Sustainability

MEASURES IN ALL FOCUS FIELDS

POLYTEC once again set effective measures in its sustainability focus fields Production, Energy and People in 2024. In addition to its own production of green electricity, the company focused on energy efficiency and energy management, thus taking further important steps on its path towards carbon neutrality by 2035. But the last year also brought improvements for POLYTEC’s employees. Onboarding and offboarding in the group was facilitated – a development that is beneficial to all colleagues.

NEW PATHS IN ONBOARDING AND OFFBOARDING

When the process of employees joining and leaving the company runs smoothly, it can contribute to minimising productivity losses and to the seamless integration of new colleagues in the company. In 2024, POLYTEC fundamentally revised its onboarding and offboarding process under the title “POLYTEC Easy Boarding”, making all procedures significantly more efficient.

Welcome on board! POLYTEC Easy Boarding makes arriving at the company easy for new employees.

IT access from day one
The development of a new IT workflow was an important part of the process upgrade. It ensures that new employees have all necessary access rights and working tools from their very first day of work. Thanks to automated approval processes, personal helpdesk requests and long waiting times can be avoided. A central platform is responsible for assigning roles in important systems such as SAP, ECM or Teams. The problem of delayed approval processes, which may have occurred in the past when managers left the company, was remedied by the introduction of a substitute concept. As a result, approval processes always remain fully functional, which facilitates many processes within the company and consequently also makes the everyday work of all employees easier.

HR process with a clear structure
Along with the optimisation at the IT level, the HR process itself was also improved. It ensures that all new employees receive bundled information about all relevant matters. Moreover, a welcome e-mail with access to the POLYTEC Online Campus allows quick access to company-relevant content. In-person meetings with colleagues and structured feedback loops have been a fixed part of the onboarding process at POLYTEC since 2024 in order to facilitate social integration in the team.

Long-term development
These optimisations are not only intended to minimise administrative work. POLYTEC also expects positive effects on the corporate culture and efficiency in general from increased transparency and the systematisation of processes. In any case, the onboarding and offboarding process, which has already been implemented at most of the POLYTEC GROUP’s locations, will be further developed continuously. Feedback interviews are conducted regularly for this purpose when employees join or leave the company. With this initiative, POLYTEC aims to give employees a smooth start to their job based on digitalisation and clear structures, but also to enable an orderly departure from the job.

WITH THE POWER OF THE SUN

Photovoltaic initiative continues

POLYTEC intensified its investments in the use of solar power for electricity production once again in 2024. Specifically, a photovoltaic system covering an area of 7,700 square metres was built at the site in Lohne. The 2,500 solar modules installed on the rooftops of the plant have an impressive annual output of up to 850,000 kWh – enough to supply roughly 250 households. In Hörsching, the existing installation, which currently delivers 500 kWp, was expanded by another 600 kWp. With an annual output of roughly 1 million kWh, about 20 percent of the electricity required at this location is covered by solar electricity produced on-site. Other locations, such as Gochsheim and Weierbach, are on the list for upcoming photovoltaic projects, with additional potential output totalling 1.5 million kWp.

The 2,500 solar modules on the rooftops of the POLYTEC plant in Lohne could supply roughly 250 households with electricity.

But POLYTEC goes even further: In addition to producing solar power itself, the company also focuses on a sustainable energy procurement strategy. 80 percent of the entire electricity demand at the POLYTEC GROUP is already covered by renewable sources, and the aim is to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2035. In order to further grow this share, POLYTEC is reviewing long-term power purchase agreements with wind power suppliers in order to compensate for seasonal fluctuations in solar energy.

Heating is another area where the company is increasing its sustainability efforts. While natural gas is currently still used for process heat and space heating, alternatives like biomass or biogas are promising options. From 2030, synthetic gas could also provide the basis for a CO₂-neutral solution.

With its measures for green electricity, POLYTEC is setting a clear signal for a sustainable future. Lower emissions are by no means the only result of expanding renewable energy; it also leads to long-term savings and strengthens the company’s sites economically.

„Our own electricity production will contribute significantly to making our production climate-neutral by 2035.“

Markus Huemer
CEO

MORE EFFICIENCY FOR LESS GAS

The POLYTEC GROUP succeeded in reducing its natural gas consumption again in 2024. The company uses this energy source primarily for steam generation, for other process heat and painting, as well as for heating the production halls and offices. Savings were particularly high at the plants in Sládkovičovo and Voerde in 2024.

The site in Sládkovičovo, Slovakia, reduced its gas consumption from an average of roughly 6 GWh per year to 3.4 GWh. The plant in Voerde, Germany, lowered its consumption over the long term from 8.0 GWh in 2021 to 5.6 GWh.

At the POLYTEC site in Voerde, large-scale truck exterior parts are manufactured using the SMC pressing process. Due to the high temperatures and pressures involved, this process is very energy-intensive. By implementing targeted efficiency measures, it has been possible to significantly reduce gas consumption at the plant.

In both cases, the savings were based on process heat adaptations, a reduction in steam pressure and temperature, a reduction over the weekend and the elimination of leakages in the steam network. In addition, buildings were thermally upgraded, and windows and doors were replaced.

However, organisational measures can also help save energy, as was demonstrated by the plant in Voerde in 2024: As batch sizes were modified, the number of production start-ups was reduced. As a result, much less energy is required to heat up cold tools.

“We rely on a holistic approach to the reduction of our carbon footprint, which includes process optimisation and thermal upgrades of buildings alike.”
Christian Hessing
Plant Manager, POLYTEC Voerde

Besides Sládkovičovo and Voerde, other locations of the POLYTEC GROUP also lowered their natural gas consumption in 2024 so that the overall demand at the group level was reduced by almost 10 percent year-on-year. Another important milestone was therefore achieved in 2024 on the path to climate neutrality by 2035.

At the Sládkovičovo plant, optimised operational management led to a significant reduction in gas consumption.

“By optimising operational management, we not only increase our energy efficiency. We also work more economically and become more independent of volatile energy prices.”
Ján Zir
Plant Manager, POLYTEC Sládkovičovo

ISO 50001

Systematic Energy Management

In times of rising energy costs and increasing environmental regulations, the topic of energy management is becoming ever more important for companies. POLYTEC took another step in sustainable energy savings with its ISO 50001 certification in 2024. Rather than conducting an external audit every four years, the company thus relies on a structured system managed by an in-house energy team. This team regularly analyses consumption data and develops measures to continuously increase energy efficiency.

The benefits are obvious: more transparency, lower costs and a clear focus on sustainable processes. All of this should make POLYTEC more attractive for customers and investors. In Austria and Germany, the certification was largely completed in 2024; other locations will follow.

NEW STEAM BOILER

economical in every way

In August 2024, a new steam boiler was commissioned at the Czech POLYTEC site in Chodová Planá. First calculations show that roughly 10 percent of natural gas can be saved compared to the old boiler. Of course, the new boiler meets all current environmental standards and allows for significantly more efficient operations.

The steam boiler was changed during the plant vacation shutdown in order to avoid disrupting production. The data collected so far already shows positive effects on energy consumption and operating costs; a full assessment will be carried out after the first year of operation.

The new steam boiler in Chodová Planá will not only save energy and operating costs. It also takes up significantly less space than its predecessor.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY MONITORING WITH DIGITAL CONTROL

Precise monitoring forms the basis for sustainable and efficient energy use. At POLYTEC, 333 measuring points currently record the electricity and gas consumption in the group. By the end of 2025, additional measuring points will be implemented to complete the monitoring system.

A software-assisted analysis and reporting system already delivers real-time consumption data today. Energy consumption can thereby be directly compared across locations and saving potential can be identified quickly. In addition, automated weekly reports deliver a detailed overview and make it possible to identify deviations quickly and take appropriate countermeasures, if required.

In this way, POLYTEC creates the basis for more targeted energy savings, for cost reductions and for achieving sustainability targets in an efficient way.

The collection of detailed consumption data forms the basis for efficient energy consumption.