While world goals are becoming commonplace in everyday life, whether you are a student or a household member, for many companies, it has become a competitive parameter in order to secure a place in the future.
A competitive parameter is understood in the sense that if you do not consider the UN’s 17 global goals in your business, then your business will not be here in the future. So says designer and TV host, Søren Vester, who also hosts Green Innovation Week, where Salling Autogenbrug and the circular furniture company, TrÆls, launch their joint products, made from surplus wood and residual materials from the car industry.
A simple recycling business
Salling Autogenbrug is a traditional car recycling business with 18 employees, run by three siblings in Central Jutland. When their father started the company back in 1987, nobody knew words like; world goals, sustainability or green transition. Still, it was a word that could already be used for the 36-year-old business even then. The business model is to accept end-of-life or traffic-damaged cars that can no longer drive on the roads. They are then environmentally treated. That is, they are drained of liquids, and environmentally hazardous parts are removed so that they are no longer harmful to the environment. Afterwards, usable spare