Reducing the environmental impact of our products
Reducing the environmental impact of products from Svedbergs Group is in line with goal 12 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Responsible consumption and production. The products have an environmental impact in both production and use, for example waste generation and water consumption.
Sustainability goals
Svedbergs Group aims to find solutions that extend the life of its products in the design stage and throughout production
Product development and circular design principles
Svedbergs Group integrates circular design principles in product development. The Group’s mapping of greenhouse gas emissions shows that the single largest emission factor is purchased goods, followed by the use of products by customers. To reduce emissions and negative environmental impact and increase resource efficiency, products are developed according to the principles of design manuals. Examples of important principles are extended life, reduced waste, reduced volume of material used in manufacturing, reduced use of plastics and development of water-efficient products.
Good control in in-house production
A high proportion of in-house production has several advantages. In-house production affords better control over working conditions, the production environment and transport, and consequently also better control over environmental impact. Svedbergs Group’s in-house production accounted approximately one third of sales in 2023.
Eco-labelling and certification
Svedbergs Group regularly reviews existing eco-labels of its products and adapts processes to meet the relevant certification requirements for the Group’s markets. Products must meet the EU’s basic health, environmental and safety requirements. Parts of the range are eco-labelled and the ambition is to increase this proportion and ensure that eco-labelling is carried out according to EU and other regional rules.
The EU legislation for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR) product passport is expected to be expanded in the future. This means that products included must meet certain minimum energy efficiency requirements and are labelled with a code that provides information about the products. Svedbergs Group is monitoring the development of this legislation.
Operations that require authorisation and notification
Svedbergs Group carries out certain operations that are subject to authorisation and notification under Swedish law. This authorisation relates to finishing wood and coating metal. The obligation to notify authorities concerns the plant for recycling solvents used in the company’s own operations, machining metals with cutting fluids, process oils and hydraulic oils and machine tools, and the plant for initial cleaning of materials with alkaline degreasing agents.
