The ECG company elobau, which has already drawn up three Common Good Balance Sheets since 2016, is the recipient of the Environmental Award for Companies 2020 from the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

The company’s sustainable solutions are in the areas of operator controls, machine safety, level measurement and sensor technology. It produces exclusively in Germany, builds many of its required components itself, and sources 96% of the purchased parts from the EU, with suppliers also being checked, in terms of their environmental compliance.

“We are a concerned company, and take responsibility for our ecological and social impact,” states Michael Hetzer, executive director at elobau. “This award from the state of Baden-Württemberg will give us even greater motivation in pursuing this objective. We are convinced that a healthy environment and a well-balanced society are the basis for long-term economic success.”

The evolution of elobau from a family business to a foundation company in 2016 was also predicated on these core assumptions. The elobau foundation funds education and community projects with a fixed proportion of the profits from elobau GmbH & Co. KG. Since assuming an ECG (economy for the common good) business model, elobau states that it is the first company in the electronics and machine building sector to produce an externally audited ‘Common Good Balance Sheet’.

Since 1993, the Environment Ministry of Baden-Württemberg has been honouring companies and the self-employed from industry, trade, handicrafts and services that have performed ecologically exceptional and highly skilled work for the promotion of environmental protection within operations and environmentally focused company management.

This year it was elobau’s turn to be recognised for its work in this field, with the award in the category of ‘Industrial company with more than 250 employees’.