The world is facing a number of major challenges, both environmental and social. We at Ondal are committed to implementing energy-efficient processes that enable us, our customers and suppliers, to act in a climate-neutral and sustainable manner within the framework of fair business conditions.
For Ondal, sustainability means comprehensively and permanently integrating environmental protection into our own business activities. This is done through a continuous reduction in environmental pollution, sensitized employees and the development and manufacture of sustainable products. An environmental management system in accordance with DIN ISO 14001 that has been in place since 2007 and the introduction of energy management in accordance with DIN ISO 50001 in 2014 testify to the high priority placed on environmental and energy issues at Ondal.
Our sustainability efforts cover the following three main areas: environmental protection, process optimization and regionality.
Use of Green Electricity
Since 2022, Ondal has only been buying "green electricity" from a new provider. In addition, we have been generating “clean” energy ourselves with a new photovoltaic system on the roofs of our production halls. Ondal has implemented processes that ensure heat recovery in most of the ventilation systems and thus significantly reduce the energy requirement. The goals and the results achieved are regularly published on the intranet and on notice boards in order to inform our employees and keep them motivated for further improvements.
Paperless Office and Production
As much as possible, we avoid printing documents and otherwise wasting paper through optimized digital administration and production processes. One example is the new production line for VALiA, of which the entire control is digital and without printed paper. We will convert the other production areas accordingly in the coming months. For all products, the assembly and service instructions are provided in digitized form and are no longer printed out, which has led to a massive reduction in paper consumption.
Long service life of our products
Our products have always been designed for a service life of at least 10 years. In practice, our products are generally used for considerably longer. This allows us to offer the most sustainable products compared to products in the low-quality segment that need to be replaced much sooner. Furthermore, we operate our own repair department that accepts product returns and prepares them for reuse in order to decisively counteract the global trend towards throwaway culture.
Acquisition of sustainable raw materials
When purchasing our raw materials, the focus is on their sustainability, resilience and environmental balance. We also pay attention to the flawless functional and optical quality and the associated safety aspects of our products in order to ensure the high quality standard of our end products. When procuring our production systems, we also pay close attention to the energy efficiency of the parts.
With a strong local supplier base, we strive to only order as much as needed from overseas. In addition, when purchasing goods, we follow strict international guidelines aimed at resource-saving production chains free of child labor or similar methods.
All specifications resulting from the following regulations are strictly observed by Ondal.
- RoHS (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances)
- Reach (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization of Chemicals)
- Conflict Minerals
Reduction of CO2 Emissions
With the conversion of the vehicles to hybrid vehicles or e-cars, the use of trains for business trips and the formation of private carpools by employees, we at Ondal have set the goal of reducing our individual CO2 footprints. We also promote this endeavor by installing charging stations for e-cars and by aiming to continuously reduce our CO2 emissions year after year.
With the sustainable waste management already described, Ondal demonstrably reduces CO2 emissions.
Innovations create the basis for a flourishing future
As the market leader, we always strive to be one step ahead, both economically and ecologically, through sustainable product design and the conscious use of resources. With this in mind, we constantly question our production processes and continuously improve our production facilities and workplaces by developing concrete goals and optimizing our structures based on these goals. Our decades of experience also help us to continuously optimize efficiency and sustainability in industrial processes.
Digitalization
In times of remote work and home offices, we welcome the advantages of the digital working world. Whenever possible, we try to make both internal and external appointments as climate-friendly as possible and we expressly advocate digital meetings in order to avoid environmentally harmful travel.
Strengthening the Region
The labor market is strengthened through the creation of new jobs. Our intensive induction and onboarding measures for all our employees demonstrate our desire for long-term employment. We also provide training in numerous trades and define our trainee programs as an investment in the future – both for the region and for our colleagues. These extensive training measures guarantee current and up-to-date know-how of our employees.
The connection with our region is also reflected in numerous other measures. With our social commitment in the form of cooperation with the aid organization Caritas, which manufactures individual components for us, we are committed to local cooperation as a strong and reliable partner in our community.