Riese & Müller: We want to be the most sustainable company in the E-Bike sector by 2025.
12.09.2019 | Sustainability
Riese & Müller and its products embody a sustainable lifestyle. Under the banner of “Responsibility”, the issue of sustainability has been firmly anchored in the corporate strategy since 2018. The vision is clear: Riese & Müller wants to be the most sustainable company in the E-Bike sector by 2025. Many specific measures have already been put in place to achieve this objective with the move into our new corporate headquarters.
Riese & Müller has been actively shaping the mobility of the future for over 26 years. Year on year, E-Bikes and E-Cargo bikes are being elevated to a new level to increase customers’ enjoyment of their E-Bikes and encourage them to leave their cars at home more often. Apart from ongoing improvement of our products, Riese & Müller’s overall strategy includes a responsibility to man and the environment. Since the start of 2019, this strategy has had a home with a production site that guarantees a sustainable approach to business.
“We are guided by our four pillars of responsibility to achieve our Vision 2025: culture, ecology, social responsibility and economics. The new corporate head office represents an important step in making sustainability measures a reality”, states Dr Sandra Wolf, CEO of Riese & Müller.
One of the most important aims is to conserve resources and deal with nature in a responsible manner. The new company headquarters’ energy consumption is met fully CO2-neutrally. Even today, 80% of the total power required comes from the company’s own photovoltaic system. An additional warehouse with a second photovoltaic system is currently being built. 100% of the company’s energy demand will be produced in-house from the first half of 2020. An energy-efficient air conditioning system primarily based on passive measures has been installed to cool the building. And there are already many trailblazing projects going on within the building as well. The introduction of a new tensioning-belt system has reduced plastic waste in the high-bay warehouse by 95%. All employees are supplied with free drinking water in a manner which conserves resources. To do so, Riese & Müller systematically relies on a Brita water filtering system and the use of reusable bottles. The water can be decanted into reusable bottles at a number of taps around the building, saving the transport of over 90,000 bottles each year. In addition to employing people with disabilities in-house, Riese & Müller also supports the Sonnenhof working farm in Mühltal, located in the immediate vicinity of the company’s new premises. Apart from milk from the Sonnenhof, only Demeter-certified or organic products are served in the company’s in-house Corner Café and over 50,000 single-use cups per year are saved through the use of a reusable deposit system. All internal and external events at Riese & Müller have the aim of being waste-free and consciously rely on vegetarian or reduced-meat catering.
“We want to make a difference in the industry and also challenge our partners to pursue this same important approach. We know that we face a major challenge and still have much to do. But we’ve made a start and have an objective”, concludes Dr Sandra Wolf, CEO of Riese & Müller.