An all-round effort needed
By A.ASOHAN
THE image of German industries chugging away and spewing poisons into the air in their well-heeled march towards progress is false, according to Nixdorf Computer Malaysia managing director Juergen Reuter.
"Our commitment to the environment in Germany goes back a long way," he says. "In my first tour of our factory in Augsburg, the people there were showing us how they were cutting down on the use of dangerous chemicals in production."
Nixdorf Malaysia is the local branch of the German computer giant Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems, formed in 1990 when Siemens’ Data & Information Systems Group merged with Nixdorf Computer.
The Augsburg plant was originally a Siemens factory.
While Siemens Nixdorf was one of the first companies in Germany to start emphasizing environmentally-safe operations, Reuter admits that it was part of a vast awareness movement that involved the people and the private sector, and later the government as well.
The movement goes back to the 60s when industrial accidents in Europe brought home the importance of safety and the need to protect the environment.
Environmental awareness picked up socio-political momentum with the efforts of the Green Party in Germany and the introduction of awareness programmes in schools.
By the 70s, many private organizations had begun dividing their garbage into recyclable and non-recyclable material. Later, the environmental issue found its way into public forums.
"Now, Germany has some of the toughest rules and regulations regarding the environment," Reuter says. "We even have to tussle with the European Community — some countries think we’re going too far in our stringent measures.
"For instance, manufacturers have to brand their plastic goods so that consumers would know whether it’s recyclable or not. Even imported plastics have to have this branding."
From design to disposal
Siemens Nixdorf’s stand on the environment is all-encompassing, starting with the development of products, on to production, packaging and even disposal.
However, there must be a green culture within the company. The Siemens Nixdorf board member in charge of development and production is also in charge of environmental protection.
The company also has an Environmental Protection Department which gives advice and support in all areas of ecological concern, and which reports directly to the managing board.
The company conducts awareness seminars for its employees, "mainly for those involved in development and production so that they understand why they have to take the environment into account in their work," Reuter says.
Design and development of any product goes through different stages. In Siemens Nixdorf, there is also an "environmental feedback" channel. The testing of any product includes an environmental-compatibility test.
"That’s how we came up with the Beetle POS terminal," Reuter says. (see Green products from Siemens Nixdorf, Page 8). "Even the Green PC we introduced at the last Hannover Fair was developed through this process."
One of the biggest environmental issues these days is the steady destruction of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, caused by the disposal of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in electronics manufacturing.
As of last September, Siemens Nixdorf has stopped using CFCs in its production.
"We’ve always avoided using dangerous chemicals in our production," says Reuter. "But if we have to use such chemicals because there are no alternatives, then we would treat the chemicals first to ensure they are safe for disposal."
The company also recycles rinsing water used in production, so that now 70 per cent of its water flows in a closed cycle.
As for packaging, the company has reduced the materials used in its packaging by 50 per cent, and now uses recycled brown paper for its boxes, not white paper.
In 1994, it would be a law for all computer companies in Germany take back their old equipment. Siemens Nixdorf has for years been taking back old equipment from customers to recycle the reusable components.
IT for the environment
All this sounds great, but most of it is happening in Germany. What can Nixdorf Malaysia do?
According to Reuter, the actions of a single company is not going to help, and as in Germany, working towards saving the environment has to be a concerted effort.
"What we want to do and what we can do are different," he says. "We would like to have an active recycling programme, but first there must be a framework to support this."
"Furthermore, the awareness isn’t high enough," he adds. "The environmental features of our products are very popular elsewhere, but here, customers are more interested in the technical features and the price —there isn’t yet a big enough market for environmentally-safe products."
Once concern for the environment is ingrained in the culture, a new industry would be born, he says, that would cater to the need for such products.
Meanwhile, the company hopes to do its part through its products, primarily its SICAD spatial information system, or more popularly, a geographic information system (GIS).
"SICAD was first developed 20 years ago for the Ministry of Environmental Protection in Bavaria," Reuter says. "It’s only later that we further developed it for wider use."
The company also developed an Integrated Multi Sectoral Information System (Imsys), designed to synthesize information from various databases and GIS for Environmental Impact Assessments, risk appraisals and so on.
Other products include IGS, an information and communications system which contains data on potentially hazardous materials; and Transec, an expert system for the transport of hazardous Roods.
Source : The Star, June 8, 1993
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