Sustainability at Festo
Automation is an enabler for the industrial transformation towards climate protection, resource efficiency and sustainability. With its products and solutions, Festo helps to enable resource-conserving production and helps to establish a circular economy along the entire value chain – with the clear aim of reducing CO2 emissions.
The future of our planet also presents Festo with major challenges. On the one hand, it is about supplying the world's population and coping with demographic change, and on the other hand, it is about protecting our natural resources and CO2-neutral production. "With our "Blue World" approach, we want to express how we can balance these challenges with the help of Automation Technology and Technical Education," says Dr. Oliver Jung, Festo CEO.
Festo as the right partner and enabler for more sustainability
With its technology fields of pneumatics, electrical automation, process automation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, Festo enables the transformation of industrial production into an efficient and more climate-friendly way of manufacturing, such as in the field of biotechnology. In addition, Festo provides relief for people in the workplace, supports healthcare with its LifeTech technologies, and enables people to learn and use new technologies efficiently with its learning systems. Furthermore, Festo supports the structural change of certain industries such as the automotive industry and shows how automation technology can better protect the most important resources of water, earth and air. This also includes shortening transport routes and value chains through increased localisation and minimising emissions in this way.
Change to a circular economy through ecological innovations
Festo sees the next development thrust for industrial production in the shift toward a circular economy. "In nature, there is no waste and no wastage. We just have to learn to transfer these principles to our economies," says Oliver Jung. Festo's Bionic Learning Network is therefore conducting research into the automated cultivation of biomass. For example, algae offer great potential and an alternative to petroleum: they bind much more CO2 than land plants and metabolise components through photosynthesis that can be used to produce medicines, cosmetics and bioplastics. "In 2022, we presented our bioreactor "PhotoBionicCell", which cultivates algae particularly efficiently through automation technology. At this year's Hannover Messe, we will show the scaling up of the system and thus the preliminary stage to industrialisation. Our customers increasingly perceive us as a technology partner for biological processes. Together with us, they can drive the transformation of industry. Innovations are the key to greater sustainability in this context," says Oliver Jung.
That is why Festo has made great progress in important innovations, such as digital and intelligent pneumatics, which, depending on the application, offer significant advantages in energy-efficient use compared to conventional pneumatics. "With our energy-saving products, we are the right partner for our customers for energy-efficient and sustainable production operations. In addition, we enable sustainable industries and technologies with our product and service solutions," says Christian Österle, Head of Corporate Communication and Sustainability at Festo.
CO2 neutrality by 2026
Festo will massively reduce its CO2 footprint in the coming years. "From 2023, all our buildings in Germany as well as our global production and logistics sites will be CO2 neutral with regard to Scope 1 and 2. From 2026, the entire Festo Group will be CO2 neutral. After that, we will continue to work on energy-saving measures and the retrofitting of our heating technology in order to continuously reduce the need for compensation", says Christian Österle. With the decision to become CO2-neutral, Festo is taking responsibility as a family company.
Lifelong learning as an essential element of sustainable development
As a solution provider for technical education and training, Festo Didactic imparts skills and abilities to master the challenges of the present and shape the future for the benefit of future generations. Festo also attaches great importance to strong training and further education within its own company. In addition, Festo Didactic develops learning content and learning environments for new training professions, based on the increasing requirements in the areas of IT, AI, Data Science or sustainability.
Festo is a global player and an independent family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo has set standards in industrial automation technology and technical education ever since its establishment, thereby making a contribution to sustainable development of the environment, the economy and society. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries. The LifeTech sector with medical technology and laboratory automation is becoming increasingly important. The products and services are available in 176 countries. With about 20,800 employees in over 250 branch offices in around 60 countries worldwide, Festo achieved a turnover of around €3.81 billion in 2022. Each year around 7% of this turnover is invested in research and development. In this learning company, 1.5 % of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training and offers its customers worldwide comprehensive digital and physical learning solutions in the industrial environment.
