SBRS joins the Greentech.Ruhr Environmental Business Network – CO2 Reduction with Local Networking

The managing director of Business Metropole Ruhr GmbH (the business development agency for the Ruhr region) puts it optimistically: “The tangible urgency in the search for climate-compatible and resource-saving approaches in the economy offers great opportunities. Greentech.Ruhr has demonstrated that new business models and cost savings are possible through the reduced use of energy and resources.

Unfortunately, sustainability is not quite so easy to achieve, it requires a general change in thinking on the part of the companies. Large companies in particular operate globally. This usually involves worldwide sourcing and the worldwide sale of the products.

By participating in environmental projects, in December 2021 SBRS became carbon-neutral or, more accurately, CO2-neutral. The drafting of the environmental balance sheet showed that the transport of goods, products and employees accounts for a significant proportion of the emissions – over 50%.

How can this percentage be reduced?

The answer is perfectly simple: buy locally, produce locally, organise services locally. These changes saves transport costs!

SBRS has been implementing this concept for quite some time. Just over 90 % of the primary products are purchased in Germany, 60 % of these within a radius of 200 km. The goal is to further increase the latter percentage in order to save CO2.

In the field of charging infrastructure in particular, local partners are sought and usually found for each project. This also applies to local technical services, a requirement which often runs for several years due to the need for regular maintenance. This saves travel costs and contributes significantly to reducing CO2 emissions.
Unfortunately, sustainability issues are currently hardly ever included in the calls for tender, which are published at EU level. Price alone is often the decisive criterion for winning a bid – but the price for our actions today will have to be paid by future generations.

Let us see, maybe something will change in the next few years. It would be most welcome. And SBRS, together with the Greentech.Ruhr network, with which over 200 companies are now affiliated, will do its best to contribute.