From the very beginning, Kärcher has always been characterised by ingenuity and innovative thinking. The company was founded in 1935 by the inventor Alfred Kärcher, who began manufacturing and marketing his pioneering product ideas in the field of heating technology. The cornerstone of developing into the world’s leading cleaning specialist was laid in 1950 with the invention of Europe's first hot water high-pressure cleaner. When Alfred Kärcher died in 1959, his wife Irene continued her husband's life's work until her own death in 1989. Kärcher has remained a family-owned company to this day, headquartered in Winnenden near Stuttgart.
Every day is a day for big targets
We love and live challenges – your challenges. Whether everyday or extraordinary cleaning projects, a courtyard entrance, factory hall or Mount Rushmore – at Kärcher we want to make your everyday life simpler, better and more pleasant with powerful, efficient cleaning solutions. And to help you achieve
Every day is a day for big targets
We love and live challenges – your challenges. Whether everyday or extraordinary cleaning projects, a courtyard entrance, factory hall or Mount Rushmore – at Kärcher we want to make your everyday life simpler, better and more pleasant with powerful, efficient cleaning solutions. And to help you achieve big results and move things forward. To create and receive value.
What drives us?
Our clear, simple innovation philosophy: innovation is what benefits people. We are perfectionists, always rethinking systems and designs. We have the courage to break new ground and the conviction to do things instead of just talking about them. This philosophy results in solutions with convincing performance, quality and handling that are one step ahead of the market. Because for us cleanliness is the best challenge in the world. This is what we work towards. Every day.
Steady course from the start
Responsibility has been an integral part of the corporate philosophy of Karcher since its inception. Alfred Karcher and his wife Irena realized that long-term economic success can only be achieved by giving due consideration to the problems of society and the environment.
History of sustainable development of the company
Thinking and acting with an eye to the future is a tradition at Kärcher: its founder, Alfred Karcher, took the well-being of his employees and the environment to heart. In 1939, after the relocation of the newly created plant to Winnenden, Alfred Karcher built his own water treatment plant on the production site. In 1940, he created a fund to help employees in need, and between 1943 and 1948, he organized the production of Christmas gifts for the children of his employees. Many others followed these steps.
The idea of sustainable development remains an integral part of the corporate philosophy today. Our sustainability management has a clear mission: we want to become a reference point in the harvesting market, both in terms of adhering to the principles of sustainability and in terms of meeting the needs and expectations of customers. In order to make this commitment a reality, the Kärcher Group defines strategic sustainable development goals for many years. This approach is based on the following thought: for sustainable development to become a reality, its principles must permeate the entire enterprise.
Three strategic areas of activity
Based on the results of the stakeholder survey in 2014, the sustainable development program “Sustainability Excellence” was approved, which includes 14 general goals that apply to the entire Kärcher Group. They are divided into six areas of activity, echoing the principles of the UN Global Compact, to which we joined in 2011. And in early 2016, we signed the Paris Climate Agreement, joining the global climate protection community's efforts to limit global warming to less than 2 ° C.
The development of the first sustainable development strategy helped to increase the importance of corporate social responsibility and systematic development of activities in this direction. In particular, environmental commissioners have been appointed in all production and logistics companies to communicate with the sustainability management department, and measures have been taken at the management level to coordinate activities across the entire Kärcher group. In doing so, three critical areas of focus were identified: Culture, Society and the Environment, Products and Supply Chain and Employees.
Our perspective on corporate social responsibility
What distinguishes a company that claims to be a socially responsible business? Support for cultural initiatives? Environmental protection? Or material assistance to those in need? We have our own view of corporate social responsibility: we strive to make the world a better place for as many people as possible.
For us, as a manufacturer of cleaning equipment, responsibility is manifested primarily in helping to preserve the cleanliness of the world around us - through the economical use of energy, water and raw materials, as well as large-scale actions to clean up world cultural heritage sites. But, of course, it is not limited to this - for example, we consider it our duty to provide assistance to people who need it.
The central motive for our activities is the preservation and enhancement of values. The most important values, which we direct our efforts to preserve, are nature, culture and society.
Quality standards, labor safety, social and environmental responsibility
We are well versed in managing resources efficiently and we use this knowledge to improve the sustainability of our products at all stages of production and distribution.
Consumers are becoming more demanding and asking salespeople more and more questions. They want to know where, by whom and under what conditions the product was manufactured? How effective is it? What materials is it made of and are they recyclable? Kärcher takes these questions seriously and answers them honestly.
We also ask questions - our suppliers. As part of the annual audit, we monitor their compliance with quality standards, labor safety, social and environmental responsibility. We oblige our suppliers to abide by our corporate policies and our Code of Conduct.
“Our company employs people without whom its success would have been impossible.”
We are close to family values. Therefore, we are responsible for the health of our employees and take care of the development of their abilities.
Alfred Karcher described the special attitude towards his employees in the following words: “Our company employs people without whom its success would be impossible.” This principled position still defines the personnel policy of the company, the central role in which is given to a harmonious combination of family and work, health protection employees, improving their skills and career growth.
We value and care for our employees, and they work with full dedication, which is why Kärcher has managed to become a leading player in the harvesting technology market and a leader in innovation in this area.
A look into the future
Having set our sustainable development goals for the period up to 2025, we have formulated three initiatives aimed at further improving its performance. They are defined by the United Nations Generalized Sustainable Development Goals and are a continuation of the Sustainability Excellence program of sustainable development. These three initiatives - "Zero Emissions", "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and "Social Hero" - represent the basis for the implementation of projects with different goals.
Zero Emissions
From 2021, all Kärcher plants around the world will become climate-neutral: in terms of CO2 equivalent emissions, our company will thus become a leader in the harvesting technology industry. We focus on environmentally friendly sources of electricity, and we compensate for inevitable emissions by supporting projects aimed at protecting the ozone layer and the Earth's climate. Many of our factories are already equipped with LED lighting systems and photovoltaic power plants. The largest of these, at Quistello, Italy, with 11,500 m² solar panels, generates 360,000 kWh of electricity annually, while in Banbury, UK, we have installed almost 1,000 solar panels at a time, generating 44% of the electricity required for our branch. Our headquarters in Winnenden, Germany is also supplied with electricity from our own solar power plant. In addition, a closed cycle of material circulation contributes to saving resources: disposable pallets are used as fuel for the building heating system.
From 2021, business trips within Germany and from Germany to foreign countries will become climate-neutral: we are reducing the number of business trips and, as a result, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of road, rail and air transport, and offset the inevitable equivalent emissions. The achievement of this goal is facilitated by new formats of business communication, in particular, the increasingly used online conferences. And in our fleet we are constantly increasing the share of electric vehicles.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
By 2025, we will implement the environmental optimization of our product packaging: we will increase the sustainability of products and their surfaces in order to eliminate the use of polymer packaging materials. The first steps in this direction have already been taken: for example, for our OC 3 portable sink, we now use a completely cardboard package without EPS liners. In addition, the size of this package has been reduced.
By 2025, the share of recycled polymer raw materials used in the production of our household high-pressure apparatus will reach approximately 50%: we are constantly reducing the volume of primary polymer raw materials in our products - since 2012, the share of recycled plastic has increased by 4 times. For example, the production of jet lances for our high-pressure washers has been re-equipped to use polyamide 66, which is obtained from the recycling of returnable airbags or their production waste.
Since 2020, we have been helping to reduce and recycle ocean plastic: in partnership with the environmental organization One Earth One Ocean (OEOO), we support actions to clean up polymer waste from beaches and create innovative solutions for collecting it at river estuaries. The first joint projects with OEOO were successfully implemented back in 2019.
By 2025, the sustainability strategy will be an important part of new business models: we are testing the suitability for Kärcher of models such as sharing, outsourcing and recycling. Kärcher Used Equipment GmbH, specializing in the pre-sale of used equipment and its distribution in Europe, ensures the extension of the life of equipment as an alternative to recycling. The Kalea kitchen composter is a new step towards sustainable products: this machine, which embodies an original technological idea of the Kärcher engineers, turns kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost in just 48 hours.
Social hero
For the period up to 2025, our social activity will be focused on the tasks of preserving and increasing values: clearly defined areas of activity guarantee a unified focus of efforts of all divisions of our company around the world. In all three areas - sponsorship, long-term cooperation and volunteering of our employees - we are aware of the important role of social activity of business and strive to take concrete actions to contribute to the preservation of values, be it cultural, which our sponsorship program aims to save, or family, which support is dedicated to strengthening. provided by us to the international charitable organization SOS-Kinderdorf. Since its inception in 2011, Kärcher has provided assistance to numerous children's villages in 35 countries.
By 2025, we will implement a proactive sourcing risk analysis system: we systematically assess our direct suppliers against social and environmental criteria for responsible business conduct. We see our commitment to a sustainable development strategy as a decisive factor in the selection of new suppliers and continued cooperation with existing suppliers. In doing so, we focus on the results of a worldwide audit and extensive information resources. For Kärcher, the social and environmental responsibility of partners is just as important as the security of supply.
Having set our sustainable development goals for the period up to 2025, we have formulated three initiatives aimed at further improving its performance. They are defined by the United Nations Generalized Sustainable Development Goals and are a continuation of the Sustainability Excellence program of sustainable development. These three initiatives - "Zero Emissions", "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and "Social Hero" - represent the basis for the implementation of projects with different goals.
