Eco Tech Award: Arvato Earns High Honors For Environmental Commitment

Arvato is the recipient of a Global 100 Eco-Tech Award, for its commitment to promoting sustainable forestry. The prizes are awarded as part of the Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, as an attempt by the Expo’s organizers to honor companies and organizations for outstanding achievements in the field of environmental technology. All over the world, only 100 of these awards are presented in various categories, and only three German companies received an award, each of which comes with a purse of one million yen (roughly 10,000 euros). The awards ceremony will be held in Japan on Sep 1.

To help ensure responsible forestry, Arvato had its subsidiaries Mohn Media and GGP Media certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The Forest Stewardship Council is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. Arvato was also able to continually increase the proportion of FSC paper used in its printing jobs by providing extensive information to customers and practicing intensive cooperation with suppliers: The use of FSC paper at Arvato nearly quintupled from 2003 to 2004 – and that is only part of what the company is doing for the environment.

"We are very proud of this award and see it as a motivation for our continuing efforts to protect the environment," said Arvato AG CEO Hartmut Ostrowski. "We have adopted environmental guidelines for the entire company and appointed an environmental officer who provides coordination and consulting as our companies build an environmental reporting system." Another ongoing project involves drawing up an environmental report for Arvato. Andreas Henrichs, the division’s environmental officer, adds: "This shows us that we are on the right path – additional steps must and will follow."

Arvato has long explored the question of how the paper necessary for production can be produced in an ecologically responsible way. A sustainable forestry concept objectively certified according to FSC criteria is an essential element. Arvato AG is a founding member of the "Print and Paper" task force, which comprises members of the German FSC task group and of WWF Germany as well as other protagonists actively working to shape and strengthen the trade chain of FSC-certified printing stock.