Hahnbach. The company Kunststofftechnik Förster in Hahnbach-Ursulapoppenricht has once again been awarded the Climate+Environment Pact Bavaria seal. District Administrator Richard Reisinger handed over the certificate to Managing Director Daniel Weidner. The company has been committed to climate and environmental protection since its foundation in 2000 and has been a member of the Bavarian Environmental Pact for 20 years.

"In 2002, we had our environmental management system certified according to EMAS (see info box for explanation) and since then we have continued to reduce our CO2 emissions, so that today we are arithmetically climate-neutral," reported Managing Director Daniel Weidner to Richard Reisinger, District Administrator of Amberg-Sulzbach, at the presentation of the certificate.

The head of the district praised the environmentally conscious attitude of the Hahnbach company. "This fits in perfectly with a livable, economically healthy and sustainable district," said the district chief.

The Bavarian Environmental Pact is an agreement between the Bavarian State Government and Bavarian industry. Voluntariness, individual responsibility for environmental protection and cooperative action have been part of the basic understanding of the character of projects and declarations in the Environmental Pact since it was first signed in 1995. Behind this is the shared conviction of the state and business that the natural foundations of life can be better protected with the help of voluntary and reliable cooperation between the state and business than with laws and regulations alone.

With exemplary and joint projects by government and business, the Environmental Pact aims to show that economy and ecology are not opposites, but that together they contribute to securing jobs and prosperity in an intact environment.

    Background to EMAS

    EMAS stands for Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, i.e. a joint system for environmental management and environmental auditing. Companies and other organisations participating in EMAS undertake to comply with all relevant environmental legislation and to organise a process of continuous improvement of their own environmental performance.

Text: Christine Hollederer, LRA Amberg-Sulzbach