For Karcher, a leading cleaning company, environmental sustainability is a firmly anchored corporate goal. “We believe in the importance of using our resources responsibly, sparsely, efficiently, and effectively, to minimise wastage and curtail or prevent environmental degradation,” said Mazen Abou Chakra, export sales director at Kärcher Middle East.

To this end, the company has developed two energy and resource saving methodologies eco!efficiency and eco!logic into its two product lines professional and home and garden. 

For example, the eco!efficiency products reduce the consumption of resources and energy with a cleaning performance that is tailored to specific applications. Previous studies on its eco!efficiency range of products showed the total CO2 savings amounted to approximately 2,500,000 tonnes over the life period of these products. The CO2 emissions savings of all its machines is equivalent to about 1,500,000 flights from London to New York where about 1.7 tonnes of CO2 is emitted per flight, Chakra said.

Founded in 1935 by Alfred Kärcher, Karcher entered the cleaning industry in the 1950s. It was first to develop the hot-water high-pressure machine in Europe and since then has developed a variety of machines that utilise pressure, hot temperatures and steam.

Its Middle East subsidiary was opened in 1998 in Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE, and it now plans to open more dedicated and service stores across the Middle East. In 2016, Kärcher received the UAE Superbrand award for its continuous top-quality products, processes, and services.  

MARKET CHALLENGES

The company is aware that the dust, fine-grained sand, and the necessity to conserve water definitely pose some challenges in the Middle East market. However, Karcher said it has conducted reviews and fined tuned its machines to handle these conditions. According to Chakra, it was found that in addition to its robust sweepers with advanced dust filtration mechanism the high-pressure and steam cleaning options were the best suited for the environment. “In the UAE, our customers who bought our pressure washer machines for home cleaning in comparison to the simple garden hose, saved over 8.9 million litres of water in 2015,” Chakra said. 

Karcher ME has different kind of machines for home, gardens, constructions, oil and gas and industrial machines. The company has its own environmental line and sustainable slogan, as most of their equipment use the power of water and steam to give the perfect results of cleaning, the machines reduce water and electricity usage and more than 70 per cent of their machines materials can be recycled.

REDUCING CLIMATE IMPACT

Karcher established and pursues a sustainability strategy 2020 which aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by the year 2020. In order to achieve the goals listed in the strategy 2020 it pursues a policy of efficiency in its operations and processes. Explaining how it works, Chakra said: “Through this, for example, at our combined heat and power plant we managed to cut down our CO2 emissions by 56 per cent compared to the previous gas heating system, and our woodchip-fired heating plant saves 340,000 litres of heating oil annually and therefore over 1,000 tonnes of CO2. 

“Further, our new ice storage heating system generates a saving of 40 tonnes of CO2 annually, while our highly efficient heat recovery systems saves 51 tonnes of CO2 annually. There are also three photovoltaic systems that reduce our carbon footprint by a further 50 tonnes annually, and our geothermal system also makes a significant contribution.”

In order to improve efficiency in the manufacturing processes, Kärcher has employed some of the newest technologies available including smart technologies, Industry 4.0 revolution which enable flexibility, productivity and resource-efficiency to match customer orders. The company has moved away from series production to the production of batches of one! An example of this level of individualisation and adherence to unique customer requirements is seen in the manufacturing of Kärcher Scrubber Drier machines, which in 2010 recorded about 500 variants but in 2014 registered 200,000 variants, Chakra said.

INVESTING IN R&D 

Not resting on its laurels, Karcher is constantly making new investments to increase its energy efficiency. “Yes, we are constantly seeking ways in which to be more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable. As this is a company policy that overarches all our operations, one of the ways we invest in this area is through the development of our research and development (R&D) team,” Chakra said. 

Currently, globally the company has around 900 employees–which is about 10 per cent of its global workforce–in R&D, working on improving the efficiency of its processes and products, and on new products and processes in general. 

Kärcher is also developing an innovative segment called ‘Kärcher Futuretech’ which features machines capable of water treatment and purification systems, decontamination systems, mobile catering, and field camp systems for municipalities. Currently, the company holds over 1,500 patents and registered designs, and has over 3,000 types of machines.