König and Meyer receives environmental award

Prize for the company König & Meyer in Wertheim: the manufacturers of music accessories received a certificate of approval for their achievements in the field of environmental protection from the Minister for the Environment in Baden-Württenberg, Tanja Gönner, who presented the award to them in person in the Neue Schloss (new palace) in Stuttgart in December 2006.

The company had successfully taken part in the competition for the Envi-ronmental Award for Businesses 2006 with which the state awards a prize for entrepreneurial engagement and achievements, which contribute decisively and in exemplary manner to the protection and conservation of the environment.

This year 54 businesses from the most varied fields had participated in the competition. Twenty firms, including the company König and Meyer, were then awarded certificates of recognition in the categories industry, commerce, trade and service.

Minister Professor Dr. Wolfgang Reinhart congratulated König & Meyer at the awards ceremony: "This company shows in exemplary manner, that the manufacture of quality products and the observation of environmental considerations are not mutually exclusive." The company from Wertheim had excelled with its ecological mode of production, the introduction of modern ecological technology and with a variety of campaigns with the employees on the theme of the environment, enthused Reinhart.

The recognition by the Minister for the Environment represented a valida-tion of König & Meyer's environmental policy, for managing director Gabriela König, who accepted the certificate together with other represen-tatives of the firm: "We have always endeavoured to be very careful with resources. One example of this is almost ruinous longevity of our products or our latest investments, such as the acquisition of a complex powder coating plant or a modern tube laser system. It is only through modernisa-tion such as this that we can succeed in optimising the use of modern materials and thus continually reduce the effects of our production proc-esses on the environment. We are very pleased to receive this award and see it as an incentive to continue our activities relating to environmental issues."

König & Meyer's exemplary and absolute implementation of environmental protection in all areas and the excellent involvement of their employees received particular approval from the jury members responsible for award-ing the prize. The firm's efforts to save water over the years were also commended. In this way, by means of continual technical and organisa-tional measures, it has been possible to reduce the annual water con-sumption from 106 to six million litres, and thus cut it by 94% within the last 26 years. The consideration of environmental protection concerns played a crucial role for the company early on. In the Seventies for exam-ple, future-orientated decisions were taken such as the installation of a modern wastewater treatment plant or the conversion from nitro-cellulose paint to powder coating in surface refinement. All the firm's environmental activity is coordinated by the environment committee, which meets regu-larly. Since 1998, K & M has been validated in accordance with the EU environmental audit and the certification in accordance with the ISO 14001, which is recognised worldwide, followed in 2000.

With its new environmental programme, the company has yet again set itself ambitious goals. For example, in the upcoming renovation of Works I, the energy supply to the building is to be optimised. The company also wishes to do something for the ecological awareness of the employees. To this end carpools to and from work are currently being encouraged.

From left to right: Rolf Malbrich (in charge of water conservation at König & Meyer), Reinhard Müller (environmental officer), Gabriela König (managing director), Minister for the Environment Tanja Gönner, Minister Professor Dr. Wolfgang Reinhart and Martin König (management representative environmental concerns).