Sustainability Management

s a family business, sustainability is in our DNA. We have been around since 1880 and have always operated for future generations, for our employees, and their families.

We sell our customers protection, not just technology. This also means that we take care of our environment during production to preserve it. Our products have a long lifetime, which is good for both, our customers and the environment. The nominal operational life of our roller shutters is 30 years – and they last much longer with the right maintenance and care. Some buildings were literally built around our particularly large shutters, and the gates in the trains that run through the Eurotunnel have also been in operation since 1994. We guarantee our customers reliable service and a long-term supply of spare parts. That is our understanding of conserving resources: durable products.

To quantify this, we compiled the environmentally relevant factors for our door types with ift Rosenheim in 2023 and summarized them in environmental product declarations (EPDs).

Since July 2023, we have a 133 kWp photovoltaic system installed on our factory building. It produces a good 100 MWh of electricity per year. Since 2009, we have been using a combined heat and power plant to heat our office building and generate electricity in winter, precisely when the photovoltaic system is producing in less electricity. Since we produce part of our electricity ourselves, our car fleet is purely electric. This does not yet apply to the assembly vehicles, but they too must not emit more CO₂ than 160 g/km and are limited to a maximum speed of 130 km/h.

Despite battery storage, we cannot cover our entire electricity requirements at all times, but the electricity we do buy comes exclusively from renewable sources. And we heat our factory buildings efficiently with dark radiators, because heating the entire air volume would emit much more CO₂.

Sustainability is about more than just complying with legal requirements, fulfilling reporting obligations, and selectively reducing emissions. We strive to minimize our environmental footprint (ecological sustainability) by developing durable, tailor-made products that conserve resources. We assume social responsibility by making a strong commitment to training young people in Mönchengladbach. It goes without saying that the health of our employees and their families is important to us and also contributes to economic sustainability. We are interested in long-term relationships to both, our customers and employers. We think in terms of generations when making investments. For us at Effertz, sustainable action determines the entire business process, because we also want to give our children a good life and ensure that Effertz remains synonymous with protection and safety for the next 150 years.