Barriers open for climate protection

This collaboration is unique: Magnetic and Schopfheim Council are working together to actively offset our CO2 emissions. Several thousand trees will be planted on Schopfheim land during the coming year to compensate for our employee’s flights. We have given the town a budget of EUR 15,000 for this purpose.

People are generally aware that we at Magnetic are one of the frequently mentioned ‘hidden champions’. We sell vehicle barriers and pedestrian gates in the premium quality segment all over the world from our headquarters on Grienmatt in Schopfheim. The number of kilometres that the executive, product management and sales staff rack up flying is correspondingly high. “We are well aware of our responsibility and want to reduce our ecological footprint in the long term, preferably with local measures,” explained General Manager Arno Steiner. “That’s why we came up with the idea of approaching the town to plant new trees.” The agreement was signed in autumn 2019 following several rounds of discussions: we will make an annual budget available – 15,000 euros for 2020 – and the town will handle the purchase and planting of the trees.

The first deployment actually took place last year: more than 1,000 young Douglas firs were planted in the Gersbach district. They replace the spruce trees that had to be cut down because of bark beetle infestation during the summer. “Magnetic’s involvement came at just the right time,” acknowledged a satisfied Dirk Harscher, Schopfheim’s Mayor. “We are currently observing very clearly how climate change is affecting our trees. This additional funding will enable us to augment the sustainable development of our forests.“

In communication terms, both partners profit from the arrangement: we can advertise our ecological commitment with the newly planted trees, and the collaboration is an important contribution towards Schopfheim’s environmental and climate policies as they apply to become a European Energy Award (eea) municipality. “Magnetic has provided important impetus here,” emphasised Mayor Harscher. “We hope that other companies in Schopfheim will also get involved in climate protection activities.”