Hanover, January 09, 2024: As part of Continental's commitment to sustainability, the group sector ContiTech has taken substantial strides in transforming its production facilities into sustainable entities. A new photovoltaic (PV) system has been successfully installed at the Timișoara facility în România, with approval granted for similar installations at seven other locations in 2024. These initiatives align with Continental's broader goals of reducing energy consumption, enhancing resource recovery, and minimizing waste across all production sites worldwide.
“Each of our production facilities faces their own specific challenges in reaching green operations by 2040 at the latest,” said Claus-Peter Spille, Senior Vice President Operations at ContiTech. “With the pilot projects, we provide our locations a comprehensive guidance on how to implement systematic operational environmental management at their site.”
“Sustainability is both an enormous opportunity and a decisive driver for innovation. As the first choice for material-driven solutions in a variety of industries, we are dedicated to address the challenges our world is facing,”said Philip Nelles, Member of Continental’s Executive Board for ContiTech. “Our recent steps towards greener operations prove that reducing the impact of climate change, together with our partners along the value chain, is a task to which we are strongly committed.”
Expanding Emission-Free Energy Production
The recently installed PV system in Timișoara is anticipated to generate approximately 930 MWh of emission-free electricity annually. Additional locations, including Subotica (Serbia), Szeged (Hungary), Wagrowiec (Poland), Weissbach (Germany), Changzhou (China), Kalyani (India), and Chihuahua (Mexico), have secured approval for their PV projects, aiming to collectively generate 5900 MWh yearly. This substantial capacity is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 2950 households in Germany.
Pilot Plants for Global Carbon Neutrality
ContiTech has selected three production facilities in Changzhou (China), Granby (Canada), and Dannenberg (Germany) as pilot sites for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. The success of these pilot projects, based on concrete measures and activities, will serve as a model for other ContiTech plants, guiding them on the path to operating with carbon neutrality in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2040 at the latest.
“Each plant operates under unique conditions, so we cannot expect a one-size-fits-all approach. With these three pilot projects, we aim to find best practices tailored for each region that can then be rolled out and adapted to other plants,” explained Claus-Peter Spille.
Ambitious Sustainability Goals for Production Sites
Continental has set ambitious targets for its production facilities globally, intending to achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption, increase the recovery quota to 95%, and decrease waste generation by 2% annually by 2030. Additionally, the company aims to reduce water withdrawal by 4% in high-risk water regions and by 2% in moderate-risk water regions, relative to sales, reflecting its commitment to responsible environmental management.
