Sustainability at HAILO
Social responsibility is our tradition
"If you buy cheap, you buy twice" is a saying that always comes to my mind when a tool or any other product comes to the end of its lifecycle after only having been used for a very short period of time. As a third-generation entrepreneur, I learned the values of responsibility, longevity and appreciation from my grandfather and founder of the HAILO company. What was already consciously lived back then, more than 70 years ago, has now additionally been anchored in writing in our corporate principles.
Our corporate principles invite all managers and employees to integrate these values into their daily working lives. This begins with the conscious use of energy and material resources and does not end with our view on our fellow human beings.
And it is reflected in our products and services, our work and our attitude towards life on this planet. Responsible action does not come free of charge. That is why we regularly invest in new technologies, increased efficiency and resource-saving processing.
Sebastian Loh
Owner jlu GROUP
People-oriented, sustainable corporate development is in the focus of everything we do. We create value for our customers as well as for our employees and acknowledge our responsibility towards society. We guarantee this through successful products and an honest, reliable partnership with our customers, employees and suppliers. This in turn has ensured the ongoing existence of our company and thus the jobs of our employees. We create attractive working conditions and use the available resources sparingly.
Sustainability is an integral part of our corporate strategy. A sustainability team set up specifically for this purpose reviews, evaluates and improves our ecological footprint through appropriate measures. We increasingly use recycled plastics, recyclable materials and renewable raw materials in our products and product packaging. Sustainability is an integral part of our entire supply chain.
Jörg Lindemann
Managing Director HAILO
Fields of action of our sustainability strategy
At HAILO, we understand sustainability as a long-term corporate value and as a responsibility towards our employees, customers and partners. To illustrate the importance of sustainability, it is on the one hand a central object of our strategy and on the other hand already giving direction to the handling of resources.
Strategic approach sustainability
Sustainability is one of the main approaches of our current corporate strategy. A dedicated sustainability team reviews, evaluates and improves our environmental footprint through appropriate measures.
Resource consumption
In a continuous process, resource consumption at HAILO is identified, evaluated and optimised through targeted measures such as the optimisation of factory lighting and digitalisation of administration.
Identifying potential for product packaging
We see further potential for saving resources in the use of our product packaging. More sustainable materials and processes can reduce consumption without compromising reliability, safety and efficient handling. For example, the purchase of a new film stretching and wrapping machine has saved more than 30% in film consumption.
HAILO has received silver EcoVadis award again
Sustainability and social responsibility are part of HAILO's corporate culture. This has now been confirmed once again by the renowned independent international platform for sustainability ratings EcoVadis. HAILO has received the "Silver" award for the seventh time in 2023. In the overall assessment of corporate social responsibility, or CSR for short, Hailo's score in the ranking is 81%. This means: HAILO belongs to the top 19% of the ranking and is thus clearly above the average of the companies evaluated by EcoVadis.
"We are very pleased about the repeated silver rating from EcoVadis as recognition for our responsible actions. This is what reassures us to invest resources in a sustainable economic success even in future," affirms HAILO Managing Director Jörg Lindemann.
The four key factors of corporate social responsibility
EcoVadis offers a unique assessment methodology and smart, collaborative tools that allow participants not only to see where they stand in terms of their CSR but also to achieve performance improvement in their sustainable business practices. EcoVadis has defined key factors for this purpose:
In this way, companies can use EcoVadis monitoring to develop a comprehensive CSR concept that takes every factor of their business activities into account.
Energy and power management
Efficient energy and power management does not only save a lot of costs, but also treats resources with care. At HAILO, we pursue this goal in several ways. An elementary component of efficient energy and power management is its certification. Only through regular independent audits we can keep our energy management up-to-date. The focus on environmentally friendly e-mobility in our own company's vehicle fleet is also one of these ways. The independent generation of electricity also contributes to achieving the goal of the highest possible efficiency in energy and electricity consumption. With our own combined heat and power plant, we generate a large part of the energy required for the production processes on our own.
Energy Management ISO 50001
DIN EN ISO 50001 is an international standard for energy management systems and was first published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2011. Our systematic energy management is a suitable instrument for continuously increasing energy efficiency in our company. This has now proven itself over many years and we are proud of having been re-certified again in 2021 according to DIN EN ISO 50001/ 2018 by a neutral institute.
Thanks to an energy management system, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions and thus also costs can be reduced. Through annual periodic audits and re-certifications after three years, certifications support the continuous improvement of our energy management system.
