FOR TOMORROW – Weaving a sustainable future
We believe that entrepreneurial success goes hand in hand with ethical and sustainable action.
Responsibility in times of change
In a world that is changing rapidly and facing unprecedented challenges, GKD’s direction is clear. True to our vision FOR A HEALTHIER, CLEANER, SAFER WORLD, sustainability is at the heart of our corporate strategy. As a family-run company of almost one hundred years’ standing, we have always thought and acted with foresight and a strong sense of responsibility for the environment and society. It is our aim that the world should be a better place because of GKD.
GKD is already investing in areas that are seeing growing demand worldwide. We are developing solutions for the major global challenges, which are also the challenges our customers face. At the same time, we are working to continuously reduce our footprint along the entire value chain and ensure social standards in line with corporate social responsibility at all our locations.
“Sustainability is our strategy. As a company, we have a responsibility toward future generations. That’s why we want to help actively shape the world we live in and play our part.”
Lara Kufferath
CEO of GKD Group
Net Positive – Global trends and local processes
Companies should strive to give more back to society, the environment, and the economy than they take out. GKD firmly believes this principle, which is also foundational to the Net Positive Manifesto published by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston in 2021. The Net Positive approach is not just about a carbon-neutral footprint; it is about adopting an approach that encompasses nature and society in equal measure. GKD aims to make a positive contribution in its business activities and actions overall. This is what we understand by corporate citizenship.
The core idea of Net Positive:
Giving more than taking as a company
Answers to global challenges
As a family-run company, GKD always operates with an eye to the long term. However, GKD also invests in areas that are driven by global macro trends where it is convinced of their strategic and economic viability. We develop new solutions and generate measurable progress that has a positive impact on CO2 reduction, optimizes solutions for CO2 storage, revolutionizes the filtration of microplastics,
and generally drives the transformation toward more sustainable industry, energy, and mobility. We are proud of the fact that, as a medium-sized and globally positioned company, we are able to contribute our expertise, know-how, and production services to play our part in improving the situation.
Throughout the value chain
Our goal of making a positive impact as a company is not limited to the positive effect of innovative products. Our own actions must also meet economic, ecological, and social standards. With the internal project “Sustainable Economic Enterprise GKD” – SEE, the company has initiated processes locally and across locations that can gradually create and ensure measurable transparency along the value chain. The data obtained in this way forms the basis for current and future reporting obligations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
It also reveals where there is potential for further improvements. Last but not least, it helps us to constantly review the path we have taken toward becoming a net-positive company and make adjustments where necessary.
Clear rules – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at GKD
Companies can only navigate the path to sustainability by working together with employees, customers, suppliers, and service providers. That’s why values and standards apply worldwide for the GKD teams that shape their actions and self-image.
Mission Possible
Metal, synthetic, and hybrid meshes from GKD make the world a better place. There are barely any industries that do not benefit from the GKD Group’s products and research developments. From e-mobility to wind energy, from the water industry to the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
The GKD Group’s groundbreaking innovations significantly aid in making the mobility transition, the energy transition, and the ongoing transformation of industry a success.
Healthy water cycle
Water is essential for all life on Earth. Water is the habitat, energy source, and building block of organisms – and makes up roughly 60 percent of every human’s body. As such, the effective filtration, purification, and recovery of water are major challenges both now and in the future.
In view of increasing water stress in many regions of the world, efficient water management is of enormous importance. In industry and municipal water management, technical fabrics from GKD are used in various process stages and applications: for filtering, screening, separating, drying, pressing, and dewatering. Filtration mesh, filter elements, and filtration belts from GKD are used to treat fresh water, wastewater, and process water, helping to conserve one of the world’s most precious resources.
Filters for microplastics
In shipping, mesh from GKD filters ballast water, protecting valuable habitats and their inhabitants from invasive species. For years, GKD has been researching solutions that help to avoid microplastics in the environment and has already developed products that are ready for series production. A perfect example is POROMETRIC mesh, which can filter microplastic particles as small as 0.015 mm in size from liquids.
This commitment will be especially beneficial to future generations, as the harmful effects of tiny plastic particles on human health have now been proven. The future belongs to such applications as the efficient filtration of synthetic textile fibers and tire abrasion in road traffic.
Clean air
The global concentration of carbon dioxide has risen by at least 50 percent since industrialization began. The effects of CO2 and other greenhouse gases on climate change have been scientifically proven. Filters and mesh from GKD cannot reverse climate change. But they do help reduce carbon emissions. GKD does this indirectly using solutions that replace fossil combustion processes with new and more sustainable methods. The essential concept here is the production and use of green hydrogen, the key technology for the transformation of industry and goods transport. In addition, GKD tackles carbon reduction head-on. With the cutting-edge Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, CO2 is either permanently captured or reused – for example on plant farms and for synthetic fuels. CO2 is removed from the air using chemical sorbent media like aqueous alkaline solvents or adsorbents. Mesh solutions from GKD play an important role in these processes, as they help to improve the efficiency of the plants.
Capturing carbon dioxide
In addition, GKD tackles carbon reduction head-on. With the cutting-edge Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, CO2 is either permanently captured or reused – for example on plant farms and for synthetic fuels. CO2 is removed from the air using chemical sorbent media like aqueous alkaline solvents or adsorbents.
Filter solutions play an important role in these processes, as they help to improve the efficiency of the plants. Last but not least, GKD will also measure and report its own carbon footprint in future as part of the CSRD guidelines from 2025 and is aiming for a gradual reduction.
Safe mobility
2023 was the first year that more than 10 million new cars with electric drives were registered worldwide. This means that the share of battery electric vehicles continues to grow to a global market share of 14 percent. According to forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA), there will be more than 200 million such vehicles on the roads by 2030.
There is no doubt that hybrid, battery, and fuel-electric drives will shape private and goods transport even more in the future than they do today. At the same time, batteries are becoming more powerful, charging times are becoming shorter, and contactless charging could become the norm.
Radiation and explosion protection
The development and transition in mobility is also closely linked to product solutions from GKD. One example is electromagnetic shielding. The occupants and components of powerful electric cars require highly effective protection against the radiation that occurs during the charging process, for example. Technical wire mesh from GKD provides this shielding function in both automotive engineering and aviation.
EMI shielding, made from conductive and easily shapeable wire mesh, ensures safety, daily functionality, and efficiency, particularly for the core component of electric drive systems: modern high-performance batteries. Here, too, meshes from GKD are indispensable as highly effective explosion protection.
Facts, not fiction
At GKD, we focus on innovation and strive for measurable success in terms of sustainability and efficiency. Our technologies and products meet high standards and help to conserve resources and
improve industrial processes. Below is an overview of some of our most important services.
