& the Environment

The great litter collecting campaigns

The yearly campaign for cleaning the banks of the local brook is a permanent part of Kärcher’s environment programme and a visible example of environmental protection in action.

Once or twice a year the Kärcher apprentices collect litter on the banks and in the Buchenbach, a brook which runs across the Kärcher site. They always use the Winnenden fire service’s dinghy. Some of the lost-and-found objects: A loudspeaker box, an old tin bath tub, a plastic drum, a bent steel joist, an assortment of empty beer bottles, an (empty) beer barrel and a lot of other rubbish, too.

Excerpt from the 2001 environment programme

Reduction of drinking water consumption:
- Water recycling plant in endurance test laboratory for high-pressure cleaners at Illingen factory

Reduction of energy consumption:
- New windows with improved insulation properties, improved insulation of buildings

Reduction of emissions (climate protection):
- Heat recovery on production equipment -
.. saving 12,000 litres of heating oil/year – CO2 emissions reduced by 33 metric tons/year
- Purchase of a gas chromatography unit for the development laboratory -
.. avoiding harmful emissions
- Setting up a car sharing database on the Intranet (for travelling to and from work)

Protection of soil and ground water:
- Continuing renewal of drainage system
- Continuing removal of inherited pollution

Reducing environmental impact of Kärcher products:
- Improved water recycling on floor scrubbers
- Longer service life due to high-quality motors in professional vacuums
- Reduction of noise emissions on sweepers
- Cleaning performance of portable pressure washers further improved –
.. reduced energy consumption
- Participation in several research projects on the topic of “environmentally compatible products”.
.. e.g. of renewable raw materials