«It is worth investing in renewable energies.»
Sustainability is one of four strategic priorities at Datwyler, as the plant manager at the Schattdorf site, Reto Burkart, explains in an interview.
Is it true that the Datwyler plant in Schattdorf (UR) has been climate-neutral since 2012?
Reto Burkart: Yes, that is correct.
And how did you achieve this goal so early?
There were two independent activities that led to this. Thanks to a new external partner, we were able to replace our oil heating with a wood heating plant in 2008. Since then, the process and heating energy for our plant has been generated using wood chips. In addition, since 2012 we have been using certified electricity from hydropower.
What can other companies learn from your (temporal) know-how advantage?
I think a company should have some basic knowledge in-house when it comes to sustainable energy. But you shouldn’t always try to take everything completely into your own hands. We have always worked with external specialists who can take on such issues and have much more specific know-how than we do. But it is important that you know your partner and can trust him.
Would you have thought that the topic of sustainability would one day become so important?
Yes, of course, and we were and are prepared for this and will not stop working on the topic. Of course it is more “en vogue” today to take on sustainability, but in my opinion we as a company have been benefiting from this setup for a long time, because sustainability does not only refer to energy and material consumption. The health and safety of employees are also part of this.
What are your goals for the next ten years?
As far as the health and safety of employees is concerned, we at the Schattdorf site are working to increase understanding of the importance of these issues through many small internal programs. In this regard, we also work very intensively with external partners such as SUVA.
With regard to the environment, we are constantly working to reduce the absolute and relative consumption of fuel, electricity and water as well as the amount of waste. In addition, Datwyler has set itself the goal of being climate-neutral at all locations worldwide by 2030.
