Camilla is leading BEWI’s change to a circular economy.
With a background in academia and a Master's in Industrial Ecology and a Doctor's degree in plastic use with a focus on collecting and recycling, Camilla is already leading the change. And it’s speeding up.It’s been almost a year and a half since Camilla joined BEWI.
When she tells me, she can’t quite believe it hasn’t been longer. And as you’ll see, it’s easy to understand her reaction. Because a lot has happened since she took on the role as BEWI’s first Sustainability Director. The most significant change is the creation of our sustainability strategy. It’s a milestone for the company and it has already led to important steps towards circularity.
With a background in academia and a Master’s in Industrial Ecology and a Doctor’s degree in plastic use with a focus on collecting and recycling, Camilla is already leading the change. And it’s speeding up.
What else are we already doing to become more sustainable?
– We continuously talk with our suppliers to find ways to deliver more environmentally products and services. One good example is our suppliers of styrene, which is the raw material for many of our products. By requesting information about their climate impact, we are in a position to choose to buy the styrene with the lowest environmental impact, lowering the CO2 emissions in our value chain but also increasing the demand for styrene with a lower CO2 footprint.
We’re also looking at how we can develop products that can be reused several times. Our focus is on reuse, to make things that aren’t single-use and that can be recycled and reused over and over again. That’s where we can make the biggest difference.
What will we report on in the annual report?
–Our materiality assessment defined what we will report on, which is; circular economy, climate change, supply chain, health and safety and employee wellbeing. We are for the first time using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard which defines what we as a company have to report on.
What are BEWI’s main achievements over the past year?
– That BEWI is 33% circular in our annual output of hight turnover products. This is a big achievement and shows we’re making progress. We tripled our collecting capacity by going from 5 049 tonnes to 18 868 tonnes. Our business unit Sweden reached 68% renewable energy for its operation. W’re very pleased with this and these milestones show the strength of our sustainability strategy. We’re just getting started.
Thank you so much Camilla! Just one last question, what does Leading the change mean to you?
– To be bold and push on. We should take a risk and believe in that circularity is the solution. We have to lead the way and break new ground, even if it isn’t always profitable. It’s also important to be open and invite others to cooperate with us, because circularity can’t be achieved on our own. To sum up, we need to continue to do what BEWI has always done – to take a risk and be bold. That makes us a leader, it shows others the way.