Sustainability

COMPO EXPERT is working intensively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a holistic approach, we do not only consider our production, but also our raw materials as well as the transport and application of our products.
In the long term we are striving to purchase ever more sustainable raw materials of specified quality. We are starting with ammonia, our most important raw material, which has the largest CO₂ backpack due to its energy-intensive production.
From the second quarter of 2024, we will be purchasing 25% of our ammonia demand in a low-carbon variety, which will significantly reduce the footprint of our products.
This measure is expected to avoid about 15,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year. This saving is almost as high as the total greenhouse gas emissions of our COMPO EXPERT plants combined.

We are pleased to announce that COMPO EXPERT has joined the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices. With this announcement, we commit ourselves to the 10 principles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This reaffirms our commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices.

By becoming a participant in the UN Global Compact, we align ourselves with a global initiative that encourages businesses to adopt socially and environmentally responsible policies. This partnership reflects our dedication to fostering sustainable development, promoting human rights, labor standards, environmental stewardship, and anti-corruption efforts.

At COMPO EXPERT, we believe that sustainable business practices are integral to creating a positive impact on society and the environment. Joining the UN Global Compact is a significant step in our journey towards a more sustainable future. We look forward to collaborating with like-minded organizations, sharing best practices, and contributing to the collective effort to address global challenges.

We are pleased to announce that we are now working with the certified IT refurbisher AfB social & green IT. Through this partnership, we are giving our company hardware a second life and making a joint contribution to environmental protection and inclusion.
In March 2024, the first disused notebooks, monitors and PCs from COMPO EXPERT GmbH were brought to the nearest AfB branch. There, the hardware is refurbished by the AfB Group, equipped with the latest operating system and resold. In this way, we give our hardware a second life and reduce emissions and conserve valuable resources by avoiding new production.
In addition to this ecological contribution, used hardware at AfB is not only "green", but also "social". This is because it is a non-profit inclusion company. Of the approximately 660 employees, around 48% are severely disabled.

The R3-approach (reduce, reuse, recycle) is a further component of our sustainability strategy. In this sense, COMPO EXPERT is working on using locally produced phosphoric acid with phosphorous recycled from sewage sludge. By this means, we are making a multi-faceted environmental contribution to protect global resources.

The phosphoric share in sewage water and soil has increased over the past decades, resulting in too high acidification. To avoid further concentration, COMPO EXPERT participates as an associated partner in the AMPHORE-Project. This is a regional wastewater-treatment system aiming to recycle phosphorus out of the sludge. The image above shows the future loaction of the demonstration plant at Bottrop wastewater treatment plant operated by Emschergenossenschaft, nearby our production site in Krefeld, Germany. Using this phosphoric recyclate in our fertilizer production makes COMPO EXPERT a proud pioneer within this field. Applying this technique will reduce overexploitation from mining and will support the resilience of our supply chain, whilst reducing our carbon footprint. We are currently analyzing further opportunities to use similar methods with other raw materials.

COMPO EXPERT sees CO₂-footprint optimization as a strategic element. We recently engaged us for a reforestation project that focuses on renaturation and preservation of biodiversity.

In COMPO EXPERT, CO₂-footprint optimization is one of the key pillars of the sustainability 2025 program. A major target is to become CO₂-neutral in the coming years. COMPO EXPERT wants to achieve this based on the "ARC-principle": Avoid, Reduce and Compensate. In 2021 COMPO EXPERT partnered up with DEUTIM in a reforestation project in the south of Germany (Allgäu). This will help to renaturate degraded areas and will contribute to biodiversity by professionally planting climate stable mixed forests.

Furthermore, one of our recently launched global signature projects "Forestry" deals with recuperations of different trees, plants, and soils by using the capabilities of high-performance plant nutrition programs.

At COMPO EXPERT, we are dedicated to sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. One significant aspect of our sustainability initiatives is our commitment to green electricity.

In line with our dedication to reducing our carbon footprint, we have taken proactive steps by installing cutting-edge photovoltaic systems at our facilities in La Vall D’Uixó (Spain), and Deinze (Belgium). These solar power systems harness the abundant energy from the sun, converting it into clean and renewable electricity. By utilizing solar energy, we are not only reducing our reliance on conventional energy sources but also contributing to a greener and more sustainable future.

In addition to generating our own solar power, we purchase green electricity for our headquarter and facilities in Krefeld (Germany), La Vall D’Uixó, and Deinze. Through conscientious choices in our energy procurement, we ensure that the electricity we consume is sourced from renewable and environmentally friendly sources.

Our commitment avoids more than 10,000 t of CO₂ emissions annually and aligns with our broader vision of promoting eco-friendly practices throughout our operations.

To make our sustainability strategy a success-story, it is essential for COMPO EXPERT, to incorporate the ideas, the knowledge, and the different perspectives from our >700 employees that are spread across the globe. Therefore, we kicked off a sustainability idea contest, where we asked everybody within the company to provide concrete measures supporting any of our Top5 SDGs. We were very happy that 120 well-elaborated and particularly interesting ideas reached us! The Top10-ideas were awarded with a personal gift for the idea-provider and a donation that could be made to a sustainable project of the employees’ choice.
We have then started to realize and implement not only the awarded but also other great ideas from our contest!