Business with a vision: environmental awareness as a key to success

For BRUGGER, one thing is clear: business and the environment go hand in hand. To put this conviction into practice, we have set up an environmental team. It reviews all areas of our operations on the basis that environmental efficiency also makes good economic sense. Whether it’s optimised packaging, consistent waste prevention or improving our carbon footprint – we focus on concrete measures rather than token gestures. After all, every resource saved not only protects the environment, but also reduces costs and strengthens our competitiveness.

“It should go without saying that we address these issues, both out of a sense of responsibility towards the next generation and to safeguard our business,” emphasises Managing Director Thomas Brugger. The environmental team therefore regularly develops measures that sensibly combine ecology and economic efficiency – with the clear aim of establishing sustainable practices as the foundation of our commercial success.

Sustainability in shipping: We’re tackling it

For us, waste prevention isn’t just a buzzword – it’s part of our daily practice. We ask critical questions: Why throw away bubble wrap instead of reusing it? Why send small items in huge boxes? And what criteria do we use when selecting delivery companies?

At Brugger, we take a proactive approach. This also means that we specifically draw our suppliers’ attention to packaging that is harmful to the environment. With success: we have already managed to drastically reduce our use of polystyrene. We’re also breaking new ground when it comes to transport to our customers: we work specifically with haulage companies that track the CO₂ emissions from their transport operations and offset the remaining emissions through certified climate protection projects.

Through numerous measures – some of them small – we are constantly driving this shift in mindset forward. The environmental team not only raises awareness within the company, but also encourages staff to apply sustainable thinking to their private lives.

Our carbon footprint shows that consistently addressing environmental issues pays off: At around 450 tonnes of CO₂ per year (please refer to our annual sustainability report for the latest figures), we have managed to stabilise our carbon footprint at this level – thanks, amongst other things, to heat recovery and district heating from wood chips and wood pellets.

By way of comparison: the greenhouse gas emissions of our entire company are thus roughly equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of only around 50 people in Germany (based on data from the Federal Environment Agency of approximately 8.5 tonnes per capita).

Industry leader

“In 2019, for the first time in the company’s history, we fully accounted for the greenhouse gas emissions from our site and our transport operations and offset them through certified climate protection projects,” emphasises Managing Director Thomas Brugger, not without pride. The smaller proportion relating to our own direct emissions and energy consumption, as well as the far larger proportion attributable to transport to and from Brugger, were offset through the targeted use of high-quality CO₂ credits.

The continuous reduction of our carbon footprint and the close involvement of suppliers in implementing these reduction measures remain key objectives for the management. For Brugger Magnetsysteme, sustainable business practice means combining environmental responsibility with economic viability.