Under the motto “Rhine Clean-up to Go,” Messer in Germany worked together with the City of Krefeld and Krefeld’s municipal waste management service GSAK to organize a spring cleanup campaign along the banks of the Rhine. And for the official international “Rhine Clean Up Day” on September 14^th, 2019, Messer employees gathered up trash from along the banks of the Rhine and brought it to a collection station set up specifically for that purpose. Germany’s longest river, the Rhine flows from Switzerland to the North Sea. 

Messer supported the RhineCleanUp again in 2020 and encouraged our employees to participate in this voluntary activity that removes thoughtlessly discarded litter from the banks of the Rhine. In 2018, together with the City of Krefeld, we organized this activity for the first time. On September 12, 2020, many employees and their families answered our call once again for active environmental protection.

Together with the initiative’s other organizers Krefeld City Council, the municipal waste management service GSAK and the waste disposal company EGK, Messer solicited volunteers for the “RhineCleanUp” once again this year. This involved cleaning up a 6.5-kilometer section of the banks of the Rhine at Krefeld. In Krefeld alone, over 300 volunteers took part in the transnational clean-up initiative on September 12 2021. The crew also included Messer employees and their families. The aim of this environmental campaign is to prevent even more plastic waste from reaching the oceans. 

Bike riding is healthy and actively contributes to environmental protection. That’s why, since September 2020, Messer has made it possible for its employees in Germany to lease a company bike for a period of three years. The leased bikes or e-bikes can be ridden to work but are also available for personal use.

April 22, 2020, marked the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day, which is dedicated to strengthening our appreciation for the environment. Messer Americas took this opportunity to raise employees’ awareness and reinforce the importance of eco-friendly action – both in the workplace and in the private sphere. Customers were reminded that, within the framework of environmental protection compliance, everything will be done to support the worldwide efforts to minimize climate change.

“Earth Hour” – it’s the hour for nature. For the second time, industrial gases specialist Messer also switched the lights off at all its locations in Germany. Millions of people participated in the worldwide initiative of the WWF on March 30^th, 2019, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Tisza River in Hungary is polluted every year by a vast deluge of tons of household waste – mainly PET bottles and plastic bags – washed down from upriver areas in Ukraine and Romania. Every spring, the wave of pollution sweeps across the full breadth of the river, depositing its plastic waste in the floodplain forests along the Slovakian and Hungarian river banks. That’s why a team of wildlife filmmakers from the Filmjungle Society (Hungary) initiated the PET Cup: With strong support from local communities, the PET Cup starts with a social event to collect PET bottles. Several teams then use them to build PET boats for a race. Every year, Messer Hungarogáz supplies dry ice to stabilize the PET bottles, because dry ice generates high pressure inside the bottle. In 2019, PET Cup participants collected more than three tons of trash in three days. 

In 2019 Messer Switzerland received an Environment Certificate from the association PET-Recycling Switzerland (PRS). In Lenzburg, the Messer team collected 216 kilograms of PET beverage bottles for recycling. This saved about 648 kilograms of greenhouse gases.

In 2019, the Chinese company PMG in Panzhihua received the “2018 Sichuan Environmental Integrity Enterprise” award, which specifies 22 criteria encompassing the avoidance and control of environmental pollution, environmental management, social oversight, and three other categories. Only firms that have achieved at least 95 points can earn the Environmental Integrity Award. Of all the companies that received the award, PMG was also the only one based in Panzhihua, a city in Sichuan province with a population of over one million.

Messer was awarded the Croatian Sustainability Index HRIO in the “Medium-Sized Company” category. The evaluation focused on the company’s attitude vis-à-vis its employees, society, its customers, its suppliers, the government and the environment. The Croatian Sustainability Index HRIO is based on a ranking system that objectively evaluates and compares the social responsibility of companies and also audits compliance with the latest regulations of the European Union. The award is presented in three categories: Large Company, Medium-Sized Company, and Small Company.

Historic climate research forms the basis for the development of long-term climate models. The Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research in Budapest, Hungary, uses gases from Messer to analyze stalagmite and sinter samples from limestone caves throughout the world. They give us a glimpse of a half million years of climate history. The characteristic limestone columns contain trace elements such as phosphorus, magnesium and strontium, the content of which fluctuates according to the climate conditions.

Messer in Spain was recognized by the Business Federation of the Spanish Chemical Industry (Feique) as a Responsible Care company. The reason for this is that Messer is committed to social responsibility and sustainable development in the performance of its activity. In Spain, a total of 59 chemical companies have joined the voluntary Responsible Care program to date. Responsible Care is an international voluntary initiative of the chemical industry for the continuous improvement of safety, health and environmental protection in all operations according to the principles of sustainable development and CSR. Messer companies in the Czech Republic, Germany, the Americas and Austria also support the initiative.