"Deeply attached to the environment," that is not only a guiding principle of the Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG but they are living it. With the introduction of the environmental management system, EMAS, the group embedded the continuous improvement of their own environmental performance in their working processes. The Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG is therefore one of 43 companies in Saxony to have implemented this system successfully. The minister for Environment and Agriculture in Saxony, Thomas Schmidt, took this opportunity to personally present the EMAS certificate.
With around 1.6 million trees, Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG is literally rooted in the region. The responsible relationship with nature is essential for the primarily agricultural business. The introduction of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, EMAS, is a strict continuation of the previously established sense of responsibility.
"To us, the EMAS system is an opportunity to continuously find where we can improve, to pool ideas and take effective measures," says Jan Kalbitz, chairman of Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG.
The introduction of the environmental management system EMAS began in 2015: After a systematic analysis and assessment of all of the environmental influences, discretions to act are reported. At Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG this developed into a comprehensive catalogue of changes in the years to come. This includes the holding company as well as all the producing daughter companies. The environmental statement and the participating locations were then evaluated by independent experts.
Minister of state Thomas Schmidt (right) the chairmen of Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG Mathias Möbius (middle) and Jan Kalbitz (left) at the presentation of the EMAS certificate.
"Many of the measures will not only improve our environmental performance but also save time and resources," Kalbitz explains. "The protection and support of our biodiversity in our plantations for example is leading to an increase of beneficial insects, which are in turn taking care of pests. This means, the improvement in terms of the environment makes us more productive economically as well."
The benefits of EMAS are the internal anchoring of a continuous process of improvement, a better legal and liability security as well as an efficient self-monitoring. Minister of state for environment and agriculture, Thomas Schmidt, is acknowledging the commitment by personally presenting this certificate to the Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG.
The registration of participating companies is a duty of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce as well as the Chamber of Trade. In Saxony, it is the job of the IHK Dresden.