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Following confirmation by the SBTi of the climate goals it shares with parent company Salzgitter AG, the Dortmund systems supplier has set itself a number of ambitious targets. For example, it has now pledged to reduce its direct and indirect Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 36% in the near future – by 2028. Moreover, the emissions generated throughout its entire value chain (Scope 3) are to drop by 20%. “Our responsibility goes beyond our own production plants. We supply our customers with holistic solutions that measurably improve their climate footprint,” says Kai Acker, CEO of KHS GmbH.

The key: efficient and renewable energies

KHS has already fully converted to green electricity at all of its German production sites and is continuously optimizing its infrastructure. Measures such as efficient heating and lighting systems, use of waste heat, heat-efficient factory doors and intelligent building automation have in part already been implemented. At the company headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, for instance, modern, sensor-controlled LED technology is cutting electricity consumption. Parallel to this, the vehicle fleet is being switched over to electric models. KHS is also replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy: for the plants in Dortmund and Worms, the engineering company is even planning to introduce its own heating networks in order to do away completely with gas and oil. In addition, photovoltaic systems at various German facilities are helping to reduce the amount of energy and CO₂ consumed. Further PV setups are also in the pipeline at KHS’ international locations.

Innovations for more climate-friendly production

Besides cutting its own carbon emissions, KHS is also helping its customers to cut theirs. One good example of this is the new generation of InnoPET Blomax stretch blow molders. With its optimized Double Gate heating system, it lowers energy consumption by up to 40% compared to single-lane stretch blow molders of the same capacity. The Innopas SX pasteurizer considerably reduces water consumption by making use of optimized heat recovery systems. Furthermore, KHS’ Bottles & Shapes™ service enables extremely light PET bottles to be designed that use less material. This means that customers save on precious resources.

Net zero by 2050 at the latest

Above and beyond its short-term targets, together with Salzgitter AG KHS pledges to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, with this date even brought forward to 2045 as regards its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. “The next few years are key to us firmly staying the course we’ve embarked on and becoming climate-neutral in production in the long term,” says Acker. “I’m absolutely convinced that we’ll meet our ambitious climate goals.”