To ensure their contribution to reducing climate change and negative environmental impact, Seco Tools launched the Green Investment Fund in 2012. Since then, the Green Fund has supported the investment of a diversity of sustainable projects which have reduced the environmental impact of the company’s operations.
In 2022, 10 MSEK has been dedicated to funding the long-term company goals, specifically reducing the company’s climate impact by more than 50 percent and reaching 90 percent circularity by 2030.
“The Green Fund is an important asset for Seco to invest in sustainable projects and has been ongoing for over 10 years now,” said Shaelyn Meyers, sustainability specialist at Seco Tools. “It enables sites to drive green investment which they previously would not be able to prioritize because of traditional investment factors”
Solar projects aim to decrease the climate impact through minimizing reliance on the electrical grid and increasing renewable energy production. The Green Fund has supported solar projects ranging from an off-grid solar installation in South Africa to solar installation in the U.K. and India sales units.
Another way for Seco to reduce their company’s climate impact is taking advantage of the waste heat from their production processes. The Green Fund has supported sustainability projects which increase the heat recovery systems and therefore promote circularity.
At the head office site in Fagersta, the heat recovery system will be expanded through air compressors to supply heating to the site and expected district heating will no longer need to be purchased. The site’s footprint, measured in CO2 emissions, is estimated to drop by 28 percent.
Seco Tools plans to increase their waste circularity and decrease the environmental impact of sending waste to landfills. The Green Fund has allocated funding to other projects such as composters at their U.K. site and funding a sustainable infrastructure within all sites to help sort waste for recycling.