Sustainability: These companies are already pioneers

How do companies react to climate change? What measures are they taking to improve sustainability? The pressure on companies and corporations is increasing because consumers are taking a closer look. The measures taken by companies are diverse: saving garbage, transport kilometers, respect for animal welfare, recycling, upcycling and, and, and.

Who does what?

A huge rethink is generally taking place in the food industry. The range of herbal alternatives is growing inexorably. Rügenwalder, for example, which has been selling animal products since the first butcher's shop was founded in 1834, is now the market leader for vegetable meat in Germany. The company itself apparently would have no problem with a complete waiver of meat, this decision ultimately lies with the consumer, said managing director Godo Röben last year in the "Handelsblatt". And the traditional company already uses its Instagram account almost exclusively with meat substitute products.

Fish giant Iglo has also massively expanded its range. Since the beginning of this year, the subsidiary of the British frozen food group Nomad Foods has been offering 41 vegan products. Even McDonald's drives a pilot project in Germany and sells its first vegan burger.

The Albert Schweitzer Foundation is showing solidarity with the desire for a plant-based offer. It is committed to expanding the range and respecting animal welfare towards established companies. In this way, she ensured that both Kaufland and Starbucks in Germany did not sell and process cage eggs. Deutsche Bahn has also contributed to changing the menu in the on-board restaurants.

Lieken AG also focuses on sustainable mobility. As of March 31, 2020, it will switch to central warehouse logistics, thereby saving 50 million diesel kilometers and thus tons of CO2 annually because it no longer has to drive its products such as Golden Toast or Lieken Urkorn to every single supermarket. Like fresh milk, yoghurt and Co., the articles are now delivered to the central warehouse of the grocer and from there to the respective markets; duplicate truck journeys are no longer necessary. Deutsche Post is also increasingly integrating electric vehicles into its delivery operations – by 2050 it had set itself the goal of zero emissions.

Completely new products

At the same time, completely new business models are springing up everywhere. Especially when avoiding plastic, new fields open up. In the meantime, there are edible straws made from apple fibers or disposable cutlery made from recycled avocado seeds that simply ended up in the trash. In urban areas, unwrapped stores are enjoying increasing customer numbers, i.e. stores that deliberately reduce the packaging material to a minimum or do without it altogether.

Also on the list of recent innovations: mushrooms as a replacement for styrofoam and leather, sugar cane as an alternative for polyethylene made from petroleum, important for the production of beverage cartons, for example, or water from algae bubbles instead of plastic containers.