Loick

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Loick AG
legal form Corporation
founding 2004
Seat Dorsten-Lembeck
management Hubert Loick
Number of employees approx. 100 (2008)
sales approx. 8 million euros (2005)
Branch Renewable raw materials, renewable energy

The Loick AG is the holding company of a German group of companies . This deals on the one hand with the research, development and production of chemicals and materials from plant-based renewable raw materials in agriculture ( biomaterials ) and through the recycling of organic residues, on the other hand with the generation of electricity, heat and cold from biogas and biodiesel . Loick AG also financially participates in other companies that are active in similar areas. Loick is considered one of the pioneers in the generation of bioenergy from agricultural products in Germany. Furthermore, Loick is a pioneer in the production of packaging made from bio-based materials and the market leader in Germany.

Mission statement

Loick sets itself as a mission statement that sustainability throughout the entire product life cycle . The environmental friendliness should therefore be higher than with conventional products , from the extraction of the raw materials through production to disposal . By utilizing the entire biomass of the raw materials used along a value chain , the aim is to achieve a highly integrated production ( circular economy , “biorefinery”) that is both ecologically and economically beneficial.

history

The founder of the company is Hubertus Loick. Loick, son of a farmer who cultivates maize and himself a trained farmer, had taken over his parents' business some time before, but wanted to be more than just a farmer. His impulse to found a company also came from his longstanding political commitment to the CDU . In 1994 Loick became a member of the party's state agriculture committee , when Jochen Borchert was Minister of Agriculture. In the same year, he founded the company in Dorsten-Lembeck under the name Hubert Loick Processing Company Renewable Raw Materials (VNR) mbH (later FarmTech GmbH) .

In cooperation with the mechanical engineering professor Erich Schürmann from the Soest University of Applied Sciences, Loick initially dealt with developing pourable filling and cushioning material in cylindrical form (so-called chips) based on the model of peanut flips from water- extruded (foamed) corn grits. Since then, Loick has been marketing them for the packaging of fragile goods, electronic items and the like under the Farmfill brand . Compared to packaging chips made of foamed polystyrene (EPS) and products made from potato, corn or wheat starch, these require less water and energy for their production. They also have better cushioning properties than EPS chips and can be produced at a more competitive price compared to starch products. Most of the maize plants are grown on areas that are subsidized with public funds after the obligation to set aside and are therefore not allowed to be used for food and feed production. The customers of the packaging chips include DaimlerChrysler , Siemens and BMW .

Since then, Loick has been developing and manufacturing an expanded product portfolio made from renewable raw materials (what he called “bio-resources”) that replace products made from petrochemical raw materials. For example, until 1999 he and the inventor Artur Fischer (fischertechnik, fischerdübel) made children's toys out of corn starch. Since separating from Fischer, Loick has been producing this under the “PlayMais” brand, and since then Fischerwerke has been using potato starch and selling their product under the “fischer TiP” brand. The PlayMais toys are sold across Europe and beyond.

In 2001, the Loick Biowerkstoffe division was established as an independent division under the umbrella of Holding Loick AG . Since autumn 2001, Loick has been running a biogas plant on his farm in Dorsten-Lembeck, developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Fraunhofer UMSICHT) and built by the company farmatic , in which liquid manure , corn silage and residues are removed of food and farm fill production to become energy. The fermentation residues are reused as fertilizer. The system was funded as a pilot project by the EU and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, as the waste heat generated when generating electricity in a block-type thermal power station was not only used to heat the living and operating rooms and stables, but also to generate absorption cooling in summer .

In 2002 Loick (at the mediation of the managing director of German Carbon GmbH , which manufactures and sells activated carbon from renewable raw materials ) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in the vicinity of the existing biomedical engineering center Teterow (BMTT) of the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT and the innovation forum polylactic acids Teterow, a Build the first biodiesel plant. Around this, Loick developed the concept of comprehensive recycling (biorefinery). One plant processes the glycerine, which is a by-product of biodiesel production, into 90% glycerine as a raw material for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries. At the end of 2007, a biogas plant with an output of two megawatts per hour went into operation, which generates biogas from production waste corn stalks, which is converted into heat and electricity by combined heat and power plants two kilometers away.

From November 2002 to November 2003, Hubert Loick was CEO of the listed farmatic biotech energy ag , previously a member of the supervisory board.

In 2003, the packaging plant of the Loick subsidiary Cornpack in Teterow, built jointly with farmatic, was put into operation.

In 2004 the six GmbHs founded by Hubert Loick between 2002 and 2004 for innovative products from renewable raw materials were united under the umbrella of Holding Loick AG.

