IN FOCUS

On 7 December 2024, the SDG Innovation Awards were presented for the third time by the German Senate of Economy in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The Wilo Group was honoured for its outstanding commitment in the Global South at the award ceremony in Munich.

The Wilo Group has presented the Ecolution Award for the first time. This award honours efficient, reliable, environmentally friendly and therefore pioneering projects in water management. As part of the exclusive award ceremony at the Wilopark, four outstanding projects from Switzerland, China, India and the UK were recognised.

Dr.-Ing. K. Busch GmbH, part of the global Busch Group, was awarded the prestigious EcoVadis bronze medal for its outstanding commitment to sustainability. The award underlines the high importance of environmental and social responsibility at Busch.

German drive specialist Flender announced that it has once again been awarded the platinum medal by EcoVadis, the world’s most renowned provider of sustainability ratings for companies. Flender remains in the top one percent of companies rated by EcoVadis.

With the International German Sustainability Award (IDNP), Wilo and the German Sustainability Award Foundation have recognised innovative business partnership for a second time. The award honours partnerships between organisations of the Global North and South which make a significant contribution to sustainability with environmental and efficiency technology.

As part of the international comparative study “AI-driven Product Development”, the Wilo Group has been recognised as an outstanding practical example of the successful use of artificial intelligence in product development. The study, conducted by the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University and the Complexity Management Academy, examined the use of AI in product development in over 150 companies.

Wilo’s Smart Factory at the Group headquarters in Dortmund has won the most prestigious manufacturing award in the German-speaking world: Factory of the Year 2024. The cutting-edge plant at the Wilopark is setting standards in industrial manufacturing.

British Water’s annual UK Water Company Performance Survey asks contractors, consultants and suppliers to rate their clients’ performance in 12 areas, including professionalism, contractual approach and communication. For the third year running, innovation continues to be the lowest scoring area – at a time when there are widespread calls for water companies to find new ways of working to address key challenges. The average score for innovation was 6.3, which has dropped from last year’s average score of 6.4 out of ten.

In an impressive confirmation of the company’s commitment to sustainability, KHS has again been awarded the coveted gold status by rating agency EcoVadis. The Dortmund systems supplier has further improved over last year’s assessment – now earning 73 points out of 100 in the completely revised evaluation method.

Christopher Whitfeld and Wenqi (Jonathan) Zhao from the United Kingdom receive the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2024 for their work on PFAS pollution in the Thames Basin. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented the winners with their award during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm.