Mobility

Mobility is in the center of our daily life, especially in our work life: Daily commuting to our work, different facilities locations like offices, R&D, and production sites, sales offices but also visits to our customer accounts all over the globe. Mobility is always required. Mobility is one of those topics were an increase in the sustainable footprint results in a real personal changes. Sustainable mobility requires a mind shift for all of us.

We need mobility and we will need it in the future, but we have to reflect which mobility is mandatory, which one can be optimized and where can we switch from real presence to digital presence by using video online systems.

Shipment of products

In general, Eppendorf products are shipped by container ships from our central first hub to our regional distribution sub hubs. Due to several global distribution sub hubs, we reduce global drop-shipments to a minimum. Due to the urgent global request for lab equipment during the pandemic, we saw a significant increase of emission level for air freight in 2020. There is a clear goal to reduce the amount of product flight transportation significantly below the 2019 value. Our supply teams optimize the content of each container to maximize efficiency of space. On average, a 20 feet standard container can –for example- be filled with up to 11 ULT freezers.

Based on literature, the ship-based transportation of a freezer from Europe to the USA may have an impact of about 35-40 kg CO2 (15-17 g/ t and km, depending on source; freezer gross weight ca. 400 kg; distance Rotterdam/ NL-New York/ USA ca. 5,900 km).
Based on different sources, a cargo flight between Amsterdam/ NL and New York/ USA results in about 1,000 to 1,200 kg CO2 for a package of 400 kg (6,000 km; www.cargolux.com).
Local transportation is based on trucks. Many logistic companies started to use electric-driven carriers for light goods, whereas the usage of heavy e-trucks is still at the very early stage. Due to weight and size of many Eppendorf products, a truck with a lifting ramp is mandatory.
In 2023/24, we support a pilot of one of our logistic partners to use a fuel cell truck to transport parts from a supplier to the Hamburg-based production facilities.

The car is still the major mobility tool to leave location A and arrive at location B. Especially the daily commuting is mainly still done by car. As the last years were mainly driven by the technology concept of saving conventional fuel per driven kilometer or mile, nowadays hybrid cars and purely electric driven cars are in the center of attention. Over the last years, the Eppendorf corporate fleet is based on an increasing share of hybrid and electric cars.

Why does my sales representative drive a big station wagon instead of a tiny fuel-saving micro car? Cars of sales representatives have multipurpose functions: Besides the original sense of being mobile, they also serve as mobile offices, warehouses, and also communication centers. Quite often, Eppendorf sales people bring a centrifuge or a cycler for demo purposes to their customers.

Electric car charging stationThere are dedicated combined electric vehicle (ev) charging and parking spots at headquarters in Hamburg to support green mobility of the employees.

Flights

From the focused ecological perspective, taking the plane to reach any location is suboptimal as planes burn fossil fuel and create a significant amount of CO2 which is pushing global warming. But sustainability is not limited to ecological aspects but also covers efficiency and personal well-being. Especially domestic connections can be handled by high speed train connections whereas long-distance connections are still limited to flights. For sure, video conference technologies are and will take over more and more. Currently, flights are still needed but every employee at Eppendorf shall estimate if a visit or meeting requires personal presence or can be handled remotely. When a trip is needed, it is strongly recommended to combine it with other local activities. Progress in more environmentally friendly business travel is being made by a new travel directive for Germany. For the first time, it takes environmental and climate aspects into account. For example, air travel is only possible from a distance of more than 500 kilometers. Travels by train are to be preferred wherever possible. In addition, a global travel policy is currently being drawn up that includes the issue of sustainability

Bike

To support the usage of bikes for commuting, Eppendorf set up a large bike garage directly at the main entrance of the headquarters already more than 15 years ago: Weatherproof, well-illuminated, VC-monitored and comfortable parking spaces for bikes, supported by dressing rooms and showers for those colleagues driving longer distances. The garage was completely renewed in 2021: The BikeStop has now space for up to 300 bikes. Secured access, sensor-controlled light system, charging boxes for more than 60 e-bikes as well as a compact self-service repair station provide optimal conditions to switch from the car to the bike for commuting.
Employees in German Eppendorf facilities and offices can benefit from JobRad®, an attractive leasing system for a broad range of different bikes.

The future

While flights are currently still a regular way to travel, there is a clear tendency towards online conferences, globally, for all companies. When we started with dedicated video conference systems at Eppendorf nearly 20 years ago, the technology was still extremely expensive and every online event was a real event. Nowadays, routine meetings with teams at other Eppendorf locations by online conference systems are becoming the new standard for communication with remote locations.

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Mobility

Shipment of products

Flights

Bike

The future