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#GreenJobs - Detlef Schröter on a mission for sustainability
Our experts at thyssenkrupp work every day to make the group of companies’ greener. One of them is Detlef Schröter. As Project & Environmental Manager for Technology, Innovation & Sustainability at thyssenkrupp Automotive Systems GmbH, he promotes sustainability internally and with external partners. This is what his #GreenJob looks like in his day-to-day work.
"At thyssenkrupp Automotive Systems, we specialize in axle assembly and just-in-sequence deliveries for the automotive industry," says Detlef Schröter. As a supplier to the automotive industry, the company has precise targets and specifications regarding sustainability. In his role, Detlef Schröter ensures that these goals are achieved. The basis of the objectives set by Schröter and his colleagues are the UN's 17 sustainability targets. Additionally, the team is guided by the specifications of vehicle manufacturers who set comparable sustainability targets for themselves and their suppliers.
"We have set out our sustainability targets and important milestones in our CO2 roadmap," explains Schröter. "One of our company's first interim goals is to completely eliminate emissions from natural gas, internally consumed diesel fuel and purchased electricity. We want to achieve this goal as early as 2024," says the sustainability expert.
Sustainability is an important topic for the automotive supplier. The colleagues at thyssenkrupp Automotive Systems work hard to make their products and processes greener without sacrificing efficiency or profitability.
A voice for sustainability
As the contact person for sustainability, Detlef Schröter carries the message of urgency and, furthermore, information on implementation possibilities to a wide variety of departments: "Sustainability concerns us all and everyone can make a contribution," emphasizes the expert. For Schröter personally, sustainable action means, for example, using resources in an economically, ecologically, and socially compatible way. "In the professional environment, I find it particularly exciting that a win-win situation often arises when we find measures to reduce the resources used and thus improve sustainability and the contribution to earnings at the same time," adds the Project & Environmental Manager.
Sustainability in the interest of the entire company
Detlef Schröter is convinced: Sustainability is in the interest of the entire company. "Sustainability must be firmly anchored in all areas and hierarchical levels. In the automotive sector, I believe that environmental management anchored in processes is an obligation in all operating companies due to customer demands," emphasizes the expert. The colleagues at thyssenkrupp's logistics and axle assembly specialist take this responsibility very seriously and have already developed a range of technologies, measures and solutions to make the entire process chain more sustainable.
Roadmap to climate neutrality
According to Detlef Schröter, the most important sustainable solutions at thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology include products for e-mobility such as electric steering systems, rotor shafts for e-machines, electric motor integration in axles, resource conservation in production, for example, by avoiding scrap, and certification of environmental and energy management systems.
The roadmap to emissions neutrality for Automotive Technology has the following milestones on its agenda: Production is to be climate-neutral by 2024. All around 50 production sites will then produce CO2 -free, saving approximately 250,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
The automotive industry is moving steadily towards new mobility strategies such as expanding electromobility. thyssenkrupp Automotive Systems is also focusing more and more on more sustainable drive options.
Need for action by automotive suppliers
"From my point of view, the public perception of the industry is that it is worse than it actually is," says Schröter. At thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology, for example, it is standard practice to avoid waste and work continuously on improvements. These guidelines are firmly anchored in the production system, quality management, and environmental management. "It is difficult to highlight particular areas for action here. At the moment, I would identify affordable and clean energy and sustainable supply chains as the most important levers and adjusting screws with an acute need for action," says the expert.
According to Detlef Schröter, sustainability should be anchored in all levels and disciplines of the company and should be lived and strived for by all employees. For the expert, clear objectives, action tracking and information exchange are essential features of good sustainability management. "To provide current impetus and drive initiatives forward, we launched the Green Move initiative at thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology," he says.
Green Move focuses on sustainable energy at all sites, materials made from recycled waste, and a focus on electromobility.
Find out more about sustainability at thyssenkrupp in our stories.