How is Fuchs North America implementing sustainable practices into our daily operations? In the blog, Annette Hottenstein, our program manager of sensory and consumer science and sustainability committee chair, discusses the many ways in which Fuchs is prioritizing sustainability.
Sustainability is an important part of our business strategy at Fuchs North America, and we have been working closely with our German parent company, the Fuchs Gruppe, on many initiatives that support sustainable practices. As part of these ongoing initiatives, we formed a cross-functional sustainability committee with employees from various departments, including Research & Development, Human Resources, Operations, Sales, Business Development, and Supply Chain.
The committee took part in several brainstorming sessions to develop 4 pillars for our sustainability strategy:
- Responsible Sourcing where we seek to minimize our supply chain footprint, leverage Fuchs’ global sourcing capabilities, and create a sustainable supplier network
- Responsible Use of Resources where we seek to reduce energy, emissions, water, and waste
- Responsible Products where we seek to innovate around sustainable products, utilize sustainable packaging, and optimize our current portfolio for sustainability
- Responsible Workplace where we seek to enhance workplace safety & health, operate with social responsibility, and retain, recruit and develop employees
The global Fuchs Gruppe is committed to the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Our sustainability strategy is also aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
Here are several examples of sustainability practices in action at Fuchs North America:
Employee Garden
For the past two summers, the Fuchs R&D team has cared for an employee vegetable and herb garden for the benefit of all employees. Alyssa Chircus, Sr. Food Scientist, is the lead gardener, while Dan Grazaitis, Director of R&D, provided support with building the garden boxes. Items grown include red beets, summer squash, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, carrots, onion, basil, and oregano. A new addition this year is a compost tumbler to turn food waste into nutrient rich planting material.
Women in Manufacturing
Lisa Bookhultz and Shara Birchfield were nominated as 2022 Champions of Maryland Manufacturing by the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland. Lisa has worked at Fuchs for 26 years and is our Quality Assurance Manager. Shara joined the team in 2022 as our Director of Operations. We are honored to have both Lisa and Shara as a part of the Fuchs North America team as they lead the way for more women in manufacturing. Read more about their well-deserved honor here.
Social Responsibility
Fuchs sponsors charity organizations in our local area such as the Westminster Rescue Mission (our Chief Executive Officer, Dan Cooper, serves on their board) and the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster. Every year, we participate in a chili cook off that supports The Baltimore
Station, a residential and community-based treatment program supporting veterans and others transitioning from homelessness and substance use disorder to self-sufficiency. We also support the ARC, a local community organization that creates opportunities for independence and personal success for people with different abilities in inclusive communities. We contract with the ARC to provide support filling samples and packing our quarterly sales kits. This past holiday season 2022, we provided shoes for children in an orphanage in Honduras.
Sensory Lab Reusable Supplies
Up until recently, our sensory department used disposable plastic cups and lids for sensory samples. For a typical sensory test, this equates to 120 plastic cups. Due to residual food left in cups and lack of recycling options, most of the plastic cups ended up in the trash. With the typical plastic cup taking up to 450 years to decompose, we decided to act. Starting in October 2022, our sensory testing has moved to 100% reusable cups for our sensory panels. We now offer a pitcher of self-service water and reusable drinking cups in each booth, and samples are served in 8-ounce wide mouth glass canning jars with removable labels. The metal canning jar disc lids make the perfect cover to capture aromatics in the samples.
LEED Certification
In 2018, Fuchs NA was awarded a Silver LEED Certified certification from the Green Building Council for our newly constructed headquarters building. LEED certification is a globally
recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and the most widely used green building rating system. To earn this certification, we showed our commitment to sustainability through various features of our new building, including energy efficient lighting and wastewater treatment systems.
Looking Toward a Sustainable Future
The committee is looking forward to continuing to work toward our goals around sustainability. Most important is a further reduction of carbon emissions. Water consumption and waste quantities are also to be curtailed over the next few years. Special attention is also being paid to further developing sustainable packaging materials. We are looking forward to more great progress!
Learn about the Fuchs Gruppe here.