Consumers are fully aware of companies deliberately reducing the useful life of products through planned or built-in obsolescence, along with its negative impact on the environment.

Extending the lifetime and durablility of products is essential to optimise the use of resources and minimise waste generation, which are the principles of a circular economy.

In the food industry, raw materials account for about 45 % of net sales. The cost of purchasing goods sold in the grocery trade is more than 70 % of turnover. Therefore, measures to improve material efficiency are a major competitive factor enabling a company to achieve significant savings. In small and medium-sized food companies, the typical savings potential found in material audits is on average € 600 000 per company and year.

Making the most of a heated situation

• Finnish sawmill company improved its energy efficiency by 22 %
• Major savings were achieved by investing in new continuous drying kilns and related heat recovery and control systems

Versowood is a Finnish timber and wood products company. Among its production facilities, it has four saws for processing raw material. These saws produce around 1.35 million cubic metres of timber which needs to be dried onsite.

Compressed air plays a major part in many industries and almost 13 % of all the industry-related electricity consumption goes towards generating compressed air. Traditional compressors use oil and even the standard 'oil-free-dry-screw' compressor technology needs some oil for lubrication. Finnish company Tamturbo has developed new completely oil-less compressors which are based on active magnetic bearings. As the rotating parts are levitating there is no need for oiling and parts don’t wear out.

Combustion needs fuel, ignition, and oxygen. Normal air contains only 21 % oxygen and most of the rest is nitrogen which is only ballast and has no part in combustion. Using pure oxygen increases combustion efficiency significantly as there is no ballast to be heated up. This method has traditionally been used for smelting, but since the 1990s it has also been available for (re)heating furnaces. AGA which is part of the Linde Group has developed the technology and sells both new installations and refitted furnaces.

Not a single bone to waste...

• Food-processing company introduces ambitious zero food-waste programme in its fish production
• Company has also emphasised ecological packaging and managed to reduce plastic waste and carbon emissions in its procurement practices

Kalavapriikki Oy is a manufacturer of fish, meat, fruit and vegetable products. It is part of the Finnish Heino wholesale concern. Fish production has been the company’s core activity and it is recognised for its high-quality produce.

Smart systems to control energy 

Compact results

• City market identifies a high percentage of unrecycled plastic
• The results encouraged the store to invest in a compactor for plastic waste 
• In four months, several tonnes of plastic bales were generated, boosting recycling significantly

K-Citymarket Easton is a large grocery store in eastern Helsinki and belongs to the Finnish retailing conglomerate Kesko Oyj. The company is keen to promote sustainable development and encourages other sellers to follow its leads on plastic recycling.

From the industrial to the modern age...

• Residential buildings with passive energy standard are built on an abandoned industrial site
• The complex was built with natural construction materials offering good thermal performance and high indoor comfort
• Buildings are designed according to the natural sun cycle using solar energy in several forms

Case di Luce in Italy consists of three sustainable passive energy premises built on an abandoned industrial site. It is an example of innovative and energy-efficient construction.

Setting the example