ESSVE’s environmental policy
We have been working to reduce ESSVE’s environmental impacts for more than ten years. We want to play our part in securing the future for coming generations through responsible environmental management. We are well on our way.
Our environmental goals are part of everyday operations
Our employees, customers and suppliers all play a part in environmental work. We have set up environmental goals for our product range, goods transport, suppliers, car fleet and real estate.
Products
We work actively to replace products in our range with other products that have a lower environmental impact.
Goods transport
We have reduced carbon dioxide emissions from transport by sharing transport loads with our sister companies in B&B TOOLS.
Car fleet
We have replaced our old car fleet with cars run on ethanol, biogas and diesel (fitted with a particle filter).
Suppliers
We are working to increase the share of our suppliers that have ISO and/or TS certification.
Real estate
We will shortly be replacing all armatures in our head office in Sollentuna to long life and Eco light bulbs. This will reduce our electricity consumption by about 20 percent.
Our environmental policy
”With consideration for people and the environment, and based on our customers’ needs for products, distribution and knowledge of fixtures, sealants and electric handheld tools, ESSVE will reduce its environmental effects from chemicals, transport and operations through continuous improvement of our environmental performance.
Through the use of regulations and environmental legislation and with a holistic approach, ESSVE will stimulate every part of the trade chain to prevent and reduce its environmental impact.”
REACH
REACH is the new EU chemicals legislation. ESSVE does not manufacture any chemical substances or products, nor do we import them from countries outside of the EU. Therefore we do no register any chemical substances. But we do place demands and check up on our manufacturers and distributors to ensure that they comply with REACH.
In our work with REACH we work closely with our environmental consultants Goodpoint AB, who keep an eye on the way in which REACH impacts on our manufacturers and distributors. Goodpoint AB also helps us to assess and classify chemical products, the formulation of safety sheets and environmental and building declarations. They also provide us and our customers with advice regarding environmental and health impacts from our products.
If you have any questions regarding ESSVE’s ongoing work with REACH, please contact Maria Danielson ( maria.danielson@goodoint) , consultant at Goodpoint AB.
BASTA (Phasing out dangerous substances from construction products)
As part of our environmental work, ESSVE works with the construction industry’s BASTA system. The heart of the system is the properties criteria, which are based on REACH and focus on the phasing out of the most dangerous substances. There are a number of terms of qualification. These place demands both on the product and the supplier.
At ESSVE, we want as many products as possible to meet the high demands of the properties criteria in the BASTA system. By influencing our suppliers to replace any dangerous substances where possible we are striving to be able to register all our chemical products in BASTA one day. We currently have 26 products and 116 article numbers that qualify for the BASTA system and our aim is that more than 30 products will qualify by the end of 2010. Read more about BASTA at www.bastaonline.se where you can also see the properties criteria.
Environmental certification
ISO 14001:2004
The ISO 14001 standard is about continuously reducing the total environmental load from operations. Using this standard, ESSVE’s management team has good control of the results and costs and savings of developments in our environmental work. ESSVE has had ISO 140001 environmental accreditation since 2000.
The ISO 14001:2004 standard is aimed at businesses and organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. The environmental management system helps to rationalize and improve the company’s environmental work.
The standard is used to:
- map out and reduce the environmental impacts from operations
- set up specific goals for environmental improvements
- create a basis for credible communication regarding environmental issues
- implement an environmental management system to help achieve environmental goals
- check that the environmental work is being done
- follow up and evaluate the environmental work
- proceed based on follow-up and evaluation of the current situation
- implement control routines for environmental work
You can see ESSVE’s certificate by clicking on this link ISO 14001:2004
REPA
REPA is an initiative by the Swedish business sector to meet the producers' responsibilities for packaging made of plastic, metal, paper and cardboard. ESSVE is a member of REPA and therefore has access to the nationwide recycling system for packaging. In this way, we meet our producer responsibility.
You can see ESSVE’s certificate by clicking on this link,
Recycling of electrical goods
All companies that sell electrical or electronic products or batteries have a responsibility for collection and reprocessing of these products when they end their useful life.
ESSVE is certified by Elretur and takes its responsibility as a producer of electrical waste. You can see ESSVE’s certificate by clicking on this link, Elretur.
For more information about ESSVE’s environmental work or if you have any related questions please contact Stefan Gustavsson, Environmental Manager at ESSVE, +46 (0)8 623 6125, +46 (0)70 699 0191 or by email stefan.gustavsson@essve.se