The Steinbeis company - from its beginnings to the present day

09.04.2019 - Steinbeis Papier GmbH's Glückstadt site was officially founded in 1911, but the company's history actually goes back much further. It all begins with seven enterprising manufacturers and 700,000 guilders.

1863 - THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COMPANY

Steinbeis Papier GmbH has its origins in the history of the Steinbeis family of manufacturers. The progenitor and namesake Ferdinand von Steinbeis was one of the great economists and economic politicians of the 19th century. Of interest to us, however, is his son Otto von Steinbeis, who could be described as the actual founder of the company. in 1863, at the age of just 24, he was given a great opportunity: the seven founders of the company "Steinbeis & Consorten", two of whom were Otto's uncles, decided to make him a partner from the outset. A partner in what exactly? "Steinbeis & Consorten" was founded on the Brannenburg estate, which was bought by the founders for 700,000 guilders at the time.

Making Otto a founding managing director despite his young age was a calculated risk that increasingly proved to be a good decision over time. After all, Otto was highly talented, excellently trained and very ambitious. Emulating his father's example, he wanted to show what he could do and stand on his own two feet as soon as possible. He became one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his generation. His clever decisions laid the foundations for the Steinbeis family business, which developed over generations from a timber and forestry and wood processing company into a paper industry and paper processing company.

1911 - OFFICIAL FOUNDATION OF THE COMPANY IN GLÜCKSTADT

So how does this date come about? 1911 is the founding year of the factory in Glückstadt that is referred to today. It is the company's most important location. At that time, the factory still belonged to Peter Temming AG, whose namesake Peter Temming built a cotton bleaching plant on the site of a former canning factory, which produced bleached linters and later wood-containing coloured papers. The company became a public limited company in 1931, making it one of the first public limited companies in Germany. Steinbeis acquired a majority stake in this AG in 1974 and shortly afterwards, with a great deal of pioneering spirit, began to turn it into the sustainable company it is today.

NEW PRIORITIES - EIGHT MAJOR STEPS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

in 1976, the Glückstadt site is industrialised: From now on, recycled paper is produced from 100 per cent waste paper. It is the beginning of a continuous development in the course of which the company invests heavily in its development as a fully integrated mill - and in the expansion of production capacities.

in 1977, Steinbeis Papier sets up the first deinking plant: This can be used to remove printing ink from printing waste.

in 1984, the commissioning of a fully biological wastewater treatment plant at the Glückstadt production site is the next major milestone on the road to greater sustainability.

in 1987 and 1991, Steinbeis doubles its production capacity with two new paper machines - with consistently low quantities of waste material and waste water! This was one of the reasons why the company was honoured as the most environmentally friendly company, as it was again in 2000.

2005 sees one of the largest investments at the site: a state-of-the-art waste paper processing plant. Three years later, the company is one of the very first to receive the German Sustainability Award.

in 2010, the company is able to generate 100 per cent of its thermal energy and 50 per cent of its electrical energy itself. This is made possible by a new, highly efficient power plant integrated into the site with fluidised bed technology and combined heat and power generation.

in 2011, the company added its own waste paper sorting plant and a processing plant for substitute fuels, and shortly afterwards Steinbeis won the WWF Environmental Paper Award.

in 2018, the company was finally honoured with the Deutschland Test seal "Germany's Most Valuable Companies".

WHERE IS STEINBEIS PAPIER TODAY?

Today, Steinbeis Papier is the European market leader for recycled paper. This solid foundation makes it possible to continue investing in modern, efficient and, above all, environmentally friendly technologies and systems in the future. This not only serves to protect the earth's natural and - it cannot be emphasised often enough - limited resources, but also benefits the company in purely economic terms: by recycling one hundred percent of its waste paper, Steinbeis is largely independent of the international raw material and energy markets. The great trust placed in the company is therefore in good hands. After all, despite the pioneering mentality that it has demonstrated time and again throughout its history, it is always like-minded customers with the necessary foresight that make Steinbeis so successful.

Photos: Steinbeis Papier