The German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) is awarding the 2025 German Environmental Prize to Zinq Managing Directors Lars Baumgürtel and Dr. Birgitt Bendiek. The Gelsenkirchen-based hot-dip galvanizing group is an inspiring role model for raw material and energy efficiency as well as for sustainability and recycling management in a resource-intensive industry, said DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde.
The €500,000 prize is one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe and will be presented by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on October 26 in Chemnitz. Baumgürtel and Bendiek will share the prize with Swiss climate researcher Prof. Dr. Sonia I. Seneviratne. "We are on the hunt for the last calorie," said Lars Baumgürtel. Heat recovery, optimized control technology, green electricity since 2012, special alloys, efficient zinc bath management and other measures have lowered energy and raw material requirements and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by around 285,000 tonnes of CO₂ since 2010. The micro-zinc process is also noteworthy: Instead of 80-100 µm as in classic steel galvanizing, the top layer is only 10 µm. The zinc-aluminum alloy of the bath lowers the melting point from 450 to 420 °C, which saves a lot of energy. The entire Zinq Group uses 30,000 tons of zinc for coating every year and is the market leader in Europe and number 2 worldwide.
