Corporate Social Responsibility
Responsibility for the region and beyond
As a global player with strong regional roots, R-Biopharm takes responsibility – in the region and beyond. We have recognized the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for society and the company. R-Biopharm understands CSR as a permanent process and part of the corporate culture. Therefore, we develop and pursue – with profound conviction – a long-term and focused commitment, which we present here step by step.
Diversity at R-Biopharm
Our CSR engagement
B.A.U.M. – Code of Conduct for Sustainable Business
R-Biopharm is a member of B.A.U.M., the largest European network for sustainable business. We hereby commit ourselves to a sustainable way of doing business, and take responsibility for nature, society and future generations.
Diversity Charter
Diversity has an incredible number of facets, which we value at R-Biopharm. It makes our world more colorful and promotes a wealth of ideas in our company – the nucleus of helpful innovations for health and well-being. That is why we are a member of the Diversity Charter, which companies in Germany have been building since 2006 to promote the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work.
Wheelchair tennis
Wheelchair tennis promotes the participation of children, young people and adults with disabilities in tennis. One of the pioneers in the Rhine-Main region is TC Seeheim. At Whitsun 2022, the club on the Bergstrasse hosted the first Open Hessian Wheelchair Tennis Championships. Athletes from all over Germany came to the first event of its kind. And it will continue to add another annual highlight to the sporting landscape in southern Hesse. R-Biopharm is a proud supporter of this tournament, which will take inclusion and participation a long way.
Warenkorb Pfungstadt
Warenkorb Pfungstadt is a voluntary group with the goal of offering help to citizens in personal and financial difficulties. Once a week, the food bank distributes food provided by stores and businesses that is picked up by food bank helpers. After the food bank had been established for a while, the Pfungstadt “children’s shopping cart” came into being. In addition to toys, clothing and shoes for children, it also offers household goods and clothes for adults. Employees of R-Biopharm support the food bank and children’s shopping cart with donations in kind. Thanks to a donation of 10,000 euros from R-Biopharm in 2021, the association was able to purchase a new refrigerated truck, which is indispensable for the association when it collects food that is not sold in shops.
Circus Waldoni
R-Biopharm has been supporting the WALDONI KINDER- UND JUGENSTIFTUNG for many years. Through the foundation, socially oriented projects are realized, which the Circus Waldoni, located in the south of the Darmstadt-Eberstadt district, has been offering since 2004. The projects bring together children and young people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
In particular, the integration of socially vulnerable young people into play and sports communities can prevent them from drifting into the violence or addiction scene. Circus education, with its diverse range of activities and development opportunities, offers these adolescents great chances. Circus work is real teamwork. And without mutual trust and responsibility for each other, no circus act can be created – especially not an “aerial act” or “pyramids”. Waldoni’s goal is to help as many young people as possible become socially competent through intensive social education in circus work and to give them an incentive for further meaningful activities through a sense of achievement.
Blood Donation Campaign Day
Only three percent of all people in Germany donate blood, while around 80 percent need a blood unit themselves at some point in their lives. In Hesse and Baden-Württemberg, more than 2,700 units of blood are needed every day – which are currently in very short supply. All this gave employees at R-Biopharm the impetus to encourage a blood donation campaign at their workplace. No sooner said than done: on February 8, 2023, the DRK Blood Donation Service Baden-Württemberg – Hesse transformed three offices at R-Biopharm’s headquarters into a mobile blood donation center. 66 colleagues became lifesavers with their donation. And it fills R-Biopharm with pride that there were more interested parties than available blood donation places. This was definitely not the last blood donation action day at R-Biopharm.
Regional organic food
Our company restaurant offers a wide range of meals, almost all of which are prepared using organic products. Moreover, these come from regional sources. No exaggeration: For visitors at R-Biopharm, the catering often becomes a taste experience – and not a few people speak of “star cuisine”. Ulrike Schmitt, who holds a degree in ecotrophology, is passionately and happily responsible for catering and the canteen. You can see it in the permanent smile on her face and the wide range of culinary delights. Every day, she and her team prepare freshly cooked hot and cold meals, seasonal dishes, soups, salads and desserts for up to 250 employees in the smallest of spaces and on proper tableware – because plastic is taboo for her.
