Minimizing footprint, maximizing handprint

'Circular economy has become an essential part of our business strategy'

In November 2022, Koen Fest took office as the first sustainability manager at Degalux International BV in Barneveld. 2023 is thus the first full year in which he has been able to shape all sustainability tasks as well as the production processes within the company as a basis for a green and sustainable future. "We are very satisfied with the results achieved," says director-owner Willem-Jan Wijnbergen. "But we are not there yet. There is still a lot to do. It is a continuous ongoing process."

Naturally, it is good to first define the term sustainability, because what exactly are we talking about, said Willem-Jan. "For us it's about setting up our business operations in such a way that we maintain our right to exist. That we therefore continue to operate within the planetary boundaries* and that we not only ensure that our earth and society will be resilient and adaptive, but that we as an organization are. How does that work in practice? Well, we minimize our footprint and we maximize our handprint!" 

"Initially for us this means increasing internal support among employees," Koen interjects into the conversation. "That takes time because changing routine, behavior and habits is not something that can be done overnight. We're not just talking about the health and well-being of the employees themselves, but of course we're also talking about our sustainable product development and how circularity is part of that. And we are busy doing EPDs to determine the environmental cost of our products." 

"For me as a sustainability manager, I see the clean task of not only making all these challenges concrete within my own company, but also influencing the rest of the chain. Under the umbrella of ESG - Environmental Social & Governance - I therefore focus on projects and developments that promote the sustainable transition of us as a company, and the society within which we operate." 

The company appears to be well on track for 2023, Koen observes. "Then I think, for example, of the certification achieved for the CO2 performance ladder. We are now at level 3. That means that as an organization we have mapped out our emissions, drawn up reduction measures and participated in CO2 reduction initiatives. Furthermore, we have already published the equivalence declarations of our screen cloths in BRCG's energy database by the end of 2022. The fc values - the solar control properties - in these declarations can be used for the calculations of energy performance of buildings according to the NTA-8800 standard. So it's not just something for ourselves: our customers also benefit greatly from this." 

So by 2023, the circular economy has become more than ever an essential part of Degalux's daily operations, notes the company's head of sales Alex Bakker. "It is part of one of our strategic pillars, namely Sustainable Products & Production. Ultimately, it is therefore our ambition to be able to offer a fully circular assortment. It is also important to properly regulate all our return flows in order to ultimately be truly circular. We are on the right track, but there is still a lot to do. As Willem-Jan said: it is a continuous ongoing process." 

* The concept of planetary boundaries was introduced in 2009 in the scientific journal Nature. The authors stated then that there are nine planetary boundaries within which humanity must navigate in order to continue to make sustainable use of Earth's resources.