In this month’s edition of Environmental Insight, PMF looks at how Clarios has set its standards for greater sustainability.
Battery manufacturer Clarios has been promoting its sustainable initiatives of late. According to the company’s Vice President, Christian Rosenkranz: “Our commitment to the environment is an important part of our corporate responsibility. We constantly strive to minimise the environmental impacts of our products and processes. Sustainability is one of the key principles of our company. Our technologies and processes set standards in the industry for health, safety and environmental protection in both production and recycling.” Clarios claims that all of its environmental and energy management systems are certified to the relevant ISO standards, and Christian added: “This is the cornerstone on which we are building our enhanced sustainability concept.”
Closed loop
Working in conjunction with customers and partners, Clarios has developed a reliable and established closed loop recycling system. Within Europe, this enables more than 98% of lead batteries from vehicles to be recovered and a large proportion of the materials contained to be reused. As a result, 90% of the materials in lead-acid batteries can be recovered and recycled. 75% of the lead in European lead-acid batteries is now obtained from recycled sources. Clarios’ global recycling network means that automotive batteries are the most recycled consumer product in the world’s major economies – ahead of aluminum, paper, tyres and glass. This conserves resources and prevents greenhouse gas emissions caused by the purchase of new battery materials. In addition, sustainability managers at Clarios are instructed to provide regular training for all employees and encourage them to submit their ideas for improvement. This has resulted in a 25% reduction of energy consumption and a 35% reduction of water consumption in the battery manufacturing process in just 10 years.
Furthermore, Clarios’ developments help consumers to save energy, protect the environment and reduce fuel consumption. For example, eight out of 10 new vehicles with fuel-saving start-stop technology are equipped with an AGM or EFB battery from Clarios, according to the company.
Responsible cooperation
Clarios is a signatory to the Global Compact of the United Nations. The company has committed to 10 universal sustainability principles and takes responsibility for human rights, labour and environmental protection, as well as anti- corruption measures. Christian continued, “We take our duty of care very seriously, and even go above and beyond this. We are fully committed to compliance with all international standards for a sustainable supply chain. Because of this, we also require that our suppliers meet our industry-leading sustainability standards.”
Making the world a better place
The Clarios Foundation plays a special role, focusing on children’s health. Together with UNICEF and the US non-profit organisation Pure Earth, the Clarios Foundation has launched the Protecting Every Child’s Potential (PECP) initiative to prevent children from being exposed to lead. “This has brought us another step closer to our goal of making the world a little better,” concluded Christian.
