In today's world, the sustainable handling of increasingly scarce resources is more important than ever. As an international environmental service provider that is primarily active in waste and recycling management, we face this challenge on a daily basis because we see ourselves as part of society and we, as experts, take responsibility for an important concern of society: avoiding waste and valuing recyclable materials.
To drive the material value change, we anchor sustainability in our business processes and expand our sustainable business activities. We bundle, structure, and coordinate our sustainability activities in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility and follow the following guiding principle:
"Together with our employees and partners, we work daily on closing loops, we think innovatively and we, thereby, protect the environment and the climate."
The perspective of PreZero
We are currently not only experiencing climate change at first hand, but also the risk of dependence on limited resources. Part of the solution is the recycling, use and reuse of recyclable materials. As waste and recycling managers, we play a key role here.
On our way to a holistic Sustainability Management
In our Sustainability Report, we, as PreZeroGroup, present our business activities and illustrate their impact on social, ecologic and economiclevels. The reports bundles sustainability goals, measures and activities and discloses sustainability KPIs as well as the carbon footprint for the entire PreZero Group for the fiscal year 2022 for the first time.
The first Sustainability Report of PreZero Group!
Learn more about our sustainability activities.
The framework of our sustainability strategy: Our 4 guiding themes for a cleaner tomorrow
Circular Economy
We actively shape all phases of the circular economy - from packaging and product design to the use phase to collecting and recycling.
Climate Protection
We reduce our greenhouse gas emissions within our own company and through consistent implementation of our business model along the entire value chain.
Employees
As a responsible employer, we create the basis for future-oriented thinking in an attractive working environment.
Partnerships & Innovation
Together with our partners, we are developing cross-industry approaches and provide impetus for innovative circular solutions.
Sustainable information – Our sustainability brochure
Material | Value | Change – The sustainability brochure of PreZero
Would you like to find out more about how PreZero innovatively drives the transition to a circular economy? By means of providing interesting content from all PreZero national companies, we demonstrate how we contribute to the four CSR guiding themes through our actions - supported by exciting data and facts.
Enjoy reading our brochure!
For more environmental protection – International WWF partnership
We have been working with WWF Germany since 2015 (formerly Tönsmeier) and support projects to protect the oceans. Now, the partnership has been expanded at the international level and has been extended until 2025. As part of a sponsorship, we support the project “Ghost nets” in the Baltic Sea, a plastic waste prevention project on the island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam and a model project for combating the causes of plastic waste on the island of Koh Libong in Thailand. We provide WWF with our expertise in the areas of plastic reduction, circular economy, recycling and waste management. In addition, we also support WWF at the political level, for example, with important campaigns and demands on politicians to stop the flood of plastic into the oceans.
Strengthening sustainable fan culture – Zero Waste partnership with TSG Hoffenheim
PreZero supports the national soccer club TSG Hoffenheim (TSG) in the area of resource-conserving waste management. However, the sustainability cooperation goes far beyond sponsoring the TSG soccer stadium and renaming it to the “PreZero Arena”. As an official sustainability partner, we have supported the club on its way to becoming the first, independently certified zero-waste stadium in the Bundesliga. This means that almost all waste (at least 85% according to DIN SPEC 91436) that arises in the stadium is to be treated as recyclable materials and positively recycled - i.e. reused, recycled, composted and fermented. PreZero supports and advises TSG in this context on environmentally relevant topics.
Be a part of our sustainable future!
In the sustainability report of the Schwarz Group companies, we as PreZero, together with the Schwarz service companies as well as the Lidl, Kaufland and Schwarz Produktion divisions, show how we take on economic, ecological and social responsibility in our daily activities. Under the motto “Be part of our sustainable future”, it becomes evident that a joint, decisive approach is necessary. By disclosing our various commitments in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, we, as part of the Schwarz Group, illustrate the close cooperation with a large number of stakeholders from business and science with the help of many examples.
REset Plastic – The plastic strategy of the Schwarz Group
With "REset Plastic - the Schwarz Group's plastics strategy", a fully comprehensive plastics strategy has been developed that includes all divisions and sites of the corporate group worldwide. The vision behind it: "Less plastic - Closed loops". We are working together on this, because as the Schwarz Group we have the cycle in our hands: from production to trade to disposal and recycling - unique worldwide. As waste and recycling managers, we play a central role in this.
Renewable energy sources
As part of the jointly developed climate strategy of the companies of Schwarz Group, PreZero has decided to purchase electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources1, starting with the fiscal year 2022. Guarantees of origin2 are used for needed green electricity contingents that we cannot yet generate by ourselves.
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1 Excluding any purchase agreements that PreZero cannot influence, such as those for individually leased properties with a binding electricity procurement clause.
2 Guarantees of origin are certificates that certify the generation of electricity from renewable sources. They indicate how, when and where the energy was generated. Guarantees of origin can be traded independently of the generated and purchased electricity.
To us, responsible corporate governance is self-evident
For this reason, as a company of the Schwarz Group, we have joined the UN Global Compact - one of the world's largest and most important initiatives for responsible corporate governance. Together with the UN Global Compact, we are committed to the people in our global supply chains, our employees and the protection of the environment and natural resources. We respect human rights in all areas of our business activities worldwide. With the declaration of principles, which applies to the entire Schwarz Group, we underline our responsibility as a globally active group of companies.
Active climate protection
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We are aware of this social obligation and have therefore joined the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) as a company of the Schwarz Group to address this challenge.
After preparing and analyzing the carbon footprint, the Schwarz Group companies jointly defined climate protection goals according to the SBTi methodology and backed them up with measures for reducing, avoiding or offsetting CO2 emissions in operations and in the supply chain. Our common goal: Overall, the companies of the Schwarz Group will reduce their operational greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 55% by 2030, compared to 2019. As a central measure, we will switch to green electricity¹ in all PreZero national companies by the end of fiscal year 2022.
¹Except for purchase contracts, which we cannot influence, such as for individual rental properties with electricity purchase commitments.