Toward a more sustainable future
Awareness and pressure for sustainability have increased. The requirement for corporate responsibility has reached a level where it can influence customers’ procurement decisions. A responsible company considers all aspects relevant to legislation and well-being in its operations.
ITA Nordic, specialized in manufacturing precision machined parts and demanding assemblies, has operated responsibly for a long time. Environmental responsibility and social responsibility are taken into account in everyday operations.
The electricity used by ITA Nordic is carbon-neutral.
Environmental legislation has significantly tightened over the past few decades, also affecting industrial environmental protection measures. The development of production methods, efficient recycling of waste, and the use of renewable energy sources have increased, receiving even more attention.
The goal of renewable energy is to reduce the use of fossil fuels in industrial energy systems. ITA Nordic uses about 2.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. All this electricity is carbon-neutral.
– All our locations use carbon-neutral electricity. In the spring of 2022, the Puntala unit completely abandoned the use of natural gas and converted the heating system to use an electrically operated air-to-water heat pump. With this change, gas consumption decreased by 260 MWh, which means a reduction of 52 tons in CO22 emissions, says ITA Nordic CEO Tommi Laakso.
– In addition, we have significantly enhanced heat recovery. In production, machining machines themselves produce a huge amount of waste heat into the hall. With the newly updated heat recovery system in 2023, we have been able to significantly improve the utilization of this thermal energy for heating the building and hot water, which in turn has significantly reduced the energy consumption for heating, Laakso continues.
In addition to Puntala, the emissions of the Närpes and Kuru units are also at a low level. Both units are connected to district heating networks, where wood chips are used for energy production. Wood chips are classified as renewable, so their emissions are zero.
Carbon footprint helps to understand the magnitude of emissions
Improvements in energy production can affect a company’s carbon dioxide emissions. With all its operations, ITA Nordic aims to influence its own carbon footprint. For example, material procurement and new investments have had an impact on reducing the carbon footprint. The figures are good because ITA Nordic’s emissions are only 30% of the average emissions of the members of Technology Industries in a survey conducted. ITA Nordic’s emissions per employee are 1.6 tCO₂e per person and per million euros of turnover are 7.5 tCO₂e (excluding mining and metal refining). (Source: Carbon footprint survey of Technology Industries’ members, Technology Industries, 2023)
We favor local sourcing in material procurement
ITA Nordic prefers in material procurement local sourcing, which has a significant impact on the carbon footprint. We have a close cooperation with the Ovako steel plant located in Imatra, from which we annually receive about 3000 tons of carbon-neutral steel to be processed. Sometimes customers have supplier preferences or requirements, and in such cases, ITA Nordic sources materials from responsible partners in Europe.
– Our starting point is to obtain all the raw material we can from the Ovako plant. When the raw material is then processed into finished products, a significant amount of steel scrap is generated as a by-product of the process, which is recycled back to Ovako as raw material for new steel. Thanks to local sourcing, the carbon footprint has been minimized, says Laakso. In addition to steel scrap, all locations have been efficiently sorting other recyclable waste for many years.
Employee well-being and community impact
In workplaces, responsibility includes not only environmental aspects but also employee well-being and occupational safety. Particularly in industrial sectors, an important safety culture is at a high level in ITA Nordic. We ensure cleanliness of work environments and modernity of tools to make work as pleasant and safe as possible. Comprehensive induction is given, both at a general level and in detail for specific tasks.
– Safety is a top priority for us, and we are nationally at a significantly better level than the general average. We have comprehensive safety procedures, and we particularly invest in induction and continuous monitoring. Accidents happen very rarely, and we use a preventive system to monitor so-called ‘near-misses’, situations where a work accident was narrowly avoided, says Laakso.
– In the system, employees report situations where there was a possibility of a work accident. These ‘near-miss’ situations are reviewed among production supervisors and any necessary changes in procedures are considered. Additionally, these situations are reviewed every two weeks with the entire staff. The approach is systematic and proven to be effective – we have achieved a very low accident rate, Laakso continues.
Sustainable ways of production and operation will continue into the future
Through new technologies and solutions, more sustainable ways of production and operation can be found. Therefore, responsible action includes continuous development of operations and production methods. By developing manufacturing methods and making investments the manufacturing time and efficiency can be influenced, thereby affecting the amount of energy used. Even small choices have a significant impact on the overall picture.
Production methods, material procurement, recycling, and employee well-being are essential parts of the company’s path to sustainability. ITA Nordic is already on the right track and will continue its development into the future!