Sustainability

The efficient use of resources is an integral part of our production. At our headquarters and at all other Austrian locations, we use only electricity from renewable sources. A significant portion of the Group's electricity requirements is supplied by its own regional hydroelectric power stations. Additional electricity demand is met by the Group's PV systems and certified green electricity.

Our production processes are designed to maximize material efficiency. This includes continuous-casting lines that minimize wet-chemical waste, moulding technology that enables production with minimal scrap, and an in-house R&D program that optimizes product designs for raw material usage, performance, and durability. Our sustainability efforts are built on several additional key pillars. These include the use of our own groundwater wells, the deployment of heat pumps with heat-recovery systems, and optimised raw-material and finished-product logistics.

Vibrations and the resulting dynamic forces accelerate wear and tear, reducing the reliability of technical systems. The resulting increase in maintenance requirements, reduced system availability, and shorter service life ultimately lead to higher resource consumption, emissions, and costs. Our materials provide a precisely defined degree of elasticity, thereby ensuring a lasting reduction in dynamic loads and effective vibration protection. This also helps to reduce emissions across the entire system, as demonstrated by long-term studies in railway infrastructure.

Vibration control makes a measurable contribution to sustainability in both the building and construction industry and the rail sector. In both sectors, the largest emissions arise primarily from the construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings and track networks, while elastic solutions account for only a small proportion of the overall system.

Despite their limited material use, these solutions deliver significant benefits. They effectively reduce noise and vibrations, provide long-term protection for structures and infrastructure, and extend service life. As a result, they help lower maintenance costs and reduce resource consumption.

Thanks to their low material requirements, maintenance-free operation, and long-term performance, elastic solutions combine high functionality with clear environmental benefits, making vibration control a key contributor to the economically sustainable construction and operation of infrastructure.

PU under sleeper pads – the sustainable solution for the track
Elastic solutions for vibration isolation and shock protection realise their full potential when considered from a long-term and comprehensive perspective. Examples of this include the studies “WINS - Wirtschaftlicher Nutzen von Schwellenbesohlungen.” (Marschnig, S., Veit, P., & Berghold, A. 2010. Self-published) and “Embodied greenhouse gas assessment of railway infrastructure: the case of Austria” (Landgraf, M., & Horvath, A. 2021. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 1(2), 025008.), which examine, on the one hand, the costs and, on the other, the carbon footprint of PU under sleeper pads in railway tracks. They conclude that both costs and CO₂ emissions are reduced in the long term through the use of padded sleepers. The key factor here is to consider the entire life cycle – not just the initial investment. At the time of installation, the use of padded sleepers leads to a slight increase in initial costs of around 4 % at the level of CO₂ emissions and around 11 % at the level of costs; however, over the entire service life of the superstructure, CO₂ emissions in the track are reduced by around 24 % and costs by around 32 %.

The applications result in greater emission reductions than the company’s own emissions
The emissions reduction achieved over the full life cycle of the under sleeper pads produced annually exceeds the company's annual greenhouse gas emissions (including upstream and downstream supply chain emissions) by more than 70%. This calculation does not yet include the additional emissions-reduction potential of other product groups, such as under ballast mats. As a result, the total potential is significantly higher.

A focus on the material cycle completes our 360° approach to sustainability. Due to the durability and exceptional material properties of our products, we place a particular emphasis on the chemical and mechanical recovery of polyurethane production residues. Through our dedicated subsidiary, Getzner Circular Technologies, we are actively shaping these material cycles. The recycled material Relomer® demonstrates how performance and recyclability can be combined. Our shareholdings in the Austrian recycling specialist TecInn and the Italian rubber processor Isolgomma complement this commitment.  Isolgomma’s products contain more than 90 percent recycled material and expand our portfolio of elastic solutions.

Getzner takes compliance very seriously. Adherence to applicable laws and to both internal and external regulations is an integral part of our corporate culture. In this context, compliance extends beyond the traditional prevention of corruption. It also includes compliance with competition laws (particularly antitrust legislation), sanctions and embargoes, and data protection requirements. We are committed to conducting business in a sustainable, ethical, and economically responsible manner while protecting the environment and conserving resources. Compliance with ethical, social, and legal standards is fundamental to achieving these objectives.

• EcoVadis Silver Medal
  Our sustainability management has been awarded the Silver Medal by EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of sustainability ratings. With 76 points, we rank among the top 8 per cent of all assessed companies. The rating confirms the company’s strong commitment to sustainability; in particular, we are setting new standards in the environmental sector through our use of renewable energy.
• CDP
  Our environmental impact has been assessed by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a globally recognised non-profit organisation. CDP’s aim is to promote greater transparency and effective climate and environmental protection. We have been reporting on climate change since 2024 and, since 2025, have also been reporting on water security. Our current results of B- for climate change and C for water security demonstrate that we are already addressing these issues intensively and are gradually further developing our environmental management.
• ISO 9001 & 14001
  We are certified to ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management. This ensures that our processes are clearly structured, regularly reviewed and continuously improved. The certifications help us to reliably meet quality requirements, systematically assess our environmental impact and implement targeted improvements.
• EPDs for Sylomer® and Sylodyn®
  Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are available for the materials Sylomer® and Sylodyn®. By providing detailed data on greenhouse-gas emissions, resource consumption and recycling rates, these declarations create transparency and thus support the development of sustainable construction projects.
• and much more
  Sustainability requirements are constantly evolving. We keep a close eye on relevant national and international guidelines and continuously adapt our processes and documentation to new developments and requirements.

Getzner has always taken numerous measures to preserve nature and conserve our natural resources, and is actively involved in organisations working towards a more sustainable future: Getzner is a member of the TUN. association, at respACT – Austria’s leading corporate platform for responsible business practices – and at the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).

The materiality analysis – conducted with active stakeholder engagement – forms the foundation for the Getzner Group’s sustainability management and serves as the basis for reporting in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Based on the results of the materiality analysis, four overarching areas of action have been defined. These serve as a guide for strategy development in sustainability management and are incorporated into CSRD reporting; specific measures and projects derived from them are already being developed.