Nature and resources conservation

Targets and management approach

The protection of biodiversity and natural habitats is another important task that we fulfill, in particular in the operation and further development of our infrastructure. We fulfill all legal requirements regarding nature conservation with our activities, particularly in the new construction and expansion of the track infrastructure, for example by establishing suitable compensation areas.

By the end of 2022, we plan to phase out the use of glyphosate, setting ourselves a challenging nature conservation target. Together with scientific partners, we are working on the development of alternative methods.

Climate change is increasingly accompanied by natural events such as storms or floods, which strongly affect DB Group as an infrastructure operator. We want to increase the resilience of DB Group against these dangers and develop strategies and measures to be able to react quickly and purposefully in dangerous situations.

We are driving efficient use of resources by advancing our recycling and reuse processes. Our goal is to keep our waste recycling rate at over 95%. In the case of construction waste in particular, we achieve a very high recycling rate thanks to comprehensive reuse. In the next few years, we will also be increasing our waste management with further development in the area of our other waste, in particular municipal waste. In addition, we are extending the life cycle of our production equipment by redesigning, in particular, rolling stock, using recycled materials and continuously optimizing our material cycles.