Krones AG has been honoured with the German Sustainability Award (in German abbreviated to DNP) in the ‘Machinery manufacturing companies’ category. With this recognition, the company underlines its role as a responsible technology provider for the beverage and food industry, sending out a strong signal for the future of the entire sector.
Early courage to embrace change
The expert jury particularly commended the company’s consistency. Krones’ entire corporate strategy has been geared towards sustainability in order to make a significant contribution to solving three global challenges: avoiding plastic waste, feeding the world’s population, and mitigating climate change.
The company’s pioneering role in providing energy-efficient machinery and systems technology was especially highlighted, as this enables Krones’ customers to operate more sustainably. The associated enviro product series was launched more than ten years ago.
According to the written statement from the jury, Krones thereby demonstrated “early courage to embrace change.” The jury concluded: “The motivation to systematically point the Krones portfolio in a sustainable direction was an intrinsic one.”
The DNP is one of the most prestigious sustainability awards in Europe. Its aim is to make the “beacons of transformation” visible and thereby provide effective impetus for a future-oriented economy.
In this year’s competition round, the most sustainable companies across 100 industries were identified for the first time – based on the most comprehensive analysis to date of publicly available sustainability data. An independent expert jury of around 240 specialists from science, business and civil society decided on the winners. Krones succeeded in asserting itself as an industry leader in a two-stage process.
The official prize-giving ceremony will take place on 5 December 2025 as part of the German Sustainability Congress in Düsseldorf. Krones will be represented there by Martina Birk, among others. As Head of Sustainability, she is particularly looking forward to exchanging ideas with other professionals and companies. “Sustainability is always a collective effort – across society as a whole. The more people and organisations pull together, the more we learn from each other and inspire one another, the faster we move towards our goal: creating a liveable future for ourselves and generations to come.”
Krones had already been shortlisted for the German Sustainability Award for the third consecutive year. In both 2023 and 2024, the company was among the three finalists in the “Machinery manufacturing companies” category. Last year, the group’s subsidiary Steinecker GmbH was able to take home an award: with Phoenix BMC, a concept for biomass conversion, it secured the 2024 German Sustainability Award in the Products category, transformation field Climate.