measures to further reduce noise exposure.
• Since 2021, we have been using a recirculating filter system that treats the water used by the production processes and returns it to the production process or cleaning process.
• Packaging such as IBCs, barrels, and drums are sent for reconditioning so that they can be reused to the extent possible. This strategy greatly reduces both waste and emissions.
• We separate our waste to enable recycling. Paper, plastics, and FIBCs are collected and reused to the extent possible.
• To reduce fluoride build-up in the sand used by the foundries we supply, we offer both standard low-fluoride risers and fluoride-free risers. Instead of fluoride, sodium silicate is used as an environmentally friendly, inorganic binder.