In the "Circular Competence" interview series, the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association asks its member companies about their plans, solutions and challenges on the road to a circular economy. What can the industry do to minimise the ecological footprint of packaging and other printed products?

Frankfurt – Dr. Eva Boll, Head of Corporate Sustainability at HEIDELBERG, explains in an interview how the Group is proceeding to meet its voluntary commitment to climate neutrality by 2030.

By the middle of the century, the leading industrial nations want to have a climate-neutral economy. Is this goal realistic in your view?
In view of the progressing climate change and the global political situation, which makes us painfully aware of our dependence on fossil energy sources, I see the goal as quite realistic. However, it demands massive transformation efforts from the industrialised nations.

What is HEIDELBERG doing to make its own production climate-neutral?
In view of the voluntary commitment to climate neutrality by 2030, we are putting all processes to the test. HEIDELBERG is not starting from scratch. We have had an environmental management system for several years, are certified according to 14001 and defined clear environmental goals for our production sites years ago, which we implement through continuous improvement processes. It's all about energy efficiency, which is usually directly linked to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With a view to our 2030 target, we are developing a transformation concept that considers the changed political framework conditions. After all, politics also clearly stipulates that we must become climate neutral. This forces us to question every process. We are carrying out potential analyses at all production sites, with which we can reduce GHG emissions. Every kilowatt hour saved counts. We will also increase our own production of renewable energy. We already have photovoltaic systems, but we still see a lot of potential here. The purchase of green energy is another option. On the other hand, we are critical of the purchase of GHG certificates for the neutralisation of our production sites. Offsetting is only an option for unavoidable emissions - for a transitional period until 2040, at the latest, after which we want to operate climate-neutrally under our own steam. We can currently see how challenging this goal is with our combined heat and power plant, which runs on natural gas to generate electricity and heat. We need to find a new solution quickly. Whether hydrogen comes into question, biomass or a heat pump will have to be clarified. What currently helps us is that we have developed many energy efficiency concepts in recent years that were not economically feasible due to low energy prices. We are now drawing on this pool and exploiting all the potential: green electricity for the electric melting furnaces in our foundry, optimised compressed air, drive and drying technology and LED lighting. In the search for solutions, we exchange ideas with partners from research and our networks in order to learn from their best practices.

How do you support your customers in producing more energy efficiently?
Here, too, we can draw on years of experience. We have been carrying out life cycle assessments of our products since 2012 and have been offering our customers the option of making their machines climate-neutral through offset certificates for many years. In our development, we generally subject new developments to an ecological product review, in which we focus not only on compliance with environmental laws in the target market, but also on energy efficiency. These efforts are having an impact: to print 1,000 sheets with our presses, our customers need on average 40 per cent less energy than 20 years ago. On request, we equip the presses with energy meters to create transparency. We also offer targeted advice to teach them energy-efficient operating strategies. This includes printing faster because the basic load is distributed over more output. A lot of attention is also paid to efficient drive technology, which is important in view of decreasing print runs and more frequent starts and stops. Reducing waste and more efficient drying technologies are also on the agenda. The latter include the use of UV LEDs in UV printing, turbo radial instead of side channel blowers and reduced distances between the sheet and the dryer. The push-to-stop philosophy we have introduced can also shorten makeready times, which also saves energy. In fact, more and more customers are asking for efficiency solutions because their clientele is also taking a closer look and the demand for climate- and environmentally friendly print products is rising rapidly.

What role does the topic play in your research and development?
The ecological product review already mentioned has been firmly anchored in our guidelines since 2013. Every development project goes through it. This ensures that every project is also based on ecological criteria. In addition, we are pushing ahead with projects that focus on energy efficiency. We have been working in close partnerships with our suppliers for many years because innovations and the integration of more efficient solutions usually have an impact on installation spaces. This creates a need for coordination. Our partners also give us information when regulatory innovations are announced in their area, so that we can develop solutions at an early stage. Of course, this also applies to climate neutrality throughout the entire supply chain. Cooperation with research institutes and universities is also important - both regarding technological innovations and for questions of environmental and climate accounting. Because there is a lack of binding standards here, we are involved in standardisation committees under the umbrella of the VDMA.

What would you like to see from legislators on the road to climate neutrality?
The industry needs planning security and binding rules that remain valid for longer than one legislative period. Compromises between security of supply and reduction targets as well as practicable support offers are needed. In principle, the EU has set the right direction with the "Green Deal". In this country, too, there is broad agreement on the climate targets. However, the current need to compensate for the lack of natural gas with coal shows us the challenges of the transformation. For companies that are not yet involved in European emissions trading, regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the new EU taxonomy bring major changes. They are increasingly under pressure to minimise their GHG emissions and document their measures. Despite all the criticism of the taxonomy, which also poses problems for us because it ignores large parts of our economic activities, I think the path we have taken is basically the right one. GHG emissions and the ecological footprint of products must first be recorded in order to develop meaningful reduction strategies. There is a willingness to do this in the mechanical and plant engineering sector. Our industry has long since set out and is pushing forward engineering solutions for a climate-neutral industry with great seriousness. We at HEIDELBERG are actively pushing this development.