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GKE has already taken the following actions to protect the environment for a long time:

Photovoltaic solar panels
After installation of two photovoltaic systems with outputs of 20 and 210 kW MPP, GKE produces more electrical energy than consumed.

Office buildings with low energy consumption
The GKE office buildings were constructed under modern aspects of 20 cm insulation technology. That way the buildings only need 30 W/m3 of thermal energy and can be used without air-conditioning during the summer. The windows of the buildings have triple glazing and shutters for reduction of solar radiation in summer and additional insulation in winter.

Lightning energy savings
All lights are exchanged by using low energy LED lights.

Surface water collection
The surface water from the roof is collected in a cistern and used for toilette flushing, cooling of the sterilizers and to generate demineralised water. Thus the public water consumption has been reduced by 80 % and the community’s sewage system is not that heavily used at intense rain.

Unsealed parking lot
The parking lot is not sealed and so the rainwater can seep into the soil and does not have to drain off through the sewage. That way the sewage system is relieved and the groundwater level is not negatively influenced. Additional parking has been created in the cellar and on the roof of the buildings. Parking areas outside have been completely dispensed with; instead, green areas are planted with shrubs and trees. 

Electric vehicles
GKE has several electric cars in its car pool and is financing electric cars also for their employees.

Charging stations for electric vehicles
GKE has installed 20 charging stations for electric cars with a Type 2 plug up to 22 kW charging power. These charging stations allow all visitors to arrive with an environmentally friendly electric car and charge the battery during their visit. The electricity is provided from the 220 kW solar panels on the roof.

Furthermore, our employees who already use an electric car can charge solar power at our site free of charge.

Minimizing travel activities
By reducing flights, public transportation and car mileage due to efficient use of Email and video communication.

Solvent-free printing and indicator colour
Instead of organic solvents GKE uses water for the printing colours and UV-curing oligomers for the indicator colours which seal the indicator substances at the same time so that they do not stain either hands or instruments anymore.

Long-life Process Challenge Devices (PCDs)
Our sterilization monitoring concept uses durable PCDs, which can be used for more than 10,000 cycles, requiring only tiny indicator strips for each cycle, while historical test methods must use at least two indicators for each package inside a sterilization load. GKE also replaces disposable paper packs, which are used by competitors and have to be disposed after each test, by reusable PCDs. This saves larger quantities of indicators at the end customers, which do not have to be disposed. GKE PCDs are made of recyclable PVDF.

Environmentally friendly packaging material
GKE uses only cardboard packaging material that can be recycled. The indicator strips produced by GKE are also mostly made of paper; the use of plastic materials is very low and only necessary in H2O2 processes.

Use of efficient energy saving lamps
with electronic ballast. The whole factory uses exclusively electronic-controlled low-energy lamps with the best light power consumption ratio available. In the new building energy saving LED lamps are installed.

Paperless office
GKE has launched a paperless order processing system and storage. Incoming faxes and emails are saved electronically and directly processed in the ERP (Enterprise Resource Program). This eliminates the traditional paper filing. Instead of letter paper, electronic files with company data are stored in every workplace computer, and company correspondence is mainly handled by e-mail. The same applies for delivery notes and invoices. On the one hand the paper consumption has been dramatically reduced in order to save the environment and on the other hand these activities are very time saving.