Sports offers
To promote the health and fitness of our employees, we offer them a wide range of opportunities. Fun and togetherness are always at the forefront of the joint activities. Large groups of us regularly compete in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in Frankfurt a. M., the Merck company run and the company ultra-triathlon in Pfungstadt. We go jogging together, organize soccer tournaments and chess games, and hit the slopes together on ski weekends.
Sustainable packaging – less plastic
Our goal is to achieve the highest level of product quality with the lowest possible environmental impact. That´s why we are constantly developing our product packaging to increase its sustainability, lower its impact on the environment and significantly reduce our CO2 emissions through circular economy. As of July 1, 2023, we will no longer additionally shrink-wrap all of R-Biopharm’s products in foil. This saves almost 2 tons of plastic per year – and the associated raw materials and energy.
Sustainable building services and IT
Not only do we produce our own electricity at our headquarters in Darmstadt, we also minimize our consumption by using efficient heating and ventilation technology and increasingly energy-saving LED technology for lighting. Our facility management team is also optimizing our energy use in other areas, for example by replacing refrigeration systems or an active, energy-oriented operation of building systems. Last but not least, the use of green IT systems opens up energy-saving potential for us in the workplace, while digitization allows us to carry out the majority of communications paper free and thus also in a resource-saving manner.
E-Labeling at R-Biopharm – resource-saving, direct, simple
In analytics product accompanying documents are indispensable. However, many customers of R-Biopharm order products in large quantities – and each package of microtiter plates, reagent sets or rapid tests comes with the accompanying document set for processing and documentation, even though they only need it once. This consumes precious resources and produces unnecessary waste.
R-Biopharm is now countering this with the E-Label: From January 1, 2023, all products from R-Biopharm’s three business units will be shipped without accompanying paper documents and will only carry a sticker with a QR code on the packaging. Customers of Clinical Diagnostics, Food and Feed Analytics, and Nutrition Care scan this and are taken to a platform where they can find all important documents for download.
The introduction of e-labeling will optimize internal processes at R-Biopharm and advance digitalization. In addition, we save 19 tons of paper each year and thus contribute to the global conservation of resources. The weight reduction also improves the carbon footprint of each individual package, which adds up to an enormous CO2 saving for the entire shipment.
The E-Labeling also reduces the amount of waste generated by customers. And because they can obtain the documents online, the latest version is always just a click away. They can store them locally and make them available to all employees. With E-Labeling, R-Biopharm can implement document adjustments much more efficiently and quickly and make them available to customers. To achieve this, new processes for updating documents were established, the special label was developed, and the platform was set up. Customers can find what they are looking for even without a QR code – simply by entering the article number or article name in the search field.
Sustainability in our canteen
Our canteen: an oasis of well-being for a little time out from the daily work routine with culinary delights in organic quality. The driving force behind it: Ulrike Schmitt, a certified ecotrophologist. Before joining us, she worked for Alnatura for eleven years, including in the test kitchen for new recipe developments. No wonder she also attaches great importance to high-quality and sustainable organic food in Demeter quality for the meals freshly prepared in our canteen. Purchasing from regional sources also strengthens regional agriculture and reduces transport-related environmental pollution. Because plastic is taboo for her, the food is served exclusively on proper tableware.
Use of renewable energies
As a consequence of the increasing environmental awareness in society the responsible use of energy as well as climate protection are also important topics for R-Biopharm. At our facilities in Darmstadt, two photovoltaic systems supply solar power from the roof of the company building. The first, with an output of 24 kWp, has been in operation since 2010 and feeds electricity into the public grid. The second (photo) was installed in summer 2014 and has an output of 55 kWp. Using their electricity, we can reduce our CO2 emissions by about 50 tons per year. In addition, our own cogeneration plant operates at the company headquarters. We consume 100 percent of the heat and electricity it generates ourselves. The cogeneration plant’s CO2 emissions are around a third lower than when heat and electricity are generated separately.