Use of ecologically generated electricity
From January 2022, HAILO will be purchasing TÜV-certified green electricity. This means that HAILO is transferring its purchased electricity completely to ecologically produced supply and is thus taking a further step towards the regional energy turnaround.
Green electricity stands for a distinction from conventionally produced electricity out of nuclear energy or fossil raw materials such as coal or petroleum. The terms natural electricity or green electricity are often used as well. Green electricity tariffs are primarily focussed on promoting the expansion of the regenerative electricity grid.
With the decision to now change completely to certified green electricity, we want to set an example. The comparatively low additional costs are therefore justifiable.
Download
- EVM certificate 100% green electricity (PDF, 385 KB)
Promoting environmentally friendly e-mobility
The number of electrified vehicles in our company's fleet is growing continuously. Both the state subsidies for users and companies and the communicated corporate culture are contributing to a change in thinking here.
At the Haiger site, two electric charging stations were already set up 5 years ago, which are available for company, customer and visitor vehicles. In the meantime, 24 additional charging stations have been installed on the factory premises.
Combined heat and power unit to generate our own electricity
When heating systems are getting older, it makes sense to change to the latest and future-oriented technology for both economic and ecological reasons. HAILO already decided for gas in 2015 and hydraulically optimised its system in 2016, adding new distributors. Subsequently, a future-oriented energy concept was developed and implemented in 2018. A very efficient large-scale combined heat and power plant (CHP) with 360 kW of electrical and 380 kW of thermal output is now in operation. HAILO saves around 600 tonnes of CO₂ and 25% of costs per year with the new electricity-generating plant.
The conversion of the energy centre and the installation of the new condensing boilers have also been completed in the meantime. Here, special emphasis was placed on environmentally friendly technology. The new boilers are expected to save an additional 90 tonnes of CO₂ each year. The entire system with CHP, boiler, distribution and control reduces our CO₂ emissions by more than 20%.
CO₂-neutral shipping
Since 2020, HAILO has been sending its individual shipements with the parcel services DHL and GLS in a CO₂-neutral way. In 2021, the parcel volume via GLS was around 170,000 parcels. In the same period, we shipped more than 30,000 parcels via DHL 2-man handling (DHL2MH), DHL's logistics solution for large or bulky goods.
Thus, more than 200,000 shipments were transported to the customer through the cooperation with the two parcel service providers. These shipments are completely climate-neutral through the use of 100% green electricity, the use of electric vehicles or compensation through the support of reforestation projects, among other things.
GLS Climate Protect
By changing to climate-neutral shipping, the parcel service provider GLS plans to save 160,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually. On the one hand, this saving is to be ensured through certified reforestation projects, which compensate for emissions generated by parcel transport.
On the other hand, GLS Germany invests in the reduction and avoidance of emissions. For the future, the service provider has determined the goal of using 100 percent sustainable electricity and expanding its fleet with e-vehicles, as well as investing in additional charging infrastructure and promoting emission-free delivery in inner cities. We at HAILO support this project and are therefore particularly happy to enter into a partnership with GLS.
DHL Go Green
Since 2011, DHL has transported all national parcels and packages to private customers in a CO₂-neutral manner by investing in global climate protection projects, thus helping to save the environment.
Through this climate-neutral GoGreen service, DHL not only offsets emissions, but also cooperates with its customers to help boosting the economies of less developed countries. This also actively improves the living conditions of local people.
The logistics company has also set itself the goal of reducing all logistics-related emissions to zero by 2050. We at HAILO consider this goal worthy of support and are therefore happy to cooperate with DHL.
Cooperations on the topic of sustainability
Sustainability is an important issue for us, which is why we want to actively promote the topic and further increase awareness for it. For this reason, we at HAILO have entered into cooperations with a variety of partners. These include participation in the "Waste separation works" campaign and in the "grünergriff" value and quality community.
In order to reinforce the local forests, we will also participate in a tree planting campaign in spring 2022. With the Hailo Digital Hub, we have founded a spin-off that develops customer-centric and technology-based indoor waste solutions.
Tree sponsorship for 11,000 trees in Haiger-Burbach
Drought, various storms and the bark beetle have taken their toll on Central European forests in recent years. Particularly because of the bark beetle infestation, some areas had to be cleared in order to limit its further spread. These cleared areas must now be reforested so that the forest can once again fulfil its climate-protecting role in the future.
