European Business Awards for the Environment are awarded by the European Union to recognise companies that combine competitiveness with respect for the environment. [1]
The awards take into consideration voluntary schemes such as EMAS and Ecolabel, together with other comparable projects, which demonstrate commitment to develop and apply sustainable management practices. The awards were originally established in 1987 as the European Better Environment Awards for Industry, renamed in 2000 as the European Awards for the Environment, and renamed again in 2004 as the current European Business Awards for the Environment. [2]
The award is presented in five categories: Management, Product and services, Process innovation, International business cooperation and Business and biodiversity.
Source: European Commission
An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as passive solar earth shelters made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires. Earthships may feature a variety of amenities and aesthetics, and are designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of a desert, managing to stay close to 70 °F (21 °C) regardless of outside weather conditions. Earthship communities were originally built in the desert of northern New Mexico, near the Rio Grande, and the style has spread to small pockets of communities around the globe, in some cases in spite of legal opposition to its construction and adoption.
Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire. Its principal activity is the supply of electricity and gas to consumers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels or biomass, but heat-only boiler stations, geothermal heating, heat pumps and central solar heating are also used, as well as heat waste from factories and nuclear power electricity generation. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localized boilers. According to some research, district heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants.
E.ON SE is a European electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It runs one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name comes from the Latin word aeon, from the Greek aion which means age. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, DAX stock index and a member of the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 index.
Renewi plc is a leading European waste management company operating primarily in the Benelux region. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, often shortened to simply GIZ, is the main German development agency headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn that provides services in the field of international development cooperation and international education work. It is the organization's self-declared goal to deliver effective solutions that offer people better prospects and sustainably improve their living conditions.
The Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility, also known as the Energy from Waste Plant, is a modern incinerator which treats Sheffield's household waste. It is notable as it not only provides electricity from the combustion of waste but also supplies heat to a local district heating scheme, making it one of the most advanced, energy efficient incineration plants in the UK. In 2004, the district heating network prevented 15,108 tonnes of CO2 from being released from buildings across the city, compared to energy derived from fossil fuels. The incinerator is a 'static asset' owned by Sheffield City Council and operated by Veolia Environmental Services under a 35 year integrated waste management contract (IWMC)/PFI contract.
A besloten vennootschap (Dutch pronunciation: [bəˈsloːtə ˈvɛnoːtsxɑp], lit. "closed company"; formally a besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid or Société à responsabilité limitée, is the Dutch and Belgian version of a private limited liability company. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company’s shares are privately registered and not freely transferable. It is the most common form of limited company in the Netherlands and Belgium.
TenneT is a transmission system operator in the Netherlands and in a large part of Germany.
KEBA AG is an international developer and manufacturer of automation solutions for the industrial, banking, services and energy automation areas. The Austrian company was founded in 1968 and is privately owned. The company has annual sales revenues averaging €315,4 million, of which over 90% are obtained in export markets.
BSH Hausgeräte GmbH is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and one of the leading companies in the sector worldwide. The group stemmed from a joint venture set up in May 1967 between Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart) and Siemens AG (Munich), and it posted annual sales of 15.6 billion euros in the year 2021. BSH is an abbreviation for Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte.
Werner & Mertz GmbH is a medium-sized, family-run manufacturer of cleaning and care agents with headquarters in Mainz. The company emerged from the wax factory “Gebrüder Werner”, which was founded in 1867. Werner & Mertz has sold shoe polish under the brand name Erdal since 1901. Household cleaning agents were added to the portfolio after the Second World War. The highest-selling brand is Frosch, which has offered environmentally friendly detergents since 1986. Company owner Reinhard Schneider was awarded the 2019 German Environment Prize in recognition of his services to environmental protection. The company reported revenues of €284 million in 2008, €305 million in 2012 and €340 million in 2015.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is a research institute in New Delhi that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development. Established in 1974, it was formerly known as the Tata Energy Research Institute. As the scope of its activities widened, it was renamed The Energy and Resources Institute in 2003.
The Viessmann Group is a German manufacturer of heating and refrigeration systems headquartered in Allendorf (Eder), Germany. With 22 production companies in 12 countries, distribution companies and representative offices in 74 countries and 120 sales offices throughout the world, Viessmann is international in its orientation. More than 54 percent of turnover is generated abroad. Since January 2022, the company is led by Martin Vießmann, Maximilian Viessmann (Group-CEO) and Ulrich Hüllmann (CFO).
The BDR Thermea Group is a European manufacturer and distributor of domestic and commercial water and space heating systems. Its brands include Baxi, De Dietrich Remeha, Brötje, Chappée and Baymak.
A circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims to tackle global challenges as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and the regeneration of nature. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy. The idea and concepts of circular economy (CE) have been studied extensively in academia, business, and government over the past ten years. CE has been gaining popularity since it helps to minimize emissions and consumption of raw materials, open up new market prospects and principally, increase the sustainability of consumption and improve resource efficiency. At a government level, CE is viewed as means of combating global warming as well as a facilitator of long-term growth. CE may geographically connect actors and resources to stop material loops at the regional level. In its core principle, the European Parliament defines CE as, “a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.”
Wagner & Co. Solar Technology is a German-based solar power company. Its main headquarters are located at Cölbe, Germany. The company's products include solar, solar thermal and pellet-heating systems. The company has branches in France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Power-to-gas is a technology that uses electric power to produce a gaseous fuel. When using surplus power from wind generation, the concept is sometimes called windgas.
Uniper SE [ˈjuːnipɚ] is an energy company based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name of the company is a portmanteau of "unique" and "performance" given by long-term employee Gregor Recke. Uniper was formed by the separation of E.ON's fossil fuel assets into a separate company that began operating on 1 January 2016. The company employs about 11,000 employees in over 40 countries. Around one third of the employees are based in Germany. It owns a subsidiary company in Russia called Unipro. Uniper is listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Its largest shareholder is the Finnish energy company Fortum with a 56% stake.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development is awarded each year on 21 April by Queen Elizabeth II, along with the other two Queen's Awards for Enterprise categories.