CSR pillars
In addition to knowledge and craftsmanship, Nieuwkoop Europe bears great responsibility when it comes to sustainability. In our business operations, we therefore take corporate social responsibility into account. This is not something we do alone, but together with all our employees, suppliers and supply chain partners. Based on our CSR pillars, we are taking steps towards an increasingly greener chain, from production to customer.
Ethical and sustainable procurement
Purchasing in an ethical and sustainable manner means that we not only pay attention to the price and quality of products and services, but also to the social and environmental aspects of our purchasing activities. This means that the products we sell are purchased at a fair price and produced and/or grown with care for people, animals and the environment. In doing so, we ask our chain partners to apply the same standards and values.
Environmentally aware business operations
Nieuwkoop Europe is continuously working towards a more sustainable organisation. In 2021, we received the ISO 14001:2015 certification, which indicates that environmental management is central to our organisation. For instance, we collect rainwater to reuse in our production process and generate electricity through solar panels. In addition, by installing charging stations, we are working on achieving our goal of having a fully electric vehicle fleet by 2026. In 2023, we are taking the first steps towards an integrated way of protecting plants. This means we will protect organically as much as possible and want to use chemical pesticides as little as possible.
Solar panels
In total, there are more than 2,000 solar panels on our roofs. These generate an average of 600,000 kWh per year, covering the vast majority of our power consumption with green energy. The installation of these over 2,000 solar panels is therefore a logical step in the transition to more sustainable operations. In the process, we are exploring options to store more and more of our generated solar energy so that we can be completely self-sufficient in this area in the future.
Reducing water use
We collect rainwater in two large water basins behind our nursery and in an underground water storage tank. This allows us to meet our water needs throughout the year. All water, with the exception of drinking water, is regenerated, purified and filtered in a closed system and then goes to underground basins. From those basins, the water is used, among other things, to hose down the roots of our soil plants before putting them on hydroculture. Another advantage of this closed system is that the nutrients not absorbed by the plants can be reused. This way, we waste as little water and nutrients as possible.
Reducing energy consumption
Nieuwkoop Europe's entire building is equipped with more than 50 kilometres of underfloor heating. This has the advantage that it provides heat to the rooms very evenly. As a result, less heating is needed and we reduce our energy consumption.