With the energy supply company EnD-I AG from Halle an der Saale , which specializes in bioenergy, Loick AG founded the joint venture EnD-I Loick Bioenergy GmbH (based in Cologne ) for the planning, construction and operation of biogas plants and material flow management . In 2007, EnD-I Loick Bioenergy GmbH and STEAG Saar Energie AG , Saarbrücken , founded the joint venture EnD-I STEAG Bioenergie GmbH in equal shares in the planning, construction and operation of large biogas plants (over 4 MW el ) and generation, refinement and Marketing of biogas as well as heat and electricity. On January 1, 2009, Loick AG acquired a majority stake of 54.9% in ELB Agroservice GmbH , which was renamed Loick Agroservice GmbH . Further shareholders are EnD-I Bioenergy GmbH with 25.1% and Dirk Nachbarschulte with 20%.

A biogas plant with an electrical output of up to 10 MW el should be built in the Dorsten / Marl industrial park by mid-2010 . After the groundbreaking ceremony in January 2010, however, the work was delayed due to the high groundwater level on the construction site, so that in August 2010 it was assumed that civil engineering work would start in the following month and that the plant could be commissioned at the end of 2011 or early 2012. After further delays, the plant should feed the first gas into the network in summer 2012. In September 2012, however, EnD-I terminated the contract with the Spanish general contractor. According to him, the plant was approximately 95% complete at this point. The plant was put into operation in 2013. In the same year, however, the operator EnD-I had to file for bankruptcy. However, the liquidator reported in February 2014 that there were several interested parties for the plant. The plant was taken over by Agravis Raiffeisen AG.

Corporate structure

The group of companies managed by Holding Loick AG is divided into two business areas:

VNR

The Hubert Loick processing company Nachwachsender Rohstoffe mbH deals with the three product lines of packaging, toys, raw materials and primary products. Three subsidiaries correspond to these:

  • Cornpack GmbH & Co. KG , Dorsten and Teterow. This subsidiary produces and sells the following products made from the raw material maize, which is processed into bio-based plastics , throughout the European Union:
    • Toys: "Playmais" are cylindrical building blocks made of foamed corn grits, colored with food coloring; In 2002 they received the rating " play well " from the Working Committee for Children's Games and Toys [1]
    • Packaging: The Farmfill packaging products are available in bulk, as cushioned bags (smaller chips in paper packaging) or as Sheets & Blocks (corn foam sheets). Other packaging products are films (organic waste bags or sacks, carrier bags, agricultural films, flat and tubular films, catalog mailing film, lettershop film, thermoformed film packaging)
    • Catering accessories: (compostable disposable crockery such as cups, plates, bowls, cutlery, tablecloths and serviettes; “compost it” brand). The transparent drinking cups (for cold drinks) are made from polylactic acid (PLA) on the basis of corn and sugar beet , the bioplastic compound of the cardboard cups (for hot drinks) and the cutlery are based on the cellulose- derived polymer cellulose acetate , starch and limestone as a filler. Because the dishes made using the injection molding process are not only biodegradable, but also lighter than other dishes, the previous customers included u. a. the Lauda Air airline , major events such as the 2003 Alpine World Ski Championships in Switzerland and the 2005 World Youth Day in Germany - the first major use of such products in each country - and the 2006 World Cup stadiums . The dishes can be washed and reused up to four times. After use, Loick often takes the products back in order to utilize them in their own biogas plant and to distribute the remaining residues to the maize fields as fertilizer.
    • Other injection molded products made from bioplastic granulate (only for short-lived products due to their good biodegradability)
  • CornPLAst GmbH & Co. KG , Dorsten: Production and distribution of raw materials and intermediate products, in particular the production of bioplastics from polylactic acid (PLA).
  • Loick Pharma GmbH & Co. KG , Teterow: Production of glycerine from renewable raw materials.

ENR

  • The energy company renewable raw materials GmbH , Dorsten, deals with the conception, planning, delivery, as well as the construction and operation of its own bioenergy plants as well as projects of other clients.
  • The Loick Bioenergy Anlagenbau GmbH is a budgeting and consultative engineering firm operates.

Key figures

2005: Sales around eight million euros. In 2006 sales with PlayMais alone were around EUR 12 million. The companies of the Loick Group employ around 100 people.

