As part of the Hermes Group, which itself belongs to the Otto Group, Hermes Fulfilment has strategically anchored the topic of sustainability as a corporate goal. "Customers' desire for increasingly flexible and faster delivery times makes it all the more necessary to reconcile economic requirements with ecological and social demands," says Jörg Reichenbach, operations manager at the Ohrdruf site, explaining the company's multifaceted commitment. That's why, in addition to price and service quality, the sustainability factor is playing an increasingly important role. With a view to people and the environment, we critically scrutinize every step of our supply chain and implement it sustainably with our suppliers and partners.
Hermes Fulfilment aims to become climate-neutral by 2028 through further CO2 savings and to curb its energy consumption through avoidance and reduction. As an interim step, the company initially aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2025 (compared with the base year 2018).
As consumption increases, resources must be conserved. Buzzwords are "giving second life" (for example, repairing items instead of throwing them away or reusing them instead of scrapping them) and "reuse" (recycling and recovering raw materials). Did you already know? Hermes Fulfilment even supports our customers here in developing environmentally friendly packaging.
Each individual should be aware of his/her importance in achieving our environmental goals and actively participate. Do not forget: Even small, seemingly unimportant contributions are important!
Sustainability is not a trend, but an attitude. That is why we have anchored climate neutrality in our HF vision:
"We see sustainability as an important criterion in investment decisions, operate climate neutrally at all sites by 2028, and are already reducing our CO2 emissions by 40% by 2025. To ensure that we achieve our climate targets, we train our colleagues on this topic, explain to them the meaning behind the measures and encourage them to actively help us.
The protection of nature and the environment is particularly close to our hearts at Hermes Fulfilment. As a company, we are equally aware of our responsibility for sustainable development and are increasingly investing in appropriate measures. For us, this means more than just separating waste and saving copy paper. Our holistic environmental management system takes into account energy and material consumption, emissions, waste and wastewater, as well as production processes and the behavior of employees, suppliers and partners. Instead of promoting individual measures in isolation, we bundle all environmental protection activities.
At Hermes Fulfilment, our CR team and the sustainability officers have the task of developing and coordinating strategies for environmentally conscious and responsible action. CR stands for corporate responsibility. One of our goals, for example, is to continuously reduce energy consumption and the associated energy costs, as well as to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. But many other areas, such as digital responsibility or waste management, also play an important role. In this context, the CR team operates across all sites to ensure consistent action in all areas of the company.
Reports, interviews and portraits show how sustainable and value-oriented profitability can continue to succeed in the future. The magazine was produced in cooperation with the "Geo" editorial team.
Fairness and responsibility are becoming increasingly important in terms of corporate action and are moving more and more into the public focus. Reason enough for the Otto Group to present the long-standing sustainability commitment of the family-owned company and its shareholder Dr. Michael Otto in a compact, exciting way and with the incorruptible eye of a neutral observer. In cooperation with the renowned Hamburg publishing house Gruner + Jahr, the magazine "Now" was created, which impressively shows how sustainable and value-oriented economic efficiency can also succeed in the future.
Combined heat and power plants have been installed at various Hermes Fulfilment sites in recent years. The plants cover up to 55 percent of the electricity required and around 65 percent of the heat demand at the sites. "This enables us to reduce CO2 emissions at our Ohrdruf site, for example, by 20 percent or 800 metric tons per year," emphasizes plant manager Jörg Reichenbach. According to calculations by the climate protection organization Atmosfair, this is roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a passenger flying 230 times from Frankfurt to New York and back. Since 100 percent of both the electricity and the heat are consumed in the logistics center, the operation of the combined heat and power plant has a direct impact on the eco-balance of the site.
To enable bees to perform their important task of maintaining plant diversity, bee colonies have been established at the sites of several logistics centers. In addition, an insect hotel on the Hamburger Strasse site serves as a nesting site for bumblebees, wild bees, lacewings, ladybugs and other insects. The shelter was created in cooperation with the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union and Lebenshilfe.
Not only large projects count - every individual can help!
Environmental protection is not just about big projects. Around ten percent of energy can already be saved through small organizational things. "Protecting the environment therefore depends crucially on each individual," knows Anna Arendarska from the environmental team. The introduction of digital tools helps to reduce paper consumption. LEDs and energy-efficient drives are increasingly being used. Electric vehicles are being put into service. Shredding wooden pallets and Styrofoam reduces transport trips. After all, the issue concerns us all: "Each of us can do something," says Anna, "and every contribution is valuable."
