Paper: Reduce consumption, use responsible sources
Forests are habitats for many plant and animal species and a valuable resource that protects the climate, soil and groundwater. For the manufacture of paper from wood pulp, these resources are finite. The necessity of using paper is therefore questioned in principle. However, we cannot completely do without paper as a material for conveying information. After all, paper still plays an important role in customer communications, for example in the form of catalogues or advertising material. Against this backdrop, we are consistently reducing our paper consumption and simultaneously increasing the proportion of environmentally friendly paper qualities.
We obtain the paper used in our office and customer communications from responsible sources. For our internal consumption we use paper that is Blue Angel (recycled paper) or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) certified or awarded the EU Ecolabel. Since 2012 we have also printed magazines and catalogues in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on FSC®-certified paper. At the national subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2013 and in Turkey, Poland and Hungary, this switch was made in 2014 .