Conscious material choices reduced emissions equivalent to 5000 cars

Our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint continue to pay off. Between 2022 and 2023, our CO2 savings are comparable to the annual emissions of 5000 cars in the EU. In addition to reducing average emissions, Polykemi and Rondo Plast are also making investments to strengthen the production of recycled plastic materials.

Reduced average emission per ton of granules

Polykemi and Rondo Plast, with our joint product mix of compounds based on virgin and recycled raw materials, have helped our customers save a total of 7,450 tons of CO2-e in 2023. This is a figure equivalent to the emissions of around 5000 cars in the EU for a whole year.

"If we compare in average emissions per produced ton between 2022 and 2023, we have saved 4,850 tons of CO2-e at our plant in Ystad, and 2,600 tons of CO2-e in Kunshan in China," says Henrik Palokangas, sustainability specialist at Polykemi.

And even better projections are expected for this year.

"Since June 2023, we have been using certified renewable energy in both our plants in China; Kunshan and Chongqing, which we will see effects of already now in 2024 when we recalculate our LCA," says Henrik Palokangas.

At our production site in Kunshan, China, average emissions were reduced by 11.4% from 2022 to 2023.

60-80% of environmental impact is linked to material choices

A major reason for this large climate saving is conscious material choice. The majority of a produced component's environmental impact can be traced back to the raw material it is made of. This means great opportunities to improve our impact when choosing materials, which was the basis for the creation of the Materialsmart concept that gives our customers the opportunity to evaluate different material choices with the aim of reducing emissions.

"We can safely say that the savings shown by the business are an effect of the work within the framework of Materialsmart," says Henrik Palokangas.

Investing to increase production of recycled materials

To further reduce emissions and utilize the potential of recycled materials even more, Rondo Plast has made significant investments in the form of a new plastic compactor and cutting machine.

The plastic compactor has a capacity of 4,000 tons of material per year and handles industrial waste from for example fiber, rope, non-woven, plastic film, labels, dust and chips. The cutting machine handles longer or tangled pieces of fiber and rope.

"The compactor gives us a completely new production technology that allows us to handle a significantly wider range of materials, which we were unable to process before," says Patrik Lindqvist, strategic buyer at Rondo Plast.

The new compactor enables the handling of completely new types of industrial waste.

The conveyor belt takes the material to the mill and then to the compacting section.

More investments are coming

The next step to increase our production of materials based on recycled raw material is to further strengthen our raw material preparation and upgrading capabilities. A major investment in new technical equipment will include improved filtration to remove small contaminants from, for example, paper or gravel, and improved odor reduction. This will enable even wider sourcing of raw materials.

"We see the impact our customers can achieve and we see that the demand for high quality recycled material is increasing. It is a trend we look forward to meeting together with our customers, and there are definitely plans for similar investments in the future," says Gustav Hugoson, sales representative at Polykemi and Rondo Plast.

See you at Elmia Polymer!

Let us show you what an active material choice can do for your product. Meet us at stand C02:12 at Elmia Polymer, May 14-17!