Huf is setting clear targets for climate protection: the company will be carbon neutral by 2030 at the latest. To this end, the leading specialist for secure car access and authorization systems has already taken numerous measures and will continue to drive its sustainability efforts.
“As an automotive supplier, Huf also supports its customers in the automotive industry in neutralizing the climate impact of car production and traffic. In addition, sustainability is an integral part of our values as a family-owned company”, says Tom Graf, CEO of Huf. “That's why we are consistently aligning the entire company towards CO2 reduction. With a clear goal: by 2030 at the latest, Huf will be carbon neutral.”
As a member of the UN Global Compact, Huf reports annually on its climate protection activities. This includes the continuous improvement of the entire value chain – from the product to the global production network – under ecological as well as economic aspects. By 2030, Huf aims to reduce its energy consumption by two percent annually and at the same time increase the share of renewable energies by 20 percent per year.
Huf has already taken numerous measures for CO2 reduction
Latest example: Huf has installed solar modules on the roofs of the plant building and the parking lot in Tondela, Portugal. Overall, there are 2,336 modules with a total capacity of 740 kWp. The plant in Tondela currently consumes 4.47 GWh per year, of which the solar power system will cover about 1.03 GWh. In other words, the plant is expected to cover about 23 percent of energy needs through sustainable power generation. The solar power plant was tested and commissioned in February 2021.
“Huf Portuguesa, like the entire Huf Group, is committed to sustainability in all areas of its daily work”, says Pedro Pêga, Legal Entity Manager in Portugal. “We are not only optimizing our processes to ensure climate protection, but we are also raising our employees' awareness to act environmentally conscious. We support this in many ways: For example, we are planning to install charging stations so that anyone who comes to work with an electric car can charge the battery for free. The solar panels above the parking lot supply the electrical energy.”
The solar cell park in Tondela is just another measure Huf is taking to protect the environment. The measures range from energy saving, material reduction, material reuse, reduction of water consumption to space reduction in production sites and optimized logistic processes. Another good example can be found in one of the core competence areas of Huf: For the painting of door handles and other exterior parts Huf minimizes the use of solvents and offers waterborne coatings. Moreover, Huf constantly reduces waste in production as well as logistics: Any excess material like sprue in plastic injection molding or die casting are recycled and reused in the production process if possible. Huf also supports the motivation of employees by rewarding their suggestions and fostering their initiatives to climate protection and saving of natural resources with the internal improvement suggestion system “ERGO” (“Evaluate – React – Go – Optimize”).
