For the first time, a company from the hot-dip galvanizing industry has secured a top three position at the German Sustainability Award 2015 in Düsseldorf.

The fact that Gelsenkirchen-based Voigt & Schweitzer GmbH & Co. KG, together with Bosch and BASF, is among the top three in the “Resource Efficiency” category of the German Sustainability Award is a remarkable achievement in itself. Not least because, in the eight-year history of this relatively young business award, no company in the galvanizing industry has ever achieved such a prominent position.

With its Planet ZINQ® sustainability program, which has been intensively developed over many years, Voigt & Schweitzer has immediately worked its way up to become one of the top three global corporations.

Last Friday, November 27, 2015, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Environment Minister Johannes Remmel and Dr. Burkhard Lehmann from the Institute for Construction and Environment e. V. presented the special award for “Resource Efficiency” to BASF at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf.

Voigt & Schweitzer shares the top 3 position with Bosch for its outstanding corporate achievements in the field of sustainability. The special award thus honors all three companies for their exemplary commitment to the circular economy for recycling, raw materials, and resource management.

The jury justified ZINQ®‘s position with the following words: “In the Planet ZINQ® initiative, the company has bundled extensive measures along the value chain to close cycles in line with the Cradle to Cradle® principle and increase resource and energy efficiency, particularly for zinc and gas – true to the motto ‚as much as necessary, as little as possible’.”

Voigt & Schweitzer applied for the prestigious German Sustainability Award for the first time with its proprietary sustainability approach “Planet ZINQ®.” Dr. Thomas Pinger, Sustainability Officer at Voigt & Schweitzer: „Given the number and quality of the applicants, the nomination alone was a real honor for us, and I am very pleased about it. And the fact that an external jury has given our work professionally recognized feedback is a real added value on top of that.“

A select group of partners and friends celebrated with ZINQ® at the Voigt & Schweitzer nominees‘ table. They all share Voigt & Schweitzer’s awareness of the importance of sustainable production, trade, and business.