Eco status for Wolffkran

By Christian Shelton18 February 2021

Zug, Switzerland-headquartered tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran announced its German production sites and R&D centre have been certified climate-neutral by independent sustainability consultancy Fokus Zukunft, which is based in Starnberg, Germany.

Fokus Zukunft monitored carbon dioxide emissions at Wolffkran’s two production sites in Heilbronn and Luckau and its R&D centre in Ilsfeld. According to Wolffkran, Fokus Zukunft found a total footprint of 4,035 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent pollutants. In comparison, Wolffkran said, the average German generates around 11 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Wolffkran’s R&D centre in Ilsfeld, Germany

The crane manufacturer said it is offsetting the identified annual greenhouse gas emissions with the voluntarily purchase of 8,070 climate protection certificates for the years 2020 and 2021 in accordance with the Clean Development Mechanism defined in the Kyoto Protocol.

“As an industrial company, we’re keenly aware of our special responsibility to future generations,” said Andreas Kahl, managing director of Wolffkran GmbH in Germany. “This certification is an important step on our path towards a climate-conscious business.

“By purchasing these certificates we’re supporting a hydropower project in Uganda. We selected this UN-certified and TUEV-audited project very conscientiously, and strongly believe it will make a positive contribution to protecting the climate.”

Wolffkran’s Luckau, Germany, production site

Kahl also revealed additional climate protection measures Wolffkran plans to take. These involve: installing solar panels on the roofs of its manufacturing plants; converting production facilities to green energy; educating staff on conserving energy and resources; supporting a reforestation project in the Luckau region; and, in collaboration with schools in Heilbronn, planting flower fields and establishing bee colonies.

“I firmly believe that by tracking and visualising 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,” added Kahl.”