GREEN PAGE
People for environmental protection
GREEN PAGE
People for environmental protection
By the Editorial Team
Environmental and climate protection form part of the bedrock of Messer’s corporate strategy. And our colleagues’ dedication plays a fundamental role.
Messer Group’s corporate mission statement emphasizes the importance of protecting the environment and the climate. All of the business units strive to address these challenges in their day-to-day operations: Messer is working diligently to make its own plants and processes as eco-friendly as possible, for example, and to continuously reduce its carbon footprint. Our industrial operations that produce gases from the air and recover carbon dioxide from industrial exhaust consume electrical energy only. And a continuously growing share of that electrical energy is derived from renewable resources. Gas cylinder filling operations are also 100 % electrically powered.
Technologies for a better ecological bottom line Moreover, Messer helps our customers improve their ecological bottom line as well. Not only can gases be used to make many production processes more environmentally sound, but they also enable the efficient recycling of many substances and material mixtures. Messer’s DuoCondex process, for example, recovers large quantities of gaseous or vapor-phase pollutants. Rather than releasing them to the atmosphere where they may cause harm such as damage to the ozone layer, it retains them in a closed loop. Messer is constantly developing and refining environmentally beneficial gas-based technologies. And when implementing these technologies, customers receive comprehensive advice and support.
Furthermore, Messer also assumes responsibility for strengthening its workforce’s commitment to environmental protection. This personal challenge is clearly formulated in the company’s environmental principles: “Messer raises the awareness of its staff members worldwide for environmentally conscious action, both at work and at home.” Ecological activities are explicitly supported by top management. One typical example of this was this past September’s RhineCleanUp 2020.
Collaborative river clean-up For Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, the Rhine is a crucial lifeline. From the river’s source in the Alps to its mouth at Rotterdam, there was a tremendous turnout for the event, which cleans the riverbanks of thoughtlessly discarded trash. On September 12, some 35,000 volunteers from all of the countries along the Rhine gathered in groups of 300 while observing Covid-19 protection measures. They collected 320 metric tons of garbage – plastic, paper, scrap and glass. One of the unusual features of this year’s event was the large number of face masks found. The Krefeld Group, which participated once again in the RhineCleanUp, was created from an initiative of Messer. In 2018, together with the City of Krefeld, Germany, Messer organized the first event along the banks of the Rhine in Krefeld. This annual mega-cleanup has since become a regular rendezvous for a large number of employees and their families, and most of our staff who work at the Krefeld site also participated again this year. In addition, Messer’s participation in the RhineCleanUp includes sponsoring and organizational support. And the same is true for many other causes: Messer supports local environmental protection programs in countries where it is represented by business units. At the international level, Messer actively participates in global initiatives such as “Earth Hour.”