B.A.U.M. – Code of Conduct for Sustainable Business
R-Biopharm is a member of B.A.U.M., the largest European network for sustainable business. We hereby commit ourselves to a sustainable way of doing business, and take responsibility for nature, society and future generations.
Diversity Charter
Diversity has an incredible number of facets, which we value at R-Biopharm. It makes our world more colorful and promotes a wealth of ideas in our company – the nucleus of helpful innovations for health and well-being. That is why we are a member of the Diversity Charter, which companies in Germany have been building since 2006 to promote the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work.
Wheelchair tennis
Wheelchair tennis promotes the participation of children, young people and adults with disabilities in tennis. One of the pioneers in the Rhine-Main region is TC Seeheim. At Whitsun 2022, the club on the Bergstrasse hosted the first Open Hessian Wheelchair Tennis Championships. Athletes from all over Germany came to the first event of its kind. And it will continue to add another annual highlight to the sporting landscape in southern Hesse. R-Biopharm is a proud supporter of this tournament, which will take inclusion and participation a long way.
Warenkorb Pfungstadt
Warenkorb Pfungstadt is a voluntary group with the goal of offering help to citizens in personal and financial difficulties. Once a week, the food bank distributes food provided by stores and businesses that is picked up by food bank helpers. After the food bank had been established for a while, the Pfungstadt “children’s shopping cart” came into being. In addition to toys, clothing and shoes for children, it also offers household goods and clothes for adults. Employees of R-Biopharm support the food bank and children’s shopping cart with donations in kind. Thanks to a donation of 10,000 euros from R-Biopharm in 2021, the association was able to purchase a new refrigerated truck, which is indispensable for the association when it collects food that is not sold in shops.
Circus Waldoni
R-Biopharm has been supporting the WALDONI KINDER- UND JUGENSTIFTUNG for many years. Through the foundation, socially oriented projects are realized, which the Circus Waldoni, located in the south of the Darmstadt-Eberstadt district, has been offering since 2004. The projects bring together children and young people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
In particular, the integration of socially vulnerable young people into play and sports communities can prevent them from drifting into the violence or addiction scene. Circus education, with its diverse range of activities and development opportunities, offers these adolescents great chances. Circus work is real teamwork. And without mutual trust and responsibility for each other, no circus act can be created – especially not an “aerial act” or “pyramids”. Waldoni’s goal is to help as many young people as possible become socially competent through intensive social education in circus work and to give them an incentive for further meaningful activities through a sense of achievement.
Blood Donation Campaign Day
Only three percent of all people in Germany donate blood, while around 80 percent need a blood unit themselves at some point in their lives. In Hesse and Baden-Württemberg, more than 2,700 units of blood are needed every day – which are currently in very short supply. All this gave employees at R-Biopharm the impetus to encourage a blood donation campaign at their workplace. No sooner said than done: on February 8, 2023, the DRK Blood Donation Service Baden-Württemberg – Hesse transformed three offices at R-Biopharm’s headquarters into a mobile blood donation center. 66 colleagues became lifesavers with their donation. And it fills R-Biopharm with pride that there were more interested parties than available blood donation places. This was definitely not the last blood donation action day at R-Biopharm.
Regional organic food
Our company restaurant offers a wide range of meals, almost all of which are prepared using organic products. Moreover, these come from regional sources. No exaggeration: For visitors at R-Biopharm, the catering often becomes a taste experience – and not a few people speak of “star cuisine”. Ulrike Schmitt, who holds a degree in ecotrophology, is passionately and happily responsible for catering and the canteen. You can see it in the permanent smile on her face and the wide range of culinary delights. Every day, she and her team prepare freshly cooked hot and cold meals, seasonal dishes, soups, salads and desserts for up to 250 employees in the smallest of spaces and on proper tableware – because plastic is taboo for her.
