The third Sustainability Report, which is now available, provides an insight into the company's broad-based international commitment and illustrates the progress that has been made. The current report is available in English at www.gelita.com
For GELITA, sustainability means producing at 19 locations worldwide as resource conservingly as possible. For this reason, the company, headquartered in Eberbach, Germany, sees the topic as a global and long-term mission with an ambitious goal:
"We want to assume the leading position in our industry in the area of sustainability”, says Dr. Franz Josef Konert, Chief Executive Officer at GELITA AG. In concrete terms, this means being the most sustainable producer by industry standards of collagen proteins and FPM, i.e. fats, proteins and minerals, by 2020.
The company therefore invests in state-of-the-art facilities in its plants, seeking innovative solutions to improve processes and thus reduce the impact of its business operations on the environment.
The 2017 Sustainability Report presents selected projects that GELITA got off the ground last year and provides information on the progress made. The projects include measures to reduce air emissions and energy use, waste prevention and wastewater treatment. Accordingly, water from production is processed into lime sludge, which is used as fertiliser in agriculture and a newly installed ultrafiltration system significantly reduces CO2 emissions and power consumption.
As part of its commitment, GELITA also supports a more sustainable meat industry. The company manufactures all its products from animal raw materials using only resources from animals reared for meat production. In addition, it is important for ethical and moral reasons that slaughtered animals are processed as completely as possible. The gelatine and collagen peptide manufacturer makes an important contribution to this through its production.
Positive development is permanent
For 2017, the company presents a positive environmental balance. Despite a further increase in production compared to the previous year, it succeeded in reducing CO2 emissions, reducing water consumption and wastewater volumes as well as the amount of waste and in some cases significantly reducing other climate-damaging emissions.
GELITA has made significant progress in recent years towards environmentally friendly production. For example, more than half of the production sites have introduced ISO 14001-compliant environmental management. It is planned to certify all the sites by the end of the decade.
GELITA sees sustainability as a permanent process and is working to further improve its balance sheet: "Continuous investment, our lively culture of innovation and constructive dialog with suppliers, clients and end customers will continue to drive the sustainable development of our company in the future”, Konert is convinced.
Innovation for a better quality of life
Innovative product solutions also contribute significantly to sustainable corporate management. Quality products from GELITA also help to conserve natural resources, for example, when they are used in fertilisers or detergents.
They also contribute to the health, well-being, and care of the world's population. In nutritional supplements, collagen peptides ensure, among other things, strong bones, supple joints, muscle building and attractive skin.
The processing of animal raw materials also produces fats, proteins and minerals. GELITA has developed complex processes to produce, for example, animal feed or biofuels from these materials.
Modern processing makes it possible to almost completely utilise the raw materials used. In the interests of sustainable recycling management, we are working constantly on developing further applications for our by-products”, says Michael Teppner, Head of Marketing and Communication at GELITA.
Committed employees
"Care" is one of GELITA's values. This also includes responsibility towards society and for the work safety and health of our own employees. In 2017, staff members were involved in many initiatives for the welfare of the people in the vicinity of GELITA's locations.
The company supported more than 100 projects around the globe either financially or with the active help of its workforce. This, too, helps the Group to achieve its sustainability goals. With the publication of the first sustainability report in the industry, the company has secured itself a pioneering role.