Awards

Loick has received several awards as a pioneer company in the field of processing renewable raw materials:

  • 1996: eta-Preis of the United Electricity Works Westphalia (VEW) for the development of the process for the production of packaging chips from corn grits
  • 2001: Efficiency Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (special jury prize "for sustainable business")
  • 2003: Promotion Prize for Renewable Raw Materials from the Bavarian State Ministry for Agriculture and Forests
  • Serious Fur Prize

Sources and individual references

  1. ↑ Loick Bioenergie website , accessed on February 20, 2009
  2. ↑ Ursula Schulte / CARMEN eV: Ernst Pelz Prize and Renewable Raw Materials Promotion Prize awarded  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , innovations-report, July 7, 2004@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.innovations-report.de  
  3. ↑ Page on the corporate philosophy on the Loick Biowertstoffe website , accessed on February 20, 2009
  4. ^ Inga Helms: Large-scale use of organic raw materials , Die Welt , February 6, 2006
  5. ↑ Loick - packaging chips made from corn , WirtschaftsWoche No. 27 of June 28, 2001
  6. ↑ Loick: How it went on , WirtschaftsWoche, December 4, 2001
  7. ↑ nova-Institut (Ed.): Nova-Spezial , Hürth, December 20, 2005
  8. ↑ Danijela Budschun: Eco-toys from Dorsten are conquering children's rooms  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Dattelner Morgenpost, September 20, 2007@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dattelner-morgenpost.de  
  9. ↑ Loick biogas plant: Ecological necessity and economic benefit: State Secretary Jörg Hennerkes gives the go-ahead for biogas plant in Dorsten-Lembeck , innovations report, September 21, 2001
  10. ↑ First groundbreaking ceremony for the Teterow large-scale biogas plant.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.end-i.ag   (PDF; 248 kB), EnDI News 04/2007.
  11. ↑ nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info: New supervisory board member appointed / change in the executive board  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info   , November 25, 2003, accessed February 8, 2012
  12. ↑ nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info : Teterow: Cornpack goes into operation  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info   , accessed May 26, 2012
  13. ↑ Steag Saar Energie AG and EnD-I Loick Bioenergy found a joint company for large-scale biogas plants , International Economic Forum for Renewable Energies (IWR), June 5, 2007
  14. ↑ Klaus-Dieter Krause: Fresh wind for biogas project , Dorstener Zeitung, January 23, 2009
  15. ↑ Ludger Böhneder: Biogas plant: "The excavators will come" , DerWesten, August 5, 2010, accessed on May 8, 2012
  16. ↑ Markus Fuhrmeister: Most important building block for the start of biogas , DerWesten, March 30, 2011, accessed on May 8, 2012
  17. ↑ Martin Ahlers: EnD-I fires general contractor. In: DerWesten. September 26, 2012, accessed October 4, 2012 .
  18. ↑ Martin Ahlers: RosRoca: EnD-I did not pay. In: DerWesten. October 4, 2012, accessed October 4, 2012 .
  19. ↑ Klaus-Dieter Krause: Operator is insolvent: EnDI bankruptcy may turn off the biogas tap , dorstenerzeitung.de, November 15, 2013, accessed on March 2, 2014
  20. ↑ Klaus-Dieter Krause: After Endi-Insolvenz: Promising negotiations about biogas plants , dorstenerzeitung.de, February 13, 2014, accessed on March 2, 2014
  21. ↑ Odas GmbH commissioned as operator: Agravis takes over the large biogas plant in the Indu-Park. In: Dorstener Zeitung. March 14, 2014, accessed July 23, 2014 .
  22. ↑ The World Youth Day from August 15 to 21, 2005 in Cologne was designed to be environmentally friendly. ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Diocese of Würzburg with press review @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umwelt.bistum-wuerzburg.de
  23. ↑ Dieter Maibach (FNR): World Youth Day 2005: Catering with bioplastics sets new standards: For the first time tableware made from renewable raw materials at a major event in Germany ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 18, 2005 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info
  24. ↑ With organic cutlery on the ball  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Ruhr-Nachrichten .de, July 3, 2008@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dorstenerzeitung.de  
  25. ↑ Martin Oberpriller: Crossing the border between the worlds . In: Die Welt , March 27, 2005
  26. ↑ Verena Kainrath: Corn toys make a leap in retail chains , derStandard.at , print edition, December 7, 2006
  27. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nachwachsende-rohstoffe.info
  • Rainer Nahrendorf: The power farmer: The energy manager Hubert Loick is becoming a pioneer of a green circular economy with bioenergy . In: Ders .: The entrepreneur code: what makes founders and family entrepreneurs successful , pp. 131–146, Gabler, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-8349-0790-5 . [2]

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