At Herrmans Bike Components, the goal is a sustainable product portfolio
European cities are increasingly investing in cycling infrastructure in a move towards greener cities. Simultaneously, electric bikes have stepped in as serious commuting alternatives to cars. The cycling industry is in its essence sustainable and it is now booming – great news for the environment and for high-quality parts manufacturer Herrmans Bike Components.
“The e-bike is an enabler for greener societies, and the prerequisites for how to sustainably manufacture an e-bike are already here. Our products connect sustainable materials to a broad range of bike components, in a very interesting position in this development”, says Dan Liljeqvist, CEO of Herrmans.
Herrmans sees sustainability as a holistic endeavour, which is anchored throughout the organisation and equally focused on people, planet and profit. Concentrating on one aspect leads to improvements, but working on all three is key.
“We are very pragmatic and measure the CO2 emissions of our business with transparency. We are proud to be only one small step away from reaching carbon neutral operations for our manufacturing plant in Jakobstad during 2023. We aim to be entirely carbon neutral by 2035, and by focusing on our raw materials, we can make the greatest future impact since the majority of the remaining emissions come from the value chain”, explains Sari Noromies, Operational Excellence & Sustainability Developer.
At Herrmans, every product’s lifecycle is being mapped and products are designed to be repaired – not discarded – after long use. The company has been replacing raw materials with more sustainable alternatives, using biobased and recycled materials for some of the products. Purchaser Elina Högkulla leads a project to increase the internal recycling of materials used in the production:
“We are investigating which existing raw materials can be recycled inhouse by grinding more types of scrap material into reusable raw material. Thorough testing is needed to be able to offer more environmentally friendly products with the same quality and characteristics. The main goal is to be more sustainable by replacing and recycling raw material and minimising the waste we produce.“
