Raising awareness as a remedy to heal the environment
European Week for Waste Reduction 2019
Madrid / 21 November 2019
Environmental education and communication are the two main themes of the European Week for Waste Reduction 2019, with ‘Change your habits, reduce your waste!’ as the motto for this year. At Siemens Gamesa we would like to take this opportunity to remind ourselves of the importance of making our world a more sustainable place. To do this, we need to start by making small changes.
The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), held this year from November 16-24, reminds us of the need for society to become increasingly active with regards to responsible consumption and the reduction of rubbish and waste as the basis for sustainable management of the environment.
Over the course of a week, the initiative aims to promote and implement actions to raise awareness on sustainable resources and waste management by urging a large number of people as well as private entities to participate. The objective is to mobilize and motivate people to lower the waste they produce, giving them specific communication tools and coordinating awareness-raising actions during the week.
Changing the behavior of staff and consumers
We all know that the best kind of waste is no waste at all. Siemens Gamesa, as a leader in renewable energy, couldn’t miss this opportunity to play its part in environmental conservation. The company holds environmental protection principles in its code of conduct and urges its employees to become familiar with them. Adopting a pro-environment attitude and the efficient use of installations, equipment, and resources are some of the premises of our objective to minimize the environmental impact of our activities.
From its early days, Siemens Gamesa has fought to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and protect the environment and climate, but what are the basic principles of the company in its fight toward a cleaner world?
- Promote the sustainable use of resources
- Create a culture of respect for the environment
- Contribute to the fight against climate change
- Reduce the environmental impact of the company
- Defend biodiversity
- Provide information on our environmental sustainability culture
Another of Siemens Gamesa's objectives consists in raising awareness and convincing people of the need to carry out sustainable actions. This is why over the course of this year, in line with the arguments of the European Week for Waste Reduction, the company has developed a series of initiatives for the reduction of trash and waste in its principal activities. You can read more about our initiatives here!
Reducing food waste
This year Siemens Gamesa looked at separating its food and fuel waste. Our goal was to minimize food waste by asking employees to fill their plate only with the food they had the intention of eating. We also started to collect data on kitchen waste such as out-of-date products, waste from employees' plates, and the buffet. The results helped us to put in place a new standardized price model. Among its many positive effects was that food waste was substantially reduced.
Raising awareness on waste generation, separation, and responsible conduct.
Denmark: wind turbine wing factory in Aalborg
Siemens Gamesa has developed an exhibition of the waste generated in its activity in order to highlight the importance of separating waste and promoting awareness in the use of primary goods among employees. The aim is to inspire and obtain new optimization ideas in this area, to establish a link between the purchase of new materials and waste, to insist on the importance of reducing and separating waste, and to diminish the environmental impact of our production.
With participation from 850 employees, this initiative managed to generate 40 ideas based on the optimization of the handling of materials, in addition to raising awareness on the waste produced at the plant. The R&D departments found inspiration and another opportunity to think outside the box.
England: wind turbine wing factory in Hull
Over 1,600 employees of the Siemens Gamesa team in Hull and various family members witnessed and participated in the creation of a six-meter tall plastic wind turbine. This construction aims to symbolize the quantity of waste produced from their work at the factory. The initiative aims to raise employees' awareness of the need to reduce the consumption of single use plastics.