Environmental protection

In the environmental protection action field, the KION Group aims to minimise the environmental impacts of its activities through active management. Key areas of this include the top 20 environmental protection measures and the rollout of the KION Group’s HSE Minimum Standards also to distributors that has continued in the year under review.

Adverse effects on the environment and on society can be caused by leakages or liquids, dust or smoke escaping as a result of exceptional events. The KION Group environmental management system takes these circumstances into account through preventative measures (such as preventative maintenance and testing) and risk-prevention measures. To this end, modern filter and extraction systems, among other things, are used. Noise emissions are prevented wherever possible through appropriate plant specifications and protective measures, especially at production plants. In addition, continuously effective monitoring processes have been installed to rule out environmental pollution and damage and to be able to respond as quickly as possible in case of an emergency.

The HSE Minimum Standards that are planned Group-wide also counter the aforementioned risks. These also include environmental minimum standards, which will be implemented operationally in all units by 2019.

The focus of all these activities is on avoiding environmental pollution and extraordinary environmental events. For this purpose, specific contingency plans exist in the corresponding organisational units. The structured approach is working: One proof of its success is the fact that there were no significant pollution incidents in the reporting year. No significant fines or penalties for non-compliance with environmental standards or regulations were imposed either. 

Hazardous substances in production

Hazardous substances in production pose a constant risk to employees and the environment. This is why the KION Group has set itself the objective of banning hazardous and critical substances from its production processes as far as technically feasible. To achieve this, the company has been working on a blacklist that identifies the particular substances since 2018. In 2019, the focus is on developing an inventory of critical substances used in production and on planning the specific phase-out process. Again, the great complexity of the issue has led to a delay in the originally scheduled process.

Water use and waste water

Using water sparingly comes naturally to the KION Group, not least for cost reasons. In 2018, the KION Group used a total of 551,151 m³ of water Group-wide (Table 7). The majority of this came from communal supplies, and was also returned to the water system via the public sewage system (Table 8).

As the KION Group’s business activities only have a relatively low impact on water quality, the company does not need to carry out its own pre-treatment prior to discharge, except for the use of volatile liquid separators. Comparatively water-intensive processes exist primarily at the foundries for furnace cooling as well as at forklift truck washing bays. Owing to the negligible environmental impact and primarily local significance of the topic, the KION Group has no Group-wide water-use plan.

To further reduce its water consumption, 26 of the organisational entities (2017:25) have set themselves specific water-saving targets. The measures range from checking for water leaks, through reusing rinse water, to installing water-saving appliances. Last but not least, the company is raising awareness among its employees of the importance of the daily water consumption. In particular, the analysis and elimination of leakages led to a reduction in water use in 2018.

Waste and recycling

The KION Group intends to continuously reduce the amount of waste it generates. To this end, the company is primarily focusing on its production plants, which naturally generate the largest amount of waste. In 2018, this amounted to 66,588 tonnes of waste globally across the KION Group (2017: 70,168 tonnes). 55,121 tonnes (82.8 per cent) of the total waste volume was classified as non-hazardous, whereas 11,467 tonnes (17.2 per cent) was hazardous. This hazardous waste mainly comprised waste lead-acid batteries, waste paint, solvents and waste oil.

In order to maximise the efficiency of resource use, a clear hierarchy applies at the KION Group: prevention over reduction, reuse and recycling. Only when reuse or recycling is not possible, is the waste separated into groups on site and disposed of in accordance with statutory regulations. In doing so, the KION Group follows the national regulations and legislation applicable at the individual sites.

The systematic reuse of waste is a key lever both in further increasing environmental sustainability and in cutting costs. Across the KION Group, 76 per cent of waste is already recycled today, of which materials account for the majority.

Comprehensive waste management programmes are to be defined under the responsibility of the individual sites and implemented by the end of 2019. Due to the complexity of the issue, the planned determination of recovery and recycling quotas could not be completed in the year under review, and the schedule was therefore extended to 2020.

47 reporting entities (2017: 44) currently pursue specific targets to reduce their waste volume, of which 15 (2017: 14) are plants and 32 (2017: 30) are sales and service units. Measures including the electronic transmission of documents, reuse of packaging materials, improved waste separation, and raising employees’ awareness regarding the separation and avoidance of waste help the company achieve its targets.