Practicing what we preach: taking environmental responsibility seriously

Environmental responsibility is not just about empty words on our website, but we take it seriously, and we constantly seek to enhance the sustainability of our business in its every meaning. Juho Mäkinen, the development manager at Tasowheel, sheds light on the concrete ways in which Tasowheel has improved its eco-friendliness and eco-efficiency in its operations.

During last few years, we have taken some remarkable leaps in energy-savings in our premises. The latest took place in spring 2022, when a large renovation of the ventilation system was finalized in the machining hall. The renovation was done to improve the energy efficiency, and thus enable notable energy savings for the company. Whereas earlier the warm air released from the old ventilation system was lost up into the air, the new system is able to recover it. The warm air is now used in heating the premises, which has halved the consumption of district heating compared with the previous year. In addition, in the summertime, it is also possible to cool the hall’s temperature, which not only adds up the working conditions in it, but also facilitates the production of dimensionally accurate products.

Another large, individual investment in environmental responsibility at Tasowheel is the renewal of the compressor unit in the machining hall, which has significantly affected electricity consumption and savings. Previously, when the compressor produced pressured air, also a lot of waste heat followed as a side effect. However, nowadays, thanks to the new compressor unit, the waste heat is now utilized to heat the premises. In addition, all the lights in the machining hall have been changed into new, energy efficient lamps, which decreases the use of electricity every day.

Third, recycling is an important issue at Tasowheel, and we do it as much as possible. In our processes, quite a lot of metal waste is produced, and we recycle it all by selling it to our partners, who melt it for reuse. This is naturally reasonable for both ecological and economic reasons.

Finally, we also encourage our employees to save energy and act in an environment-friendly way. For example, we provide charging for electric cars on our parking lot. Through bike benefit, we also encourage employees to choose bike or e-bike instead of a car when arriving to the workplace, meaning that they can acquire a bicycle, a regular or an electric one, more affordably than usual.

Many employees take the advantage of the bike benefit and cycle their way to work . For some, this totals up to 30 km of riding daily.

To properly engage ourselves in aiming for better future for both the environment and the society, we are attending two different programs. One of these programs is the Finnish Motiva, and the other is called EcoVadis. The latter is a sustainability rating program, in which we have recently reached the silver stage. Motiva then again provides businesses and other actors with information, solutions and services that allow to make resource-efficient, effective, and sustainable choices. For Motiva, we report our energy consumption regularly, which encourages us to operate in the most sustainable way possible. By attending such voluntary programs, we sincerely want to improve the sustainability and responsibility of our business, and also to encourage other actors on the field to do the same.