Today, April 22, we are celebrating Earth Day. The purpose of this International Day is to build awareness for an environmentally conscious and sustainable lifestyle as well as for environmental problems.
 
We intend to develop a future we can trust in. For us, this goes hand in hand with creating a more environmentally friendly world. In this context, providing information and implementing measures such as the environmentally sound handling of plastic, environmentally sound paper print as well as saving energy by shutting down PCs overnight is a matter of course for us. But this is not where our self-concept as a responsible company ends.

We are continuously working on integrating the topics of environmental awareness and preservation of resources into our daily working life. Currently we are providing charging stations for e-cars to our employees in Koblenz and Ditzingen, and are changing over our interior lighting in Koblenz and Arnstadt from light-bulbs and fluorescent tubes to LED.

Supporting and actively developing sustainability across the group

The Thales Group is actively working on solutions for flight path optimisation in the areas of Flight Management Systems (FMS) and Air Traffic Management (ATM), which would reduce CO2 emissions due to aircrafts by up to 10% and more than 100 million tons of CO2 in the near future.

Thales is also the first company to develop an “economical” KI, based on an algorithm with low energy consumption. Thales researchers are developing energy-saving algorithms as an integral part of a neural network architecture, considering the Ecodesign Directive. As a specialist for support solutions when it comes to critical decisions, the group is developing revolutionary technologies to make artificial intelligence more efficient.

The engagement of the company Thales Alenia Space encompasses the development of instruments for measuring the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by humans. These instruments determine the type of emissions with a never before seen precision (within 4 m²), e.g. to measure pollution peaks close to a specific factory or city.
Last but not least, Thales is adhering to the Ecodesign Directive with more and more of its new developments and aims at implementing it for 100% of our new products and services in 2023 at the latest. The group is also actively promoting its eco-designed smart cards, which are planned to comprise 35% of all smart card sales in 2025 at the latest.
Find more information here.

Electricity from renewable energy sources

Beside the worldwide valid strategy for Thales aiming at a low-carbon future, we at Thales in Germany are intensively pursuing the continuous improvement of environmental performance and environmental impacts.

In 2020, there was a transition in the electricity purchase from our energy supplier. After careful consideration, we made the decision for a largely climate-neutral green electricity product made from hydropower, supplying all sites in Germany with “green energy”. In addition, the energy consumption of buildings, production plants and testfloor areas has to be further reduced in the coming years. This prevention has the highest priority to reduce negative environmental impacts.

Systematic reduction of CO2 values

Another high priority for us to work towards a systematic reduction of CO2 values is the development of sustainable mobility.

This includes adjusted travel guidelines, comprising the enforcement of travel by rail, BahnCards for business trips as well as the transition of the vehicle fleet to hybrid vehicles and the installation of charging columns, operating with 100% green electricity. The possibility of mobile work as well as the goal to already set the basis for sustainable business trips in purchasing also contribute to a more sustainable business mobility.

Forgoing disposable tableware and cups

At our café in Ditzingen we have been using recyclable returnable cups made from tree resin since 2019. By forgoing the use of approximately 20,000 disposable cups, we are reducing waste significantly, combined with additional CO2 savings for manufacture and transport. The coffee cups are made 100% from renewable resources that are completely biodegradable. The cups' main component are tree resins which are a by-product of the pulp industry. This product is also part of our efforts to support the regional economy since the cups are produced in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Since the beginning of March 2020, the canteen at the Arnstadt site no longer issues disposable meal trays made from aluminium and plastic for taking food. These were replaced by reusable trays. This allows Thales in Arnstadt to save about 650 disposable plastic meals trays and 150 disposable aluminium meal trays which would have otherwise ended up in the waste bin.

Initiatives for an effective conservation of resources

In November 2021, our employees at all Thales sites in Germany donated 220 eyeglasses, giving many people the chance for a life without sight problems and thus the chance to pursue a profession or to attend school. Beside the direct support for people with sight problems in the poorest parts of the world, Thales Deutschland’s collection campaign also contributes to the effective conservation of resources thanks to the re-utilisation of existing eyeglasses.