KAPAG takes a sustainable step towards self-sufficiency

The family-owned company based in Muhen is Europe’s leading paper and paperboard laminator and has been committed to sustainable energy use for many years.

This includes choosing suppliers whose production is based regionally. As a result, the modules were manufactured by the Swiss company Meyer Burger and the current convertors by SMA Technology in Germany. “Renewable energies are only sustainable to us if the components that are used in the manufacture of a solar plant can be sourced as locally as possible”, says Etienne Meyer, Technical Project Manager at KAPAG.

KAPAG has been part of the Energy Agency for Industry programme since 2013, which promotes energy savings and the reduction of C02 emissions on a voluntary basis. In early 2018, KAPAG started sourcing their energy almost exclusively from wind, solar and biomass, thus saving 400,000 litres of oil every year.

“In addition to our state-of-the art wood burner that is equipped with filter systems and burns old pallets for energy generation, we have now also invested in our own photovoltaic system and thus reached another milestone towards self-sufficiency”, says managing owner Alexander Meyer. The surrounding region also benefits, as around half of the generated solar energy is used by external consumers.

KAPAG plans to further expand the solar power plant by means of a new building and is actively searching for storage options to fully cover its energy needs. In the meantime, together with Carbotech, the family business is drawing up a carbon footprint of the company so that targeted measures can be taken to further reduce C02 in other areas.