Burg Silvergreen presents the first climate-neutral trailer in the world The new German trailer man

With the concept of a producing a semi-trailer on a climate-neutral basis, the new German trailer manufacturer Burg Silvergreen is writing commercial vehicle history. Never before has a trailer producer had the so-called carbon footprint, i.e. publicly documenting the climate impact of its vehicles. Burg Silvergreen even goes one step further: for every curtainsider coming off the production line, the manufacturer will compensate for all CO2 emissions incurred during the production of materials, production and logistics through environmental projects in Germany, Africa and China. Stefan Oberdörfer, Director of Marketing, Added Value Services and After Market: The first climate-neutral trailer in the world has been real pioneer work and explains the "green" in Burg Silvergreen." 

Calculations and compensation are carried out exclusively by independent, recognized climate protection companies such as KlimAktiv and Arktik. All compensation projects are certified according to the Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). Burg Silvergreen is therefore the first manufacturer in the world that can offer its customers a trailer produced on a climate-neutral basis. Marc Meylaers, CEO of Burg Silvergreen: "The CO2 balancing of our production across all processes along with CO2 compensation is the first step to a more environmentally-friendly and climate-friendly transport industry. We still have many challenges ahead of us. We want to motivate our partners, suppliers, and certainly other market participants to take their own steps in this direction. Protecting the environment and the global climate is a task that we can only deal with together."

The prerequisite for a carbon-neutral product, such as the Burg Silvergreen Curtain SG03, is the calculation of the so-called Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) which is carried out by experts in the field. The evaluation includes all direct, indirect as well as previous emissions, and refers to the production of materials, vehicle production and logistics. The result is expressed in CO2 equivalents. CO2 equivalents are all greenhouse gases that have been allocated a coefficient for the global warming potential by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Calculating the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) takes place at Burg Silvergreen in collaboration with KlimAktiv, a non-profit organisation for the promotion of climate protection, which is accredited by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and supported by the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. "Through the Product Carbon Footprint, Burg Silvergreen  not only has the opportunity to demonstrate the resource-saving production methods used for its own products," explained Stephan Schunkert, CEO of KlimAktiv and renowned climate expert. "Burg Silvergreen also now has the chance to discover even more potential and verifiably utilize this as well in order to reduce CO2 emissions."

Burg Silvergreen verifiably and transparently documented the PCF of its SG03 curtainsider semi-trailer. Altogether, production of this vehicle results in the equivalent of 27.27 tonnes of CO2. Of this, 92.7 per cent comes from raw material extraction, for example, steel, aluminium or plastic. The actual production of the vehicle accounts for only 2.1 per cent of the total CO2 equivalent; around 5.2 per cent is allocated to logistics. Suppliers are also being integrated into the PCF. Their share of CO2 equivalent is 19.93 tonnes or 73.1 per cent. On the vehicle itself, the PCF percentage of 59.6 for the chassis is much larger than that of the body.

With this independently-confirmed balance, Burg Silvergreen tackles the CO2 balance and is promoting three certified CO2 reduction projects in Germany, Kenya and China. Partner in the CO2 compensation is the multiple award-winning and TÜV-certified company Arktik, which offers individuals and businesses CO2 compensation opportunities by providing support for climate protection projects. Dr. Florian Skiba, CEO of Arktik and expert on Green Mobility: "I am delighted that Burg Silvergreen has consistently thought its approach to climate protection right through to the end. The best climate protection is to prevent and reduce greenhouse gases. As only a limited reduction of greenhouse gases is possible in companies due to technical and organisational reasons, supporting climate protection projects provides a modern and effective way to address climate change and for businesses to actively take responsibility for effectively dealing with their own emissions.

Burg Silvergreen supports the following projects for compensating the resulting CO2 equivalent: 

Generating electricity from coal mine gas in Lünen Brambauer and Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Within the framework of this project, coal mine gas escaping from disused mines is converted into electricity and heat by a dedicated power station. Around 60,000 tonnes of CO2 are saved on an annual basis. Through this project, electrical power is being generated and the waste heat is fed into the regional district heating network. In addition, the operation and maintenance of the power plant safeguards local jobs. "As a German company, we also want to compensate in Germany knowing full well that the location selected for climate protection is irrelevant," said CEO Marc Meylaers, when explaining the decision in favour of this project.

Water purification in Kenya

As part of the LifeStraw®project, over 900,000 water filtration systems for drinking water treatment in Kenya have been distributed. This will provide access to clean drinking water for 4.5 million people. As a result, the otherwise common practice in Africa of boiling water on open fires will be eliminated. Supported by Burg Silvergreen, the project reduces local deforestation and saves a total of more than 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The LifeStraw® filter also contributes to the reduction of child mortality in the region. Marketing-Director Oberdörfer: "Our project in Kenya makes a convincing case through its social character - we help here the environment as well as the local population: this is very much green development aid."

Micro-hydropower plant, China

"As a sign of solidarity, and respect to our parent company, we opted for a climate protection project in China," said Marc Meylaers. "We also want to encourage Chinese companies to participate and imitate, and help ensure that China meets its environmental targets. Within the next eight years, China will generate 15 per cent of its electricity through renewable energy. "The micro-hydropower plant in the Gansu province saves an average of about 44,000 tons of CO2 per year. The project makes an important contribution to the sustainable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and for the expansion of grid-connected renewable energy systems in China. The Gansu micro-hydropower project is a modern hydroelectric power station with integrated fish ladders appropriate for the local species. Here, the project exclusively uses the natural difference in the height of the river. The project is currently being validated in accordance with the regulations of the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" as a CDM project.