Sustainability

Abloy Oy is committed to sustainability in all its operations. Our work on sustainability is a natural part of what we do, from product innovation and constant development of environmentally friendly production technologies to all aspects of our business.

Energy efficiency

Producing compressed air currently accounts for 10 % of the electricity we use. By repairing leaks in compressed air equipment in a more systematic manner, we are significantly reducing our electricity consumption. We are also installing new lighting technology and paying attention to heating and reducing the idle running of the machines.

Abloy participates annually to the Finnish Energy Awareness Week -campaign that encourages personnel towards more sensible use of energy. In 2019 the Joensuu factory’s energy consumption during the campaign weekend dropped 1363 kWh from previous weekend – that equals the  electricity consumption of one person's apartment for the whole year!

Zero waste to landfill

Joensuu factory is landfill-free. The amounts of hazardous waste we produce are being reduced through training, and anticipatory maintenance of machines. Surface treatment requires chemicals that can, if handled incorrectly, endanger health and the environment. We have chosen to replace surface-treatment chemicals with less-hazardous alternatives, and to make operation safer by renewing the equipment used when handling chemicals. The water from process is purified suitable for sewage. The products we manufacture comply with the regulations in the RoHS directive and REACH.

Brass chips from production are recycled to brass bars and used again. They will get a new life as a valuable raw material.

Water consumption

At the Abloy Joensuu factory, surface treatment is a major factor in water consumption. The process is modern, and it is already built to use the best available technology. New water meters installed at the Abloy Joensuu factory in 2015 are enabling us to monitor water consumption closely.

At the Abloy Joensuu factory, there are 100 water taps in total. By setting the flows to a limit of 6 l/minute on the sink taps, and 12 l/minute for the kitchen taps and showers the water consumption has been reduced by 8 percent. That corresponds to 1,200 cubic meters per annum.

Greenhouse gas reduction

In the summer of 2013, we switched to Väre’s carbon neutral electricity generated using wind power, hydropower and biomass. In the beginning of 2018 we switched to Fortum’s carbon-neutral district heating. 

In the summer of 2013, we switched to Väre’s carbon neutral electricity generated using wind power, hydropower and biomass. In the beginning of 2018 we switched to Fortum’s carbon-neutral district heating. Local deliveries in Joensuu around factory area are handled with electric car.

Sustainable innovation

Abloy’s ambition is to develop new product concepts that are truly innovative in the way they solve customer problems or create customer value, while being based on more sustainable solutions and processes. High-quality products that fit perfectly to their intended use have a longer service life and smaller impact on the environment. To maximize the sustainability of new products and solutions, Abloy considers the whole life cycle of products and focus the engineering efforts on areas where the greatest impact can be achieved. The reuse aspect is addressed through an increased focus on modularity.

Good example of Abloy’s green value based, persistent product development is the Low Energy lock. When compared to alternative locking solutions, magnet lock consumes 293000 % more energy and electric strike 1950 % more energy than Low Energy Lock.

People make it all happen

Abloy aspires to be an attractive company to work for, with opportunities for an interesting career development, challenging tasks and a safe working environment. A workplace culture where everyone takes responsibility is the foundation of Abloy's health and safety strategy. Abloy values and promotes diversity, including the ambition to achieve a better gender balance at all levels of the organization over time.

We offer an extensive range of work opportunities and learning experiences for students, from summer jobs to internships and interesting topics for final thesis. The ASSA ABLOY graduate program, for example, is an 18 month program in which participants will spend three months on international assignment.

Abloy’s Agemaster program has improved the senior employees’ well-being and capacity for work, and as a result the average retirement age has risen by more than three years.

Sustainability is a driver throughout ASSA ABLOY Group’s value chain; it is an important element in innovation, in sourcing, in production, in employee development, in applying ASSA ABLOY's products and solutions, and in the Group's relation to external stakeholders.Read more on our parent company's website.