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The aim is to promote responsible action, support social projects and also provide inspiration to improve sustainability not only in the company but also in private life.

Right at the beginning of the week, sustainable lighthouse projects within the company presented their improvements to the entire KNAUER company. The aim was to learn from each other and explore further potential. One highlight was the result of the evaluation of two KNAUER analysis systems for the “ACT” environmental label. This is a certification from mygreenlab.org, which independently determines the environmental impact of a laboratory product and makes it comparable with others. The two HPLC systems that KNAUER submitted for evaluation not only had a very good result, but also the lowest ‚Environmental Impact Factor‘ of all over 1300 laboratory devices evaluated to date. More and more laboratory customers are also paying attention to environmental aspects when making investments.

On Tuesday, Eva Baumgärtner and Valentin Franklin from the “Berlin Alliance for Biodiversity”, an association of Berlin companies supported by the DIHK, gave a presentation for KNAUER. The aim of the initiative is to actively promote biodiversity and integrate measures to this end into corporate practice. KNAUER officially joined this alliance on Tuesday.

The charitable “The Hand Project”, which was a guest on Wednesday, provided a moving experience. Under professional guidance, KNAUER employees from various departments assembled four mechanical prosthetic hands from around 30 individual parts each. The Hand Project has set itself the goal of donating prostheses free of charge to people who have no or damaged hands or arms as a result of landmines, accidents or birth. The members of the project have been developing and producing the prostheses in Berlin for over 10 years. In the target countries, such as Uganda or Nepal, they adapt the prostheses individually to the recipients on site. Such a prosthesis can have a very positive impact on the lives of those affected. The Hand Project is financed by donations and company events such as those hosted by KNAUER. (www.thehandproject-berlin.de)

Our own lifestyle and eating habits have an impact on our climate footprint that should not be underestimated. On Thursday, a 2-hour zero-waste cooking course took place with Thore Hildebrandt, who is known for his vegan and creative dishes. The course is about not wasting food. That’s why the participants also brought along some of their “leftovers”, some of which were past their best-before date or already a little wilted. The expert looked at what could still be turned into delicious meals. The participants were delighted.

On the last day of the action week, the 50-minute documentary “Denkste Puppe” (Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person) by Hanna Schygulla and Veronika Urban was screened – the latter spoke the introductory words. It is the sequel to the film “The Unaccompanied”, which portrayed four young refugees in 2017. This is about social responsibility, support and opportunities. The special aspect is that one of the protagonists is a colleague who came to Berlin as an unaccompanied minor refugee and successfully completed an apprenticeship at KNAUER. He still works at the company today. (www.filmohnegrenzen.de/film/denkste-puppe/)

“Sustainability has many facets, which we are demonstrating with this colorful program. We all have points of contact with the topics surrounding sustainability. I am therefore delighted that our employees are actively participating in the various offers,” said Managing Director Alexandra Knauer.

Anyone who was interested could register for the activities, most of which took several hours, with time being counted as work hours. There are new offers every year, so that the Sustainability Week at KNAUER has a topic for almost everyone to get involved in.

KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH develops and manufactures high-tech laboratory instruments, e.g. HPLC systems, that can be used to perform analyses or to purify valuable substances such as active pharmaceutical ingredients. The sales network spans over 70 countries. Alexandra Knauer, who manages the company together with Carsten Losch, attaches great importance to corporate responsibility both towards its 200 employees and towards the environment and society. More information about KNAUER at: www.knauer.net