Concern for the environment pays off

Lock manufacturing and marketing is not the most hazardous business from an environmental point of view. Nonetheless environmental issues are becoming increasingly important, and there remains significant room for improvement.

Some years ago the ASSA ABLOY Group Management instituted an environmental strategy based on the iso 14001 Standard. The Group companies devote considerable effort to identifying and realizing environmental improvements, and the majority already work in accordance with the strategy. The Nordic companies, led by Abloy and Assa, are some of the most advanced. Both are among the increasing number of companies with an iso 14001 certificate. Their efforts to protect the environment include dealing with most of the possible hazards or environmental loads from the workshop, for example by energy conservation and waste water treatment.

Initiatives also cover packaging, delivery, recycling of used products, and supporting the distributors in their environmental efforts.

Driven by ethics – and self-interest
Ethics, one of the four cornerstones of ASSA ABLOY’S management philosophy, is also one of the most important drivers of the Group’s environmental work.

There are several other drivers, including economy and customers’ expectations. Over the years ASSA ABLOY has found that environmental work often has a direct positive impact on the bottom line. Avoiding waste and recycling materials often results in lower costs, additional income and/or increased efficiency. In general the companies’ own ambitions are considerably higher than the legal requirements.

Identifying opportunities
The basis for all the Group’s environmental work is measurement – of energy used, losses of materials and chemicals, water usage, and waste water disposed of. Tracking these parameters enables major opportunities for improvement to be identified, and annual programs and budgets to be set up to accomplish the improvements. Many ASSA ABLOY factories have already done this for some years, but some of the new companies in the Group have just started.

Room for improvement
What can be done to further improve environmental compliance in an already relatively clean industry like the lock industry?

Water is used for cleaning and cooling in many manufacturing processes. Contaminated water can be purified and recycled, saving both costs and load on the environment. Similarly, the various coolants used in the metalworking machines can be cleaned and recycled with modern technology. Energy is used to heat plants, and also for the machines and processes. Many savings can be found, for example by using heat-exchangers to conserve thermal energy.

In metalworking also, a lot of scrap metal is created during stamping or milling. This waste has a scrap value and can be collected and returned for melting into useful material again. Surface treatments for lock products involve various metal coatings as well as colors with water or other base. There is a consistent movement towards more water-based or powder colors, using less-hazardous chemicals. These processes are also more material-efficient and hence more cost-effective.

Choice of packaging materials is another way to make an environmental contribution, by choosing recyclable or even already recycled material for the packaging. The limit here is illustrated by Abloy in Finland, who already reclaim and recycle the whole product when used.

The lock factory of Group company Guli Security Products in China is considered to be one of the leaders in environmental protection in the country’s metal industry, and its policy includes extensive measurement of environmental factors and regular reviews. It also includes taking good care of the health and safety of the employees.

Environmental concern can also be exercised during the development and design of new products, not only by choosing appropriate manufacturing methods and distribution processes, but also in the choice of materials, coatings and finishes.

Can the waste water from a lock factory be converted back to pure water? Lockwood Security Products in Australia has proved that it can. In August 2002 Lockwood opened its waste water treatment plant in Oakleigh. Here waste streams from the electroplating rinse tanks are treated, heavy metals recovered and the water purified for recycling to the electroplating process. The plant was the first step in the Facility Optimization Audit, a cooperative venture between Lockwood and Honeywell.