Sustainability: Stadtwerke Offenbach was one of "Germany's best" in 2022
15.06.2022 – Stadtwerke Offenbach was once again awarded the "Germany's Best - Sustainability" seal in 2022. This was the result of a study conducted by the Institute for Management and Economic Research (IMWF) on behalf of FOCUS Money and Deutschland Test. As the IMWF announced at the beginning of June 2022, only six other municipal utilities in Germany have been awarded the sustainability seal two years in a row.
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The study investigated which companies and brands in Germany act in a particularly sustainable manner from the point of view of consumers. To do this, the IMWF used a social listening analysis: from March 2021 to February 2022, it evaluated 438 million online sources including social media. The focus of the artificial intelligence (AI) used for this was on sustainability - for the IMWF "the non-plus-ultra topic of our time": 70 percent of Germans stated in a study that sustainability criteria influence their purchasing decisions. The three aspects of sustainability - ecological, economic and social - were assessed for the award.
Ecological, economic and social aspects considered equally
The result of the points ranking in spring 2022 shows: out of 19,000 companies and brands analyzed, just under 1,200 were perceived as particularly sustainable - and out of 444 municipal utilities, only 44 received the "Germany's Best - Sustainability" seal. In addition, Stadtwerke Offenbach belongs to the "illustrious circle" of those who receive the seal two years in a row: "Only a few companies and only seven municipal utilities nationwide have achieved this," emphasizes IMWF team leader Alexander Göschl. When it comes to sustainability, it is not enough to shine in just one dimension: It was the "overall performance" that counted, with one third each of ecological, economic and social aspects.
"The renewed award for our Stadtwerke Offenbach proves that sustainability plays a major role in Offenbach. And it shows that this commitment in Offenbach is also perceived beyond the region," says Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke, who is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Stadtwerke Offenbach. "Electric vehicles at Stadtservice are just as much a part of this as wooden buildings for schools and daycare centers or the commitment to species protection through insect-friendly planting in public spaces."
Stadtwerke Managing Director Peter Walther sees the renewed seal as an incentive "to continue driving forward sustainable action at all levels". Since 2021, Stadtwerke Offenbach has had an overarching working group that promotes sustainable action across the Group and in the Geschäftsfeld Immobilien, Mobilität, Stadtservice and Veranstaltungen divisions. Donations & sponsoring, employee health and safety and special support for families also play an important role.
The IMWF is one of Europe's leading providers of AI-based content analysis. Its approach to creating comprehensive seal studies was recently put to the test itself and was certified by the International School of Management (ISM) at the end of 2021 with the seal for "tested methodological competence".