We work sustainably

Sustainability has a central place in our operations. It is also an integral part of our daily work. For Benders, it is important that our sustainability initiatives are wide ranging. We have thus chosen to address the areas of social, ecological and economic sustainability.

Social sustainability concerns the conditions affecting human life. Embracing all aspects of equality in communities, it covers people having good lives and there being no unjust differences. People must have not only the opportunities to develop and assimilate knowledge, but also the conditions to enjoy good health.

Ecological sustainability is often described as setting the framework or laying the foundations for the other two areas of sustainability (social and economic). It centres on the Earth’s ecosystems and the long-term preservation of desirable functions such as food and energy production, water provision, etc.

Economic development is a means of achieving ecological and social sustainability without affecting them negatively.

Our view of long-term sustainability manifests itself in many ways. To give just a few examples: extraction of raw materials and production as near as possible to end consumers; a focus on safe and comfortable work environments; multimillion investments in ecofriendly logistics solutions; and, reinvestment of profits. On these pages, you can read more about what sustainability means to us and about our goals and initiatives.

Ecological sustainability

Economic sustainability

Social sustainability

Documents

Documents on our sustainability initiatives can be downloaded here.

Sustainability milestones

  • 1960: First roof tile machine bought

    First roof tile machine bought. Production of concrete roof tiles starts in Edsvära in Västergötland.

  • 1999: First roof tile manufacturer in Sweden to achieve environmental certification

    Benders becomes the first Swedish roof tile factory to gain ISO 14001 environmental certification.

  • 2003: Green Cargo

    Together with Green Cargo, work starts on a logistics solution with trains in Bålsta.

  • 2008: Crushed rock instead of natural gravel

    Crushed material is introduced to reduce use of natural gravel.

  • 2010: Own trainload service and Schenker Logistics Award

    For its trainload service and innovation using a unique container solution, Benders wins the Schenker Logistics Award for ecofriendly transport. The trainload service runs between the Bålsta production facility and Kongsvinger, the location of a central warehouse for the Norwegian market.

  • 2011: Star for Life

    Benders becomes a proud sponsor of Star for Life and supports a school in South Africa.

  • 2012: Our train investment is presented in Brussels

    As an element in inspiring other companies to use EU support to implement major change projects, our train investment is presented to the EU Commission in Brussels.

  • 2013: First own ship cargo (granite products) to Uddevalla

    Benders’ first own ship cargo. Arriving at Uddevalla, a cargo ship from China is unloaded onto Benders’ own train and the goods transported to Bålsta.

  • 2014. Increased focus on work environment and safety

    Benders increases its focus on systematic work environment management and health and safety initiatives. This includes investment in internal courses and allocation of resources.

  • 2015: 80-tonne Volvo lorry

    With, amongst others, Volvo and the Swedish Transport Agency, there is a project involving a new lorry weighing, in total, 80 rather than 60 tonnes. This means fewer runs carrying aggregate from Hjo to Edsvära. A 74-tonne lorry is also given authorisation to transport products between Benders various warehouses.

  • 2018: Benders initiates its investment in solar cells

    Via a number of collaborations, Benders initiates its investment in solar cells. Three different types of solar cell solutions are launched and sales commence.

  • 2018: We start the work of replacing our oil-fired boilers with a wood pellet system

    Our Strängnäs factory was the first to make the switch. It was followed by Åstorp and Edsvära.

  • 2019: Coming online of Uddevalla solar cell wall

    Coming online of one of northern Europe’s largest vertical solar cell walls (260 MWh) at our Uddevalla factory.

  • 2020: Electric forklifts

    Start of a pilot project to replace diesel forklifts with electric at warehouse yards.

Sights set on fossil-free operations

As an element in our sustainability initiatives, we are putting great effort into attempting to reduce the fossil-fuel footprint of our operations. This is one of the group’s overall environmental goals.

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Carbonatation

Roof tiles have the optimal shape and location for carbonatation to have maximum effect. Because roof tiles are so thin and are in contact with air on all sides, carbonatation takes place throughout the concrete. Consequently, each roof tile becomes fully carbonatated in its service life. For a roof tile, this equates to around 50% of the emissions generated in making the cement for said tile.

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Sustainable train transport for the Kiruna project

In a spring 2021 development and expansion project, the city of Kiruna launched a public procurement for paving stones. One of the procurement’s requirements was that products should be delivered by train. As Benders has long been developing its own train solutions and has a collaboration with Green Cargo, this was a requirement that suited us well. We were awarded the contract.

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Benders Sustainability work in numbers

4350

Transporting products and raw materials by train rather than by lorry has reduced negative environmental impact by 4,350 tonnes of CO2 a year. This equates to around 5,760 lorries.

1,000 tonnes

From fossil fuels to pellets. The Benders group is taking part in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leap initiative. This aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden. At our Edsvära and Åstorp factories, we have switched heating systems from oil to pellets. As a result, our carbon dioxide emissions have reduced by 1,000 tonnes a year.

50%

Today, a good 50% of all our aggregate is crushed material rather than natural gravel. Intense effort in reducing natural gravel quantities has led, over three years, to a doubling in crushed aggregate. Our work here continues.

2,200 m²

At our Uddevalla factory, an 11-metre high, 2,200 m² solar energy wall has been installed. It has a southerly aspect. The solar panels, which are partly of the same thin-film type used in our Bender SunWave product, account for around 14% of the factory’s electricity consumption. Annually, this equates to 5 homes with direct electric heating or 355,000 refrigerators.

100%

Over the past 10 years, Benders has ploughed back into its operations virtually the equivalent of the entire group’s profits in the same period.

50%

Throughout its service life, the concrete in roof tiles takes up CO2 from the air and stores it permanently. This is called carbonatation. For a roof tile, this equates to around 50% of the emissions generated in making the cement for said tile.

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