We take responsibility

The concept of sustainability has been deeply embedded in family-owned company Kärcher since it was founded more than 80 years ago. This is why today, as in the past, we would like to accept responsibility for the environment, our products, the supply chain, the company, society and our staff. With the "Sustainability Excellence" sustainability programme, we have set ourselves the target of driving forward all the fields of action in our sustainability strategy by 2020.

 

Sustainable – right from the outset

Thinking and acting with sustainability in mind has a long tradition at Kärcher: for Alfred Kärcher himself, the well-being of his employees and environmental protection were matters that were close to his heart. In 1939, when the incipient company relocated to Winnenden, Alfred Kärcher produced his own wastewater treatment system on company premises. In 1940, he founded the Alfred Kärcher foundation for employees in need, which produced toys to give employees' children as Christmas presents from 1943 to 1948. This was followed by many other milestones.

Even more than 80 years after the founding of the company, the concept of sustainability is still deeply embedded in the business. We have set ourself a clear objective for our sustainability management: we want to become the benchmark in the cleaning market in terms of sustainability with the highest customer awareness and customer satisfaction. To actually be able to implement this vision by 2020, the Kärcher Group has set strategic sustainability targets. Building on the results of a stakeholder survey, in 2014 the "Sustainability Excellence" sustainability programme was approved for the following years. It comprises 14 overarching targets for the entire Group, which are split into 6 fields of action and are geared towards principles of the UN Global Compact, which we signed in 2011.

Alfred und Irene Kärcher

Action Areas of our Sustainability Strategy

Awards, Initiatives and Cooperations