The Environment and Our Business

Finn-Elox Oy is highly committed and interested in caring for the environment and reducing the environmental load caused by its business. The environment is taken into account when designing products, selecting raw materials, manufacturing products, and also in activities occurring after production. We also pay attention to the protection of the environment at our office by, for example, recycling and sorting waste. Fluorescent tubes, batteries, computers, computer screens, etc. are properly recycled by delivering them to the proper recycling point.

The environmental thinking has strongly influenced the design and construction of our factory building. The property is built from wood and with highly efficient insulation to ensure minimal energy loss. The factory includes two ventilation machines whose power is cut down for the night and returned for the day. The heating system automatics have been adjusted so that the temperature will drop after 5 pm and rise again after 6 am. In the daytime, when computers warm up the air in the office, the automatics decrease the power of the natural gas burner. The systems also include heat recovery elements. This way we can help the environment by consuming as little heating and electrical energy as possible.

Central location improves logistics

Our factory is not located in a groundwater area; it is on factory property reserved for industry. Our entire production system is equipped with protective basins. If a leak occurs, no materials will be released to the wastewater, but all the materials can be collected later from trap wells, the largest of which holds 3,000 litres. Any leaking materials will be submitted to a hazardous waste treatment facility. Our production unit also includes a department for handling and storage of flammable liquids.

Our factory is located at an excellent place from a logistics viewpoint: along highway 3 close to the Tampere junction. The excellent location enables us to reduce emissions by means of effective transport. Our products are transported using vehicles approved for the transport of hazardous materials (owned by Kaukokiito Oy), and all the drivers are professionally qualified to transport hazardous materials. We have the same basic idea as the transport company: less environmental load by using only fully loaded trucks.

Environmental permit

Our business was granted an environmental permit in 2007. Currently, we are a facility that extensively handles chemicals, and we are monitored by the Safety Technology Authority TUKES. Our expansion plans are thus drawn up in cooperation with the municipality and the TUKES authorities.

Our environmental thinking can also be described using the lifecycle model where our basic industrial activities are studied separately for three stages:

1. Prior to production
2. During production
3. After production

We consider safety of our production and our products as important as the environmental issues, and we have included these in our environmental programme. The EU Chemicals Regulation REACH has offered new viewpoints that must be taken into account at all stages of the lifecycle.

Environmental thinking prior to production

• We take into account the environment when designing new products so that the products will cause as little environmental load as possible.

• We select raw materials based on environmental and safety viewpoints:
> We use locally produced raw materials whenever possible (less emissions from transport)
> We favour suppliers that take the environment into account
> We take into account legislation and REACH
> We find and use biodegradable materials
> We find and use components that are as safe for humans as possible
> We take into account any changes in the prevailing situation and continuously reassess our choices

• Choosing containers
> We select recycled containers whenever possible (not for foodstuffs, however)
> We favour plastic over metal
> Our containers comply with all the requirements in EU Directives pertaining to the transport and packaging of hazardous materials, both in reduction of packaging materials and in their recycling

• Plastic from arriving raw materials is collected and recycled if possible; cardboard is reused in our own deliveries.

During production

• Protective basins and separate collection drains
> No emissions to the municipal sewer system
• No noise
• No airborne emissions (or only very minor ones):
> the factory is heated with natural gas

• Safe handling of flammable materials (ATEX facilities complying with the requirements)
• ATEX equipment used also in canning automatics

• Efficient use of energy
> Cooler temperatures at night and reduction gears in ventilation machines; normal operation during the day

• Pumps are used only when necessary instead of keeping them on at all times
• Packages are filled utilising a so-called inherent pressure system where liquid is drained into containers utilising the pressure provided by the liquid itself
• Precise mixing times, no unnecessary operation:
> electricity savings
• Overhead doors are kept open only when loading or unloading:
> energy savings
• Quality assurance
> Important particularly with foodstuff materials; a comparison sample is taken from each batch before analysis also to be used if customer complaints occur

After production

• Washing water is recycled to be used as the raw water in new detergents:
> no emissions to the municipal sewer system
• Cleaning:
> facilities are kept clean and all access routes unobstructed to improve safety

• Waste is recycled
> Plastic and cardboard are used at the factory, and platforms are also recycled

• Maximised transport efficiency
> Only transporting goods in fully loaded trucks
> Transport only with vehicles and drivers approved for transport of hazardous materials; qualifications are checked if the driver or the transport company is new
> Transport packages meet all requirements:
• Labels comply with statutory requirements (based on the MSDS) and it provides clear information for the user
• Containers are UN-approved containers
> We will soon start to use an electronic bill of freight that will reduce the use of paper and thus the environmental load

• Recycling plastic packages
> UN-approved packages can be used for approximately five years from the packaging date
> The manufacturing date and material marking (HDPE) are available on the bottom of packages

• Plastic packaging materials are recycled as raw materials for new products
• Unusable waste plastic is utilised safely in energy production
• Invoicing is being developed into an electronic system
• We often send our customers product brochures together with products so that no unnecessary envelopes will be used and mail delivery will not cause additional emissions; furthermore, the price lists and MSDSs of our products can be downloaded from our website at www.finn-elox.fi


Taking into account the environment and safety in decision-making has introduced major savings and benefits in the form of recycling and energy savings, for example. The more we include the environment and safety in our financial thinking, the more savings we will achieve.