“We want to dedicate ourselves to sustainable innovation that is fully compatible with environmental protection.” Says Silhouette CMO, Michael Schmied.
Since the beginning of 2020, Silhouette International has been a Climate Alliance company. The companies within the Climate Alliance are committed to pursuing sustainable business practices, handling resources responsibly, and adhering to Silhouette’s corporate social responsibilities. Joining this network is the latest step in the company’s corporate social responsibility initiative.
The admission process took months to complete and included a “climate check,” during which an external consultant from the Climate Alliance thoroughly inspected Silhouette’s facilities. The climate check is an all-encompassing, individualized analysis of all relevant areas of the business, from communication, transportation, mobility, procurement, and facilities to energy and waste management. It resulted in around 150 company-specific measures that Silhouette is taking to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions at our company headquarters in Linz. The measures will be put into practice by 2022 before the next evaluations take place.
The Climate Alliance is Austria’s largest climate protection organization formed from a network of municipalities. So far, over 2,500 towns, schools, and companies in Austria have joined forces and partnered with indigenous people of the Amazon to protect the rain forests and lower CO2 emissions through local initiatives.
Throughout its 57-year history, Silhouette International has always been shaped by its sense of responsibility towards people and the planet. By joining the Climate Alliance, Silhouette International is committed to meeting the highest level of responsibility and serving as a role model to other companies.
Electricity is the most heavily used form of energy at the Silhouette International production sites and offices in Austria and the Czech Republic. Since 2017, Silhouette has been using an environmentally-friendly mix of renewable electricity to meet all their energy needs, which is guaranteed to be 100% free of CO2 and nuclear energy. The 100% use of renewable, natural energy sources, such as wind, solar, small-scale hydroelectric, and biomass, allow Silhouette International to generate electricity without any emissions whatsoever.
Since the summer of 2020, a 27,000 square-foot solar panel system on the roof of one of the production halls at Silhouette’s company headquarters has been converting solar energy into electricity. The green energy is used exclusively for meeting our own energy needs in producing lenses and eyewear.
This future-proof energy supply allows Silhouette to reduce our reliance on the power grid and cut CO2 emissions by 240 tons each year. At peak performance, the 1,156 panels generate 400,000-kilowatt-hours of green electricity, which is enough to power around 200 average Austrian homes. This has enabled Silhouette to achieve a 10% reduction in the amount of energy we buy each year.
The Silhouette International company headquarters is located within a water conservation area. This means it’s not only important for them to save water, but also to improve the quality and purity of the wastewater we generate.
Intelligent water counters allow Silhouette to closely monitor the amount of water they use in their production facilities with the goal to achieve a balance between the amount of water they use and the concentration of residues in the wastewater they produce. To achieve this, Silhouette has installed their own production wastewater channel which allows them to monitor and record the temperature, pH value, and amount of wastewater so that they can quickly intervene in case of any fluctuations from the target. They test separately each day for concentrations of nickel, copper, and chromium.