HAILO is committed to being a tree sponsor in the local area. In the spring of 2022, 11,000 trees were planted. This reforestation campaign is being implemented in the course of a cooperation with the Jordan company in Kassel (JoKa). In this specific case, in a forest in nearby Burbach.
Campaign "Waste separation works"
In 2021, mankind will have extracted more than 70 percent more natural resources from the earth than nature can renew in the same period of time. Therefore, resource conservation is one of the great challenges of our time. One way to do this is to recycle packaging as efficiently as possible, because this keeps the valuable materials in the economic cycle. Instead of consuming new ones, resources can be used several times over. Recycling does not only conserves resources, but also our climate. Because the recycling of packaging saves at least 3.1 million tonnes of CO₂ just in Germany!
The most important prerequisite that recycling works as well as possible is correct waste separation. Only packaging that is correctly disposed of in the yellow bag or the yellow bin remains in the recycling system. If they end up in the residual waste, the recyclable materials are mostly burnt and are lost forever. Conversely, incorrectly disposed residual waste in the yellow bag or the yellow bin makes recycling more difficult or even impossible.
The initiative "Mülltrennung wirkt" (Waste separation works), in which HAILO is also involved, provides information about correct waste separation, recycling in Germany and the associated benefits.
Cooperation with "grünergriff" furniture trade
"Grünergriff" is a community of values with the intention of bringing sustainability and regionality into the focus of consumers and at the same time to create greater transparency for consumers. The aim of the initiative is to inform and by doing so to implement conscious consumer behaviour in cooperation with the regional specialised trade.
In addition to our numerous individual activities because of being a part of this community, we demonstrate that we are not only constantly raising awareness for the topic of sustainability within our own company; with our sustainable products and services, we want to support consumers and the specialised trade in taking the next step towards sustainability together with us.
Cooperation with HAILO Digital Hub
Fighting climate change with intelligent waste disposal - that's the motto of the Hailo Digital Hub. Founded as a spin-off from HAILO, its goal is to develop customer-centric and technology-based indoor waste solutions. The growing team uses the full potential of new technologies, methods, networks and partnerships to develop real innovation for commercial customers.
One concept that addresses climate change, sustainability and digitalisation is smart waste management. It aims to make waste disposal more efficient and greener by, for example, emptying containers only when needed. For making this work, data is collected with the help of digital sensors that measure the respective filling levels of the containers and then analysed by software. The software then calculates an optimal route for the disposal. This route is transmitted to a vehicle's navigation system so that the containers are always emptied at the right time. As a result, there are no overfilled or empty drives. Consequently, CO₂ emissions are also lower and noise and odour pollution get reduced.
Social commitment
At HAILO we are aware of our social responsibility in the region and beyond, and as an employer we want to offer our employees the best possible working conditions.
The satisfaction of our employees is close to our hearts, because the key to our success is up to them, their innovative ideas and their commitment. This means that every single employee is valuable and contributes to the big picture. This is the only way that everyone can optimally develop their potential, grow and feel good. In addition to an interesting working environment, we therefore offer our employees a balanced mix of various benefits.
But we at HAILO are also involved in social projects outside of our company, for example through our cooperation with Lebenshilfe Dillenburg or our annual Christmas donations.
Lebenshilfe Dillenburg
A cooperation between Lebenshilfe Dillenburg and HAILO has existed since 1968 - long before the integration of disabled people became a political issue. The disabled people employed by Hailo are integrated into the production process under professional supervision. Currently, 20 employees and 2 supervisors from Lebenshilfe Dillenburg are working in our company.
Their activities include picking and mounting small assemblies and sets of accessories. This also includes direct work for the assembly segments.
Mentally disabled people experience social bonding in the Lebenshilfe workshops or through assignments at other companies. Having their own facilities for individual care and support, but at the same time always being open to the outside world - this is the motto of Lebenshilfe Dillenburg. HAILO joins this openness and shares a canteen with Lebenshilfe. Here, uncomplicated exchange and encounters are possible, for example during the lunch break.
Donations to charitable regional organisations
Already the company's founder Rudolf Loh was committed to assume social responsibility as an entrepreneur. Both his son Joachim and his grandson Sebastian Loh - the current owner of the company, now in its third generation - continue to uphold this good tradition to this day.
At HAILO, for example, it is customary for employees to donate a voluntary amount to a non-profit or charitable organisation at Christmas. This donation gets verified to them by a donation receipt, which allows the employees to claim it on their tax return. Sebastian Loh then doubles the amount thus collected once again. The employees themselves decide on the recipients of the Christmas donation.