CSR at OTRS – A Look Back at 2022

A Dedicated CSR Team for a Successful CSR Year 2022

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is deeply rooted in the DNA of OTRS Group. We want to make a sustainable contribution and take responsibility for our society. As our company grows, we feel that this responsibility is also increasing. To do justice to this and to push our CSR measures even further, we have our CSR team at OTRS Group.

Throughout the year, the CSR team has motivated and supported our employees in contributing to society and the environment. As in previous years, all OTRS Group employees had two working days available as “CSR Days” for this purpose. They can divide the time as they wish and use it for environmental and social CSR activities that they either organize themselves or join the activities organized by the CSR team.

Thanks to all these efforts, our bottom line on CSR in 2022 was as follows:

Ecological CSR Activities

Without question, climate change is the most pressing and all-encompassing problem of our time. That is why the focus of our CSR measures is on ecological CSR activities. This includes our bee sponsorship with the hobby apiary Walkmühle in Frankfurt, cleanup events where our employees are located globally, and donations of (recycled) electronic waste. We also regularly provide our employees with “skill bites”: short information on topics related to sustainability and environmental protection that provide inspiration and concrete ideas on how everyone can reduce their ecological footprint in everyday life.

• Bee Sponsorship Hobby Apiary Walkmühle

  Bees are indispensable for our ecosystem. They pollinate and thus preserve plants, fruits, and vegetables. Since 2020, the OTRS Group has been sponsoring a beehive of the hobby apiary Walkmühle. With the bee sponsorship, we not only support the conservation of nature and species but also incidentally enjoy the honey collected as a result. “Our” bees live on the bee trail in the KGV Ginnheimer Wäldchen, where Walkmühle also offers guided tours.

• Clean-up Events around the Globe

  Since 2018, World Clean-up Day is taking place every year on the third Saturday in September. During the waste collection campaigns, people around the globe rid our planet of environmental pollution and plastic waste, sending a strong message for a clean, healthy, and plastic waste-free future. But why just one day a year? In 2022, we organized several clean-ups for our employees at different locations. Together, we collected 63 kg of waste, a good start, which we definitely want to top in 2023.

• E-Waste: A Second Life for Old Laptops

  The fact that electrical devices such as cell phones and laptops are getting better and better within very short intervals has its downside: the growing mountain of electronic waste or e-waste. For many people, the “outdated” devices end up in the drawer every two years and gather dust. Yet many can be recycled for a second life. Even defective devices contain valuable raw materials that can be recycled and reused elsewhere. This saves resources and protects the environment.

  As in previous years, our IT team provided decommissioned work laptops from our inventory. In 2022, we donated 20 of them to students of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

In addition, we provided collection boxes for our employees’ old electrical equipment in our offices several years ago. This makes it easy for them to return their no longer needed or defective cell phones, tablets, or eBook readers to the recycling system. We have collected and properly disposed of 5 kg of e-waste this year

Social CSR Activities

The second focus of our CSR mission is to support social projects and institutions that, ideally, can be linked to our ecological focus. It is particularly important for us to establish long-term cooperation. We were able to continue our existing cooperation with two organizations this year: the Frankfurter Tafel and the Street Angels.

• Tafel Frankfurt

  With its commitment, the Frankfurter Tafel not only ensures less food waste, but also that people in need are provided with food. This is only possible thanks to the tireless dedication of many volunteers and donations. We support both: First, through the time of our employees who help with the food distribution. We spent a total of 6 days in 2022 helping: unload vans, hauling boxes, sorting, packing, and distributing. Secondly, we set up a collection box for food donations for the first time at our Oberursel location in 2022. We regularly donate contents of the box to the Frankfurter Tafel food bank.

• Street Angels: Christmas in a Shoe Box

  Given the high inflation rate, this year was even more difficult than usual for people with low or no income and for the homeless. The “Christmas in a Shoebox” campaign, which Street Angel e.V. carries out annually at Christmas time and in which we have participated for several years, was all the closer to our hearts this year. For this, we called on our employees to collect small practical items such as socks, scarves, hygiene, care items, also sweets. We then packed all these items in festive boxes and handed them over to the organization, which then distributed them to the homeless, along with cards we had written ourselves.

• Helping Hands at the Shelter

  Our team from OTRS, Inc. in the USA visited a local animal shelter, The Guilford County Animal Services, during a joint offsite. Not only did they get an impression of the situation of the animals living there, the daily work of the employees, but they also lent a helping hand. Naturally, they didn’t miss a chance to give the four-legged friends a cuddle or two.

Outlook for the CSR Year 2023 at OTRS Group

After an eventful CSR year in 2022, we look forward to launching many exciting CSR activities in 2023. Some of the CSR measures are already an integral part of our CSR programs, such as the clean-ups, the bee sponsorship, and the cooperation with the Frankfurter Tafel food bank. But we also have many new ideas for initiatives and campaigns in the quiver. We can reveal this much: Our focus on sustainability and social issues will definitely remain. If you want to stay up to date, you’re invited to follow our team on social media.

What CSR initiatives and activities do you have planned for this year? Which topics are particularly important to you? Do you perhaps not have an explicit CSR program yet, but would like to get started? There are plenty of reasons for a company to get involved socially and ecologically. For inspiration on what a CSR program could look like, take a look at our CSR Guide.

We look forward to exchanging ideas with you here in the comments or on social media and wish you a successful CSR year 2023.