ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
The environmental management system of the BAUER Group applies throughout the Group. It defines environmental protection as an integral element of corporate HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) policy. The key factor in this is that environmental protection is at the forefront of awareness in everything we do in all divisions and departments and in all aspects of business processes and procedures – particularly in production and on construction sites. This can only be done if the basic philosophy of the Group, incorporating its autonomous units, is applied in respect of these issues as in other areas.
Consequently, all managers are responsible for ensuring that environmental protection is optimally yet cost-effectively safeguarded and continuously improved. The key personnel in terms of environmental and climate protection are the directors of the individual BAUER Group companies. It is they who define binding targets. Group companies are required to nominate a specific member of staff to monitor compliance. Environmental matters are also considered at monthly meetings with the Group's Management Board. This also involves defining strategies arising from the issue of climate change and its consequences.
We seek to raise employees' awareness of environmental protection concerns and of their own individual responsibility based on training and special awareness campaigns. This also incorporates a range of internal communications channels, such as the staff newspaper.
As a global concern operating over 110 subsidiary companies, and as a manufacturer of equipment for specialist foundation engineering applications and related fields, we are well aware that our activities have an impact on the environment (air, water, soil, etc.). Consequently, the Group's environmental policy clearly states that such environmental impact should be kept to a minimum in every aspect of our operations.
We regard compliance with environmental laws and regulations as a minimum standard. However, we also seek by means of preventive measures to continuously improve our environmental protection beyond that minimum level.
Some Group locations and companies – including Schrobenhausen, the home base of BAUER Aktiengesellschaft, BAUER Maschinen GmbH and BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH – already operate environmental management systems certified to standards such as EMAS. The Group's parent company BAUER Aktiengesellschaft is also a participant in the “Umweltpakt Bayern” eco-pact, an environmental initiative between the Bavarian state government and businesses in the state.
When establishing new production and office facilities, or when extending existing facilities, we thoroughly investigate all possibilities for using renewable energy and saving energy. In 2009 we completed the biggest programme of capital investment in the company's history. This entailed the implementation of numerous energy-saving measures. We reported in detail on them in our last Sustainability Report.
BLEICHERODE SOLAR PLANT
One of the largest photovoltaic plants in the state of Thuringia was built on the slag-heaps of the former potash mine at Bleicherode in a record time of just nine months. On a site covering some 1.6 hectares, an array of more than 7,100 solar modules has been installed to capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. The size of the new plant is hard to grasp at ground level. But an aerial view reveals how much of the site is covered by the silvery-black glimmering solar collectors. As much as 1.2 megawatts of electricity will be produced by the plant and fed into the grid – enough to power some 250 homes. What is undoubtedly the most important construction project in the region in terms of future value began in September 2009. The plant was constructed on the slag-heap site of the former potash mine, which was shut down following German reunification. Soon afterwards, in the early 1990s, NDH-Entsorgungsbetreibergesellschaft mbH (NDH-E) – a subsidiary of SCHACHTBAU NORDHAUSEN GmbH – began remediating the site by means of cut-and-fill and recultivation. The work is scheduled to be completed in 10 to 15 years.
