Protecting the environment
Objective and goals – for our customers and our environment
At BRAND the objective is to make laboratory work simple, easy, and efficient by providing innovative products and perfect quality. In doing so, we never lose sight of protecting our environment during the production and use of our products. We focus on saving as many resources as possible in production (Reduce) by designing our products to be long-lasting and maintenance-friendly (Reuse) and sensibly utilizing waste that we cannot avoid (Recycle).
For the key area of greenhouse gas emissions, we support the sectoral targets of the German Federal Climate Change Act and the underlying principles of the Paris Agreement based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
We monitor, actively manage and report the GHG emissions of our sole production site (Wertheim, Germany) annually based on ISO 14064-1 and GHG Protocol Scope 1 and 2. For the calculation of GHG emissions, we use validated external data from our energy vendors or based on Ordinance on Emission Reporting – EBeV 2022. All sources of GHG according to ISO 14064-1 within Scope 1 and 2 are reviewed at least annually.
BRAND's goal is to reduce the CO2 intensity of our operations at our sole production site from 2020 to 2030 by 70% . We continually reduce our electric energy intensity by 4% annually at our sole production site from 2020 to 2030.
At VACUUBRAND environmental protection has been a major priority for decades. We continuously streamline our processes to prevent waste and minimize energy use. The result of our efforts is a healthy working environment for our employees and a minimum impact on our surroundings.
Our manufacturing operations has had an environmental management system for years in conformity with ISO 14001. VACUUBRAND innovations have also contributed to environmental improvements in your operations with products that:
- lower your energy use and costs
- reduce waste of resources and emissions of pollutants
- improve laboratory working conditions.
Efficiency in vacuum supply and control of vacuum applications reduces resource utilization, keeps expenses low and enhances lab productivity. Efficient operation and low service costs not only save resources but ultimately offset purchase costs. Add to these efficiencies, our diaphragm pumps have been replacing the old water jet pumps that wasted and contaminated millions of tons of water per year. VACUUBRAND has promoted the use of oil-free pumps to replace classical rotary vane pumps in many applications, reducing contaminated oil disposal. And, VACUUBRAND pumps, gauges and controllers are free of cadmium and mercury.
Gold and silver for the Brand Group in the sustainability rating of the EcoVadis evaluation platform:
- BRAND was awarded gold status for its sustainability activities in 2023. This places it among the top 5% of comparable companies. BRAND had already participated in the rating scheme in 2022 where it was awarded silver status.
- VACUUBRAND and VITLAB also took part in the EcoVadis rating in 2023 to present their sustainability measures to a wider public for the first time. This step was immediately rewarded with silver status, placing them amongst the top 25% of comparable companies.
"For many years, Brand Group companies have been highly committed to making a tangible contribution to sustainability. We do this for the laboratories of our customers, at our worldwide sites and along our global supply chains. The outstanding results in the EcoVadis sustainability rating are an appreciation of these efforts," reports Dr. Christoph Schöler, Managing Partner of the Brand Group.
Reduce – Reuse – Recycle
Reduce – resource-saving production
At BRAND, intelligent resource management is a certified part of our company guidelines. Our environmental management system has been certified according to DIN EN ISO 14001 since 1998. Therefore, we are committed to continuously optimizing our environmental performance. In addition, our energy management system has also been certified according to DIN EN ISO 50001 since 2015. This makes us one of the pioneers in our industry for the intelligent use of energy.
BRAND uses 100 % renewable energy from certified hydroelectric power plants. With the Wertheim public utility company, we have found a regional partner to help us achieve this. We produce some of our own electricity as a by-product of the heat generated in our combined heat and power unit. This is an efficient use of energy.
To prevent unnecessary packaging, we try as much as possible to have our production materials delivered in reusable packages, which are then returned to the supplier and refilled multiple times. To prevent long transport routes, we work with regional suppliers to procure many of our production materials.
Our pipette tips also demonstrate how we are working to increase the resource efficiency of consumables. We developed a production method that allows us to manufacture our tips in an especially thin-walled design, which in turn saves materials. With the TipRack refilling system, we have also reduced the amount of waste by more than 20 % when compared with the TipBox.
Reuse – long-lasting and maintenance-friendly products
Using high-quality products as long as possible directly contributes to environmental protection, as we prevent the consumption of resources which are needed for the production of new products.
Quality and longevity have always been a characteristic feature of BRAND liquid handling instruments. In many laboratories, our Dispensette® S bottle-top dispensers have been in use for a decade or longer – the high-quality materials of the parts, which are in contact with media and crucial to the function of the instruments, make this possible.
Even in the case of life science consumables, there are ways to use products multiple times. Our solid TipBoxes can, of course, be refilled with pipette tips over and over again and they can be autoclaved multiple times at 121 °C.
The micropipette Transferpette® S demonstrates how we contribute to the long service life of instruments through simple maintenance and repair. On single-channel pipettes, the ejector and shaft can be removed and cleaned in a few seconds. Due to their patented design, the individual shafts of multi-channel instruments are also easy to unscrew, making them simple to clean and replace.
Recycle – recycling with a system
A lot of our packaging has already been recognized by our customers as “sustainable packaging”.
For much of our product packaging, we use cardboard with a recycling rate of around 90 % and we are working to become even more environmentally friendly in this area.
With the TipBoxes of our pipette tips, our customers can also contribute to recycling valuable resources. The entire TipBox is made of pure polypropylene and is completely recyclable. This also applies to the corresponding TipRack refill system, which is made of polyethylene.
We are convinced that environmental protection will be a very important topic in the laboratory of the future, and we will consistently align our corporate strategy accordingly.
As part of the Brand Group, we are working closely with BRAND, VACUUBRAND and VITLAB to collectively and sustainably develop this environmental strategy.