Sports offers
To promote the health and fitness of our employees, we offer them a wide range of opportunities. Fun and togetherness are always at the forefront of the joint activities. Large groups of us regularly compete in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in Frankfurt a. M., the Merck company run and the company ultra-triathlon in Pfungstadt. We go jogging together, organize soccer tournaments and chess games, and hit the slopes together on ski weekends.
Sustainable packaging – less plastic
Our goal is to achieve the highest level of product quality with the lowest possible environmental impact. That´s why we are constantly developing our product packaging to increase its sustainability, lower its impact on the environment and significantly reduce our CO2 emissions through circular economy. As of July 1, 2023, we will no longer additionally shrink-wrap all of R-Biopharm’s products in foil. This saves almost 2 tons of plastic per year – and the associated raw materials and energy.
Sustainable building services and IT
Not only do we produce our own electricity at our headquarters in Darmstadt, we also minimize our consumption by using efficient heating and ventilation technology and increasingly energy-saving LED technology for lighting. Our facility management team is also optimizing our energy use in other areas, for example by replacing refrigeration systems or an active, energy-oriented operation of building systems. Last but not least, the use of green IT systems opens up energy-saving potential for us in the workplace, while digitization allows us to carry out the majority of communications paper free and thus also in a resource-saving manner.
E-Labeling at R-Biopharm – resource-saving, direct, simple
In analytics product accompanying documents are indispensable. However, many customers of R-Biopharm order products in large quantities – and each package of microtiter plates, reagent sets or rapid tests comes with the accompanying document set for processing and documentation, even though they only need it once. This consumes precious resources and produces unnecessary waste.
R-Biopharm is now countering this with the E-Label: From January 1, 2023, all products from R-Biopharm’s three business units will be shipped without accompanying paper documents and will only carry a sticker with a QR code on the packaging. Customers of Clinical Diagnostics, Food and Feed Analytics, and Nutrition Care scan this and are taken to a platform where they can find all important documents for download.
The introduction of e-labeling will optimize internal processes at R-Biopharm and advance digitalization. In addition, we save 19 tons of paper each year and thus contribute to the global conservation of resources. The weight reduction also improves the carbon footprint of each individual package, which adds up to an enormous CO2 saving for the entire shipment.
The E-Labeling also reduces the amount of waste generated by customers. And because they can obtain the documents online, the latest version is always just a click away. They can store them locally and make them available to all employees. With E-Labeling, R-Biopharm can implement document adjustments much more efficiently and quickly and make them available to customers. To achieve this, new processes for updating documents were established, the special label was developed, and the platform was set up. Customers can find what they are looking for even without a QR code – simply by entering the article number or article name in the search field.
Sustainability in our canteen
Our canteen: an oasis of well-being for a little time out from the daily work routine with culinary delights in organic quality. The driving force behind it: Ulrike Schmitt, a certified ecotrophologist. Before joining us, she worked for Alnatura for eleven years, including in the test kitchen for new recipe developments. No wonder she also attaches great importance to high-quality and sustainable organic food in Demeter quality for the meals freshly prepared in our canteen. Purchasing from regional sources also strengthens regional agriculture and reduces transport-related environmental pollution. Because plastic is taboo for her, the food is served exclusively on proper tableware.
Use of renewable energies
As a consequence of the increasing environmental awareness in society the responsible use of energy as well as climate protection are also important topics for R-Biopharm. At our facilities in Darmstadt, two photovoltaic systems supply solar power from the roof of the company building. The first, with an output of 24 kWp, has been in operation since 2010 and feeds electricity into the public grid. The second (photo) was installed in summer 2014 and has an output of 55 kWp. Using their electricity, we can reduce our CO2 emissions by about 50 tons per year. In addition, our own cogeneration plant operates at the company headquarters. We consume 100 percent of the heat and electricity it generates ourselves. The cogeneration plant’s CO2 emissions are around a third lower than when heat and electricity are generated separately.
Documents:
We are not alone: