Sustainability moves on up the priority list

SOURCE: Mycronic Blog

 

Kristina Svanteson, Sustainability Manager, Mycronic

For years, the electronics industry has gotten something of a “green pass” on the topic of sustainability. Digital transformation, new electronic devices and services were praised as the path to efficient, eco-friendly work patterns, particularly during the pandemic. This is now changing, Mycronic experts say.

“The shift to sustainability and circular production is more than just a trend, it’s one of the most important priorities of our times,” says Kristina Svanteson, Sustainability Manager. “We believe that sustainable business is good business – it’s a delicate balance of meeting our own needs without jeopardizing future generations’ ability to do the same.”

Evolving priorities

According to Kristina, electronics producers or suppliers of manufacturing equipment have traditionally focused on speed, quality, productivity and driving down costs. Today we are seeing a growing recognition in the industry of the need to become more sustainable,” she says.

Staying ahead of the trend

“Many of our larger customers are under pressure to not only follow responsible work practices, but to report how they minimize their carbon footprints, improve recycling and use eco-friendly materials. This is also becoming increasingly important to their owners and investors. Instead of just reacting to this trend, we saw an opportunity to stay ahead of it – for ourselves and to help our customers achieve their goals.

Sustainability Strategy for 2030

Mycronic established a Sustainability Strategy for 2030. A key starting point was the decision to support the UN Global Compact, with its ten principles relating to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. With this as a guide, long-term goals were set in three key areas: innovation for sustainability, future engineers through diversity, and climate impact.

Halving CO2 emissions

“To cite one example, within our own operations we aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 percent through 2030. As a next step, we will set Science Based Targets. At a Group level, we’ve also established an Innovation Fund for sustainability to finance innovative projects in our industry that have clear environmental or social benefits. Activities conducted to reach our goals are clearly laid out in our Annual and Sustainability report (pdf, new window).”

Looking ahead, Kristina Svanteson believes that all equipment manufacturers will need to increase their efforts to contribute to a clean, responsible and profitable electronics industry.