Protection of company resources
Our aim: to make the world of textiles a little better.
We have been manufacturing in Velen for more than 90 years. This is our home; this is where our employees and their families live. And that is why it goes without saying that we take responsibility for the local area and the resources on which our work depends. For us, therefore, protecting resources within our operations begins right here: in our own production facilities.
As a textile company in Germany, we operate under different conditions to many of our competitors in the traditional low-wage regions of the textile industry. This does not always give us a cost advantage, but it does allow us to shape our production processes ourselves, invest in modern technology and continually scrutinise our use of energy, water and raw materials.
Our aim is to improve our production step by step: to conserve resources wherever technically possible, to make the most sensible use of available energy and materials, and to invest in solutions that will ensure our site remains strong for the future.
This is what we mean by operational resource conservation.
Conserving resources within the company begins in our own production facilities.
Energy management in accordance with ISO 50001, heat recovery, modern air-conditioning technology and water recovery are not isolated flagship projects. They form part of our ongoing endeavour to further develop the technical aspects of production in our spinning and weaving mills and to reduce their resource requirements.
Systematically monitoring energy consumption.
Our Energy Management System (EnMS) is integrated into our existing management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001 and is certified to ISO 50001. This enables us to systematically monitor and control energy consumption in our production processes, thereby laying the foundations for identifying potential savings and continuously improving our energy efficiency. The measures and opportunities for improvement identified in this process are incorporated into the further development of our production processes.
Using energy that is already available.
We have gradually installed a heat recovery system at our plant. This system reuses heat generated by operational processes, rather than allowing it to be wasted.
We are currently working intensively on a real milestone: the direct connection of our factory to the local wind farm. Our aim is to meet a large proportion of our future electricity requirements with renewable energy sourced directly from the generator. This would not only significantly increase the share of renewable energy in our electricity consumption, but also bring economic benefits to both us and our customers.
Modern air-conditioning technology for better working conditions.
In the weaving mill, it often got very hot – particularly in summer – due to outside temperatures and waste heat. The modernisation of our air-conditioning system was therefore, above all, an investment in a literally ‘good climate’ in the workplace. At the same time, we have also prioritised the most efficient use of energy possible here.
Water recovery in the weaving mill’s front-end facility.
We are also committed to conserving resources in warp production. Our modern weaving mill is equipped with water recovery systems that allow water to be reused in the production process.
For us, manufacturing in Germany also means constantly improving.
When you manufacture your own products, you have the power to bring about change yourself. We also draw on an outside perspective: as part of a PIUS assessment (Production-Integrated Environmental Protection), our production processes were systematically analysed to identify opportunities for improving resource efficiency. The measures and areas for improvement identified during this process are incorporated into the ongoing development of our production processes.
When resource conservation becomes products.
With WECYCLED® and WETURNED®, we have developed two in-house product concepts that enable existing materials to be reused as textile raw materials.
You can find out how these two concepts work and which materials are used on our WECYCLED® and WETURNED® pages.
WECYCLED®
Recycled fabric containing cotton sourced from the textile circular economy
With WECYCLED®, we return suitable cotton offcuts to the textile cycle and turn them back into raw material for yarns and fabrics.
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WETURNED®
Fabric made from recycled yarn derived from PET bottles
With WETURNED®, we process recycled PES from collected PET bottles into bespoke technical fabrics.
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