Our Sustainability Program is committed to helping the local communities’ where our wax is sourced and refined.
Increasingly, consumers are concerned about sustainability and transparency in the products they buy. But for years Koster Keunen has had sustainability in our core values and this innovative approach is as natural as our approach to innovation in wax chemistry. Sustainability is a byword in every stage of our production, from partnering with beekeepers, all the way through the manufacturing of our products. Our beeswax is the highest quality, not by chance, but by constant effort to maintain the highest standards. Sustainable quality requires investment in the supply chain. Koster Keunen’s approach is supported by the three pillars of our sustainability program; Social, Economic, and Environment. We are proud to describe some of our efforts in meeting our commitment to sustainability: working to promote sustainable communities, reducing our carbon footprint, using transparent, responsible sourcing and being good stewards of our natural resources.
Guided by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Koster Keunen, in keeping with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, is deeply committed to ensuring that the individuals and communities we work earn equitable wages in safe working environments. We source most of our beeswax from small stakeholder farms at the village level to ensuring economic benefits for the people working with the bees. We distribute essential beekeeping equipment donations to communities in need to ensure that their health and safety become and remain sustainable, as well. Our team provides safety training and hive health education helping to improve comb yields and increasing the farmers’ productivity.
We Take Care to be Responsible with Resources
Koster Keunen production facility in Watertown Connecticut continues to make strides toward greater beeswax sustainability. Our facility is powered by a 660kw solar array consisting of more than 2500 solar panels producing most of the electricity used on site (88%!). This solar installation offsets almost 900 tons of carbon emissions per year. Working to meet the UN’s sustainability goal of “promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure” we are responsible with resources and out commitments. Additionally, our beeswax processing uses only recycled water. Wax sourcing is a worldwide effort, and worldwide, water is often a scarce commodity. By using small amounts and not polluting precious supplies, Koster Keunen brings economic and environmental benefits to our sourcing locations without extracting what cannot be renewed. Koster Keunen’s ultimate goal is to provide our customers with the highest quality products by assuring performance, consistency, safety, and value. Manufacturing has had a checkered past, as people have been exploited for their labor and their land. Following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we are doing our part to rectify this divide. Our team is very proud to be among manufacturers who are working to promote sustainability for people, the environment, and a healthy future of responsible sustainable manufacturing.
Koster Keunen’s Watertown, Connecticut, facility’s 660kw solar array.
About Koster Keunen
Koster Keunen has been working with wax since 1852 and has used our extensive experience and knowledge base to continuously develop new chemistries. Whether you are developing a new product, or need help with a reformulation or replacement, contact us to learn more about how we source, refine or develop waxes so you can create the perfect formula.
