Muggensturm (May 9, 2019) – Prologis, Inc., the global leader in logistics real estate, and L’Oréal today celebrated the opening of a new carbon-neutral logistics facility in Muggensturm.
The event was attended by 150 guests from the worlds of politics and business, as well as local residents. The facility comprises about 100,000 square meters, making it L’Oréal’s largest distribution center in the world. L’Oréal, which has leased the building from developer and owner Prologis, will use it to supply its markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
L’Oréal’s relocation from the two sites it currently operates in Karlsruhe-Hagsfeld began in early May and will be carried out in several stages. All 450 employees will have moved into their new workplace in Muggensturm by this fall.
“We are a little bit proud that a successful global brand like L’Oréal is moving to our community,” said Dietmar Späth, mayor of Muggensturm. “We look forward to our future as neighbors. This new carbon-neutral facility further enhances our municipality’s status as a modern trade and industry location. I would like to thank both companies for working with us so closely over the past few months.”
L’Oréal Group’s Largest Distribution Center in the World Enables Further Growth
The state-of-the-art facility nearly doubles the capacity of L’Oreal’s former sites in Karlsruhe, paving the way for the cosmetics group’s further long-term growth and allowing it to also handle logistics for Switzerland from this location.
“Thanks to our new facility in Muggensturm, we can now respond to our customers’ needs with greater flexibility,” says Klemens Gschwandtner, director of operations DACH at L’Oréal. “Consolidating our operations at one location will also allow us to work even more efficiently in the future. Our processes will become simpler, more advanced and more sustainable. This will ensure that we remain competitive over the long term.”
Sustainability a Top Priority
Sustainability was a priority in the design and construction of the building. The entire project, from the facility’s design to its use, was carried out with sustainability in mind.
To illustrate, L’Oréal will use green energy from wind turbines, among other sources, to power the building. Rainwater will be used to irrigate green spaces and clean interiors. Some 7,400 solar panels have been installed on the rooftops, which also hold around 30,000 square meters of green space that will serve as a home for the area’s skylarks. The birds previously had occupied the property as a breeding ground and will now have access to a new habitat on the building’s roof. The solar power system has a maximum peak capacity of 2.0 megawatts. Furthermore, the facility is equipped with additional insulation. LED lighting and low-emission building materials also help make the new facility groundbreaking from an environmental point of view.
“Environmental responsibility is more important today than ever before and, as a component of the overall ESG* picture, has been embedded into the Prologis DNA for decades,” said Alexander Heubes, senior vice president, country manager, Prologis Germany. “The development of this environmentally friendly building proves that carbon neutrality has reached the logistics real estate sector. With this project, we have taken a crucial step that will pave the way for the logistics industry and future developments. And, we would like to especially thank the community of Muggensturm, which has supported the project from the very beginning.”
Sustainability is integral to L’Oréal’s corporate culture, as well. As part of its global Sharing Beauty with All sustainability program, The group assumes responsibility for the environment and the community at its locations. This includes reducing carbon emissions at production and distribution sites. "We are extremely proud of the fact that we can help achieve these goals in Germany with the L’Oréal Group’s largest carbon-neutral logistics center in the world,” said Klemens Gschwandtner.
L’Oréal Expanding Partnership with Murgtal-Werkstätten & Wohngemeinschaften
During a cornerstone ceremony held in April 2018, L’Oréal announced its future partnership with Murgtal-Werkstätten & Wohngemeinschaften (mww) at the new location. As a part of the Lebenshilfe Rastatt/Murgtal e.V. association, it offers housing and job opportunities to individuals with disabilities. On the site of the new distribution center, they will be responsible for helping to maintain the green spaces. During today’s opening ceremony, Klemens Gschwandtner announced that the companies were already expanding their partnership: In the future, mww will also be responsible for testing electrical appliances for L’Oréal in Muggensturm.
For the past 20 years, the company has collaborated with worKA (formerly BzKA) in Karlsruhe—another organization that provides jobs to people with disabilities. And, at its headquarters in Düsseldorf, L’Oréal works with a similar organization, Fliedner Werkstätten from Mühlheim an der Ruhr. All in all, these L’Oréal initiatives created jobs for 189 people with disabilities last year.
CBRE provided advice on this contract.
*ESG = environmental stewardship, social responsibility and governance.