Austria-based company FACC’s efforts in sustainability management have been recognised by it being awarded the prestigious Eccos22 certification. This incorporates United Nations standards, as well as other international sustainability guidelines. Eccos22 is said to provide the first management assessment system for business excellence and sustainability worldwide.

A further important milestone for FACC is the ONR 192500 certification, which recognises the company’s ongoing success in the field of corporate social responsibility.

The two awards were presented by Dr Angelika Winzig, Austrian head of delegation in the EU parliament and patron of the FACC Eccos22, and DI Axel Dick, business development lead for environment & energy and CSR at Quality Austria. DI Sabine Nadherny-Borutin, vice-president of the CSR Dialogue Forum and secretary general of Plastics Europe Austria, also presented the Seal of Approval for Excellence in Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility of the CSR Dialogue Forum.

In addition, the Society for Consumer Studies has presented the GreenTech Award 2020/2021 to FACC. This marks the first time that an Austrian company has been honoured for its “documented and active commitment” to climate protection.

Commenting on the company’s achievements, FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger said: “These certifications and awards make us very proud. I would like to thank the entire workforce who have all contributed to making these achievements a reality.”

He continued: “Global air traffic is currently responsible for 2.7 per cent of worldwide CO2 emissions. Some 50 years ago, this percentage was 5.4 per cent and thus twice as high. Yet the number of flights has increased significantly during this period. The aircraft industry, however, is not resting on its laurels after these successes.

“We want to continue to improve together – and FACC is making a significant contribution to reaching this goal. The aviation industry is committed to the goals of the Green Deal; the declared commitment is to enable CO2 neutral flying by 2050. FACC is actively shaping the mobility of the future through focused basic research and the development of new product innovations.”

An intelligent mix of measures

The spheres of action targeted by FACC’s sustainability strategy extend far beyond product development, maintains the company. A bundle of measures seeks to minimise the direct impact of the company’s business activities on the environment. With its intelligent energy management system, FACC is striving to become self-sufficient in energy while increasing the use of renewable energy and energy recovery systems.

The company started to supply the first plant with geothermal heat in 2000 and since 2015 all plants in Austria have been heated with geothermal energy and thus almost CO2 neutral and independent of fossil fuels. The amount of energy saved by FACC corresponds to the heating requirements of the district capital Ried. FACC is also exploiting the potential of the sun and, in recent years, has pushed ahead with the expansion of high-performance photovoltaic systems.

Its declared goal is that from the year 2040, FACC will be a CO2 neutral high-tech industrial company that is independent of fossil fuels. The push for automation and digitalisation also promotes efficiency increases and energy optimisation in manufacturing.

Moreover, FACC is working intensively on implementing a sparing use of raw materials along the entire value chain. Proactive management avoids waste in advance and minimises the use of problematic materials and chemicals in production. At the same time, the company has set itself the goal of co-shaping the mobility of the future with the materials of tomorrow.

The topics explored range from the development of bionic structures derived from nature and integral construction methods for reducing component diversity to e-mobility, particularly Urban Air Mobility and autonomous aircraft.

In May, it was announced that US low-cost airline JetBlue had taken delivery of its first A321LR aircraft with the FACC-designed Airspace cabin installed. The cabin elements developed by FACC for the new Airspace cabin of the A320 Airbus family, which are now in series production, are said to offer “state-of-the-art design, maximum comfort and innovative technologies”.