Knauf Insulation is on track for major CO2 savings

By Knauf Australia
June 03, 2014

In just 15 months Knauf Insulation’s Krupka plant in Czech Republic has saved 424 tons of CO2 – the CO2 equivalent of driving a car around the world a hundred times.

In just 15 months Knauf Insulation’s Krupka plant in Czech Republic has saved 424 tons of CO2 – the CO2 equivalent of driving a car around the world a hundred times.

The savings occurred as the result of a simple switch – the plant transferred its distribution of products to Turkey and Romania from road to rail.

By using the electric rail network and giant jumbo wagons that have double the capacity of road trucks the company now needs half the number of trips for distribution, says the plant’s Warehouse and Logistics Manager Jitka Rispoli.

Over the 15-month period, transportation distances of 1.3 million kilometres were slashed in half and the total amount of CO2 equivalent was cut from 621 tons to 197.

The saved CO2 of 424 tons is equal to the emissions output from an average car driving around the world a hundred times.

“Before the train solution and warehouses it was taking three days to deliver to Romania and five to deliver to Turkey after customer orders. Now it takes 24 hours for Romania and 48 hours for Turkey. So we are not only saving money by being more sustainable, but we are faster too,” says Rispoli.

So why hasn’t the switch to rail happened before?

“In the past there was a great deal of bureaucracy, regulation, inter-border complications and considerable fees, so rail was very expensive and complicated,” says the manager. “But in 2012 governments streamlined the system making it more accessible.”

Rispoli’s team carried out detailed cost analysis and the transfer to rail to Turkey was made in January 2013 and for Romania, the switch took place 10 months later.

“We knew we would be making big savings but were absolutely thrilled when we saw the final figures,” Rispoli says.

“Imagine what a difference all companies could make to the environment if they switched from road to rail? Unfortunately much of Europe’s rail network is not harmonised in such a way to make it viable, I hope one day we will see what we have achieved between Czech Republic and Turkey replicated across the continent.”

• Calculations of CO2 equivalents taken from the US Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov  

• Rail to road CO2 saving based on the calculation tool at the Department for Energy & Climate Change www.defra.gov.uk