For Nature’s Sake, We Protect the Environment
The only way to accomplish great things is for everyone to pull on the same rope. And one of the biggest and most urgent challenges now facing humanity is that of actively protecting the environment. Our everyday efforts to do so therefore always involve cooperation amongst all of our employees, who are thoroughly informed, trained and educated about environmental matters. By practicing this “management for the earth”, we sharpen the environmental awareness of the SWISS KRONO teams. Our environmental management practices focus on eco-efficiency, which is defined as one of our corporate goals.
Every product that leaves one of our plants has to have an excellent price/performance ratio and exhibit a high level of environmental compatibility. This starts with the exclusive use of legal, certified raw materials from sustainably managed forests, continues with rigorously monitored production and is ensured throughout the product’s entire service life, ultimately culminating in its eco-friendly disposal.
Preservation of Fragile Ecosystems
All of the world’s ecosystems are based on sensitive cycles. In order to preserve these natural processes, we stress sustainable production using certified raw materials. Another important aspect is that the carbon contained in wood, a natural raw material, is also entrapped in our products. As a result, less carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere, something that only happens when wood burns or rots. This reduction in CO2 emissions helps protect the environment and translates into healthier living for everyone.
Environment, Energy & Sustainability
Due to our leading role in the engineered wood industry, we feel a special responsibility to protect the environment. We are therefore committed to preventing environmental burdens and continuing to improve the environmental compatibility of our manufacturing activities. We endeavour to minimise consumption of raw materials, water and energy, we take advantage of wastewater, energy and thermal cycles and we burn production scrap to minimise our dependency on fossil fuels.
In accordance with our energy policy, we make available the information and necessary resources for achieving our objectives and targets and we continually improve energy performance. Our investments to safeguard the environment also generate considerable economic benefits for us, thus helping to secure jobs and our company’s future.
Wood Purchases
SWISS KRONO support sustainable silviculture by using wood from thinning sustainably managed forests (ie the selective removal of trees to improve the growth or health of the remaining trees). We have also committed ourselves to doing our very best to avoid trade in and procurement of wood from inacceptable sources.
These include, in particular, illegally harvested wood, wood harvested in violation of traditional or civil rights, wood harvested in forests where High Conservation Values (areas particularly worthy of protection) are threatened by management activities, wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use and wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.
Product Transparency
We demonstrate our commitment to environmental protection by complying with globally valid standards. So that our customers can readily compare our lifecycle analyses and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) with those of other materials, we have made a commitment to total product transparency. Environmental balance sheets on products are only truly informative if they can be objectively compared. Via EPDs, we openly and voluntarily communicate the environmental footprints of our engineered wood products.
The most important facts on EPDs:
- An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD®) is an internationally acknowledged and accepted eco-label that complies with the international ISO 14025 standard (Type III Environmental Declarations).
- Our EPDs are issued by the German Institute for Construction and Environment (Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.), which developed them in close cooperation with the German building and environmental authorities while following the internationally standardisation process.
We have also received certification for our energy management system (in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001). You’ll find this and many other certificates in our download section under Services/Downloads/Certificates
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