Under the motto waste-not-weeks, we organized a "circular month" with various formats and campaigns to conserve natural resources, reduce waste and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Only 5% of those who graduate from public school in Uganda go on to a university, and only 15% attend a vocational school. So it’s not surprising that experts estimate youth unemployment to be around 80%. We’ve partnered with Adept to provide financial support and share technological expertise with St. Bruno Secondary School in Masaka’s heavily impoverished northern district of Ssaza.

We’ve had a company car policy for over ten years designed to reduce emissions from our vehicle fleet. Our company headquarters and AEB offices offer free electric and hybrid vehicle charging. We even add our own self-generated solar electricity to the energy mix used to charge the cars.

More creativity, less meat – and where we do use meat, we source it directly from the farm. AEB’s on-site “Kantino” cafeteria in Stuttgart also buys locally and has policies in place to ensure that as little food as possible is thrown away.

Sustainability is a key criterion in the selection of partners and suppliers and in our procurement processes.

We subsidize the use of public transit for the sustainable mobility of our workforce. We also give employees the option to lease bicycles under the “JobRad” program.

AEB’s support for the Pfrunger-Burgweiler Ried nature reserve has helped restore an additional 15 hectares of moorland and sequester significant amounts of CO2.

AEB’s Stuttgart HQ is part of a growing hyperlocal community of companies with a big potential for sharing and collaboration. The first step has been to open up AEB’s “Kantino” to allow employees of neighboring businesses to take away meals from the cafeteria’s delicious and varied menu.

The nonprofit “KinderHelden” offers mentoring to children that have had a difficult start in life, and we support them through volunteering and financial assistance.

An interdisciplinary working group has been partnering with an external consultant to develop a “Guide to Inclusive and Gender-Neutral Language” for AEB. The guide for external communications in German is complete, and the English version is in progress.

The “I will survive” project from EYD Social, a manufacturer of humanitarian fashion, supports young women in India who have survived human trafficking and exploitation, offering a broad program of support and education to give them a realistic chance of shaping an independent future for themselves. The AEB-Stiftung has initially pledged to support the “I will survive” project for three years.

AEB ranks hotels based on eco-friendliness and always refers employees traveling for business to the greenest option available.

All our offices in Germany use green energy from regenerative sources.

The key component of the sustainable energy concept of our data centers is a water storage tank: The water cools the server rooms by absorbing waste heat and is then circulated through the company headquarters for heating purposes. The cool night air in the summer cools the sprinkler tank, which then helps keep the data center and the whole building cooler during the day. A photovoltaic system supplies both data centers with electricity during daytime hours.

October 2023 was Mobility Month at AEB, and the focus was on sustainable commuting. Commuting accounts for 10% of AEB’s carbon footprint. Employees could take advantage of a one-time €49 travel allowance plus a variety of other activities and offers for commuting alternatives. All aboard!

AEB is not yet required to report on the company’s sustainability but decided to voluntarily publish its first report anyway. Various guidelines were studied, and the specifications were then tailored to AEB and implemented. This has helped us establish the foundations and processes for our first mandatory report on fiscal year 2024.

AEB has greatly expanded its charging infrastructure for electric and add-on hybrid vehicles: As of August 2023, it now includes 20 wall-mounted charging stations with 40 charging ports in the parking garage under AEB headquarters. This reflects the general trend in orders for company cars away from combustion engines and toward EVs.

The residents of “Cracolândia” – the notorious neighborhood in São Paulo that is one of the world’s largest open-air drug markets – endure conditions that are unimaginable for us. The AEB-Stiftung has partnered with educare, providing funding and employee volunteers to build and run a preschool. Children here find not only a place of learning but a sanctuary and afterschool partner.

Our bee colonies in the garden of AEB headquarters make a small contribution to biodiversity. Bees are essential for the pollination of flowers, trees, and shrubs, which would not exist without these insects.