Sustainable
Immediate action for
urgent challenges
“We can do so much to tackle the climate crisis, and that work has to start now. That’s why carbon emissions reduction, recycling and access to clean water and sanitation are at the top of
our agenda by 2025.”
Eric Olsen, CEO
Sustainability is a vital part of our Growth with Purpose strategy for two very good reasons.
Operating sustainably is a business imperative to ensure our continued growth and to remain competitive in our industry, meeting the needs and expectations of all our stakeholders: our customers, employees, shareholders and decision makers.
It will also enable us to take a leading role in tackling the urgent environmental and social issues our planet faces – a role we are determined to play.
Action now
For many businesses, addressing the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges and especially responding to the climate crisis, the focus is on delivering longer-term sustainability goals to transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with the Paris Climate Accord as precedent.
That is a journey we are on too and we want to lead the way in our industry in reaching that goal.
Our Growth with Purpose strategy is specifically focused on the many actions we can take by 2025 to affect these changes, and we are convinced we can begin to have a profound impact in that time.
Achieving real change
As a global leader in making and supplying fluid management solutions, ensuring people across the world have access to clean water and sanitation, we can bring about real change.
At a time when 800 million people are denied access to clean water, and over two billion live without sanitation, this is already a crisis requiring strong action.
We are committed to being a major player in finding sustainable solutions, encouraging all our companies to turn innovative product ideas into reality, at pace.
Our new division, Aliaxis Next, launched early 2022, will also play a critical role in exploring new sustainable ideas in adjacent markets and technologies, through acquisitions, and by taking stakes in and incubating promising new start-ups.
Finally, it means ensuring we continuously improve the way we work and look for ways to make our operations more sustainable. At Aliaxis, we share the sense of urgency to take action to avoid the most significant impacts of climate change on human and planetary health, by taking immediate actions that have real impact in the short term.
Key figures
100% renewable electricity
Already achieved in New Zealand, Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, with the whole business transitioning by 2025.
Fact
In Spain, we’ve cut the number of different cardboard boxes we use for packaging from 112 to 31.
With packaging, it’s a case of Less is More
Aliaxis Spain has successfully implemented a new approach to cardboard packaging, reducing operational complexity and boosting sustainability.
The teams working on the “Less is More” project have reduced the number of different boxes we use by almost three quarters with zero capital expenditure. Moreover, a new design is now used for 16 different boxes, which account for 80% of Aliaxis Spain’s total product volume.
It’s a quick but important win and a great example of the continuous improvements to reduce or eliminate packaging we are looking for on our “drive to excellence” journey.
Access to water and sanitation – how Aliaxis Next can help
Our newly created Aliaxis Next division – launched to build new activities in adjacent businesses – has its sights fully set on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’.
Our newly created Aliaxis Next division – launched to build new activities in adjacent businesses – has its sights fully set on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’. Urgent water challenges our teams will be focusing on include preventing water being lost from networks through leaks (Resilient Infrastructure), finding new and innovative ways to make sure everyone has access to clean and drinkable water in their homes (Access to Water), smarter ways of managing water in buildings and industries, by reducing consumption and re-using water (Sustainable Water Management), and more efficient water usage in food production (Water for Food). That way, we will have a direct and significant impact on people’s access to water and sanitation, together with and via our customers.
Making a clean sweep of pellet loss
We are participating in an important industry-wide initiative called Operation Clean Sweep to control the loss of plastic powder and pellets from resin handling operations.
Operation Clean Sweep, which we rolled out in Europe in 2020 and across the rest of our operations in 2021, aims to achieve zero pellet, flake or powder loss.
Closing the sustainability loop
We aim to use four times more recycled content in our products by 2025, with a target to reach 50% of the maximum recycled content allowed under current standards.
The new StormFLO storm water drainage system developed by Vinidex in Australia is a great example of how innovation and sustainability go hand in hand.
Made with recycled polyethylene, StormFLO has been developed for use both in the infrastructure and agricultural sectors. It is also fully recyclable, marking an important advance in our vision to close the recycling and sustainability loop.
Welcoming more women to our factories
In Latin America, we’re working with leading women’s organisations and taking action on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) to attract talent and boost the number of women in our plants.
A new DE&I policy has been drawn up for the region, backed by a mentoring scheme and practical actions in individual locations. This, for example, includes creating female bathrooms and changing rooms in our manufacturing plant in Chile, as we get ready to bring 50 women on to the site in 2022.
Sustainability targets
75%
Reducing our CO2 emissions by 75% per ton of production, by transitioning to 100% renewable electricity across Aliaxis.
4x
Using four times more recycled content in our products to reach 50% of what is allowed under current standards.
Access
Finding innovative ways to manage resources, focusing on access to clean water and sanitation and water preservation.
Spain develops ECO waste outlets and traps
In under a year, colleagues in Spain have devised, developed, and brought to market waste outlets and traps for wash basins made from recycled polypropylene, products that we estimate will produce 30% less CO2 compared to traditional plastics.
The new outlets and traps, packed in our new ECOLine range of FSC-certified packaging, are a great example of the sort of high-speed innovation that we need to support a more sustainable business.
Getting hydrogen ready
As the transition to renewable sources of energy accelerates, Aliaxis is preparing to play an important role in green hydrogen. Our German FRIALEN products, traditionally used in pressurised mixed gas and water supply systems, have been awarded the “H2-ready-100” rating, meaning they are suitable to deliver 100% pure hydrogen fuel through gas networks.
Alert Channel – reporting unethical behaviour in confidence
The trust our stakeholders place in us depends on us being firmly committed to operating with integrity.
We have launched a Global Alert Channel, as part of a new whistleblowing policy, allowing colleagues to speak up, in confidence, if they would witness violations of laws, regulations or Group policies or are concerned about unethical behaviour.
