SUSTAINABILITY

Through our “Focus on the Bulb” program, all Velcro Companies’ locations worldwide transitioned to LED lighting. This initiative reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1700 CO2 Metric Tones (MT) on a global basis.

In Europe, wastewater from our dyeing processes is treated and reused, reducing our water consumption by 50%. Our plant in Somersworth, N.H., has plans in place to reduce water usage.

Velcro Companies is ISO 14001 certified for our environmental management system (EMS). This allows us to minimize our impact on the environment, control costs and produce higher-quality products with greater efficiency. Since 2003, we have met or exceeded our annual goals and reduced our overall environmental impact by 25%

Our facility in Spain earned the Silver level EcoVadis medal for its sustainability management system.

Globally, we divert more than 54% of our solid waste from landfills: our facilities in Canada, Uruguay and the U.S. are 100% landfill free, and our site in Spain uses waste for energy generation with the atmospheric emissions considered harmless and environmentally safe.

Velcro Companies use many different methods to minimize energy consumption, including energy efficient lighting, occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting. When developing new products we consider input materials that minimize impact to the environment as well as the overall product life cycle impacts.

We love to give back to the cities and towns we work in. Our colleagues across the globe have helped improve their communities with clean ups, donations, planting trees and recycling programs.

Construction of a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m²) solar panel array was completed at our Spanish facility. This is a big contribution to our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint.