Orthex Sustainability Report 2024 published: Promoting circular economy
Orthex Corporation, Press release, 27 March 2025 at 9.30 a.m. EET
Orthex Annual and Sustainability Report 2024 has been published. Orthex continued its systematic work in all the key areas of sustainability, and the efforts in promoting circular economy, increasing the use of recycled raw materials, and enhancing resource efficiency mark important steps on our road towards carbon neutral production.
Orthex aims to be the industry forerunner in sustainability and our key sustainability actions in 2024 include:
- Increased use of sustainable materials: The share of recycled and renewable materials used in our products increased to 16.6% (2023: 15.8).
- Resource efficiency: Continued improvements in energy efficiency, with energy consumption per kilogram of product decreasing by 9.5% compared to the 2020 average. We use EPD certified renewable hydropower electricity in all our factories.
- Employee satisfaction: The Engagement Index, reflecting employee satisfaction, improved to 81 on a scale from 1 to 100 (2023: 79).
- SMETA audits: Orthex’s commitment to ethical business practices and sustainability was reaffirmed through successful SMETA audits conducted at the Tingsryd and Lohja factories.
- Circular Economy Green Deal: Orthex joined the Circular Economy Green Deal and set ambitious targets to promote a low-carbon circular economy by 2035.
In 2024, we extended our product portfolio made from durable recycled plastic with three novelties, SmartStoreTM Essence storage baskets, SmartStore™ Collect Biowaste bins, and stackable SmartStore™ Collect Stack-it sorting bins. Partly thanks to these novelties, the growth in sales of products made from recycled and renewable materials was three times faster than the overall net sales growth. Our relative carbon footprint that eliminates the impact of business growth decreased only slightly compared to the previous year and was 2.0 kgCO2 eq./kg. Due to volume growth, our total emissions increased to 30,775 tCO2-e from 30,019 tCO2-e in 2023.
We are involved in three research projects to advance the use of recycled and renewable plastics and to promote circular economy. We participate in the Borealis SPIRIT program, exploring food-safe recycled plastics, and the PlastLIFE SIP-EU project, where Orthex has piloted new sustainable raw materials and developed products like the SmartStore™ Bedroller and SmartStore™ Collect Stack-it mentioned above using innovative recycled materials. Orthex also plays a role in the Reusify project, focused on finding solutions to replace single-use packaging with reusable products. More information on these projects is available in our sustainability report.
"I am very proud of the progress we make in our sustainability efforts. We are working hard to reduce our emissions and the carbon footprint of our products and operations, but there’s still plenty of work to do. We want to offer consumers practical, high-quality, and long-lasting products and help them to promote circular economy by offering products that make waste sorting easier at home and are fully recyclable in all our markets at the end of their life cycle,” says Hanna Kukkonen, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer of Orthex Corporation.
The Annual and Sustainability Report 2024 is available in English and Finnish on the corporate website at https://investors.orthexgroup.com/.
Further enquiries:
Hanna Kukkonen, CMSO, Orthex Corporation
Tel. +358 (0)40 053 8886
hanna.kukkonen@orthexgroup.com
Alexander Rosenlew, CEO, Orthex Corporation
Tel. +358 (0)40 500 3826
alexander.rosenlew@orthexgroup.com
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Main media
https:/investors.orthexgroup.com/
Orthex in brief
Orthex (ORTHEX, Nasdaq Helsinki, Finland) is a leading Nordic houseware company. Orthex offers a broad assortment of practical and durable household products with a mission to make consumers’ everyday life easier. Orthex main consumer brands are SmartStore™ in storage products, GastroMax™ in kitchenware and Orthex™ in home and garden products. Orthex aims to be the industry forerunner in sustainability by offering safe and long-lasting products and reducing its carbon footprint by increasing the share of recycled and renewable raw materials. Read more www.orthexgroup.com.
Orthex’s net sales in 2024 were 89.7 million euros. The company has customers in more than 40 countries and local sales organisations in the Nordics, Germany, France, the UK, and the Benelux.