Crane Manufacturer Wolffkran is certified climate-neutral – further measures planned

echnology leader Wolffkran continues to live up to its pioneering reputation by becoming one of the first manufacturers in the industry to be certified as a climate-neutral company in Germany.

Technology leader Wolffkran continues to live up to its pioneering reputation by becoming one of the first manufacturers in the industry to be certified as a climate-neutral company in Germany.

Andreas Kahl, Manag-ing Director of Wolffkran GmbH in Germany, announced numerous other climate initiatives. “As an industrial company, we’re keenly aware of our special respon-sibility to future generations”, says Kahl. “This certification is an im-portant step on our path towards a climate-conscious business.” It was conducted by Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. KG, an independent sustainability consultancy, which evaluated the CO2 emissions at Wolffkran's two production sites in Heilbronn and Luckau and its R&D center in Ilsfeld, finding a total footprint of 4,035 tons of CO2-equivalent pollutants.1 In comparison, the average German gener-ates around 11 tons of CO2 annually. 

The crane manufacturer is offsetting the identified annual green-house gas emissions with the purchase of 8,070 climate protection certificates for the years 2020 and 2021. Wolffkran is thus one of the first manufacturers in the industry to voluntarily compensate for its emissions in accordance with the Clean Development Mech-anism defined in the Kyoto Protocol. “By purchasing these certifi-cates, we’re supporting a hydropower project in Uganda”, explains Kahl. “We selected this UN-certified and TUEV-audited project very conscientiously, and strongly believe it will make a positive contribu-tion to protecting the climate,” he adds. 

Carbon credits are only one aspect of Wolffkran's commitment to mitigate climate change. “We want to take many more steps in Germany in 2021,” explains the Managing Director. “Among other things, we plan to install solar panels on the roofs of our manufac-turing plants. We also want to convert our production facilities to green energy, continue to educate our staff on how to conserve en-ergy and resources in their day-to-day work, support a reforestation project in the Luckau region and, in collaboration with Heilbronn schools, plant flower fields and establish bee colonies,” says Kahl. “I firmly believe that by tracking and visualizing our CO2 output, we can continuously sharpen our awareness, which will lead to a major mindset changes and new ideas surrounding climate protection – both within our company as well as for our customers, partners and ultimately our entire industry.”