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Business and Biodiversity: Alois Omlor

Alois Omlor

Commitment

Alois Omlor GmbH is a medium-sized family company with more than 350 employees. Its services and main competencies include the production and trade of building materials as well as the transport, recycling, and disposal of large amounts of loose materials like soil, sands, and gravel.

The family company puts value in sustainable practices and a strategic orientation. Long-term relationships with and retention of customers, suppliers, and business partners are cornerstones of the company philosophy. We see the success of this philosophy in the continued positive development and expansion of the company for over 80 years. The chief executive officer, Dipl.-Kfm. Helmut Olmor, has led the company successfully for the past decades and has managed to turn it into a modern trading and service company through constant modernization measures as well as cautious and steady growth. Dr. Jur. Christoph Kopper, in charge of legal issues and production, and Dipl.-Kfm. Michael Kopper, in charge of administration, have been working in the company for several years. As the third generation of family members to work at the company, they ensure the continued development of the company for decades to come.

As a producer of sand and gravel, the company is responsible for protecting the groundwater during extractions and leaving the extraction sites in a recultivated and re-naturalized condition after the extractions. The extraction sites on the Rhein, which are conducted under water, have especially strict guidelines regarding the ground water and the measures, which need to be taken with the resulting quarry pond, after the extractions are completed. After the extraction of gravel from the quarry ponds, the water becomes a mixture of swimming pond and fishing pond as well as a habitat for many animals and plants. Since the extraction sites have usually been used for farming before the extractions, the new natural environment offers a more valuable environment, in terms of flora and fauna, than the area could offer before the extractions.

In order to integrate the preservation of biodiversity with sustainable business practices, a specialized field biologist was commissioned at the beginning of 2020 to develop and establish a lasting habitat and species conservation concept. The goal is to develop the biological diversity in the extraction phase and to integrate it in the daily operating procedures. The situation can thus be continuously monitored so that one can be more flexible and react quickly to changes and to achieve, in accordance with the operational requirements, the most benefit for species diversity on the property.

Since there are varied environmental conditions at different locations, the concepts need to be adjusted accordingly. Two aspects need to be taken into consideration: the conservation and improvement of the living conditions for the typically occurring species of the area and the creation of the possibility of an independent settling of endangered species who share the same habitat needs. For this purpose, the existing environmental potentials are investigated and deficiencies in the habitat, which could be eliminated, are recorded through a deficit analysis. This approach has already shown initial success within a few months and will continue to be developed and refined.

The family company has always valued sustainability and is aware of its responsibility for the preservation of biodiversity. To this end, the company-owned extraction sites offer unique possibilities. For this reason, the company management decided to establish a long-term internal habitat and species conservation concept and by doing so is acting far beyond the legal stipulations.

In order to create a better network with companies that have a similar approach, it seemed appropriate to join the initiative 'Biodiversity in Good Company', an organization that like no other stands for the conservation of species biodiversity in the economic context.

 

FactBox Alois Omlor GmbH

Headquaters
Homburg, Germany

Major products
Primary and secondary raw materials

Global turnover 2019
65 Mio EUR

Global employees
app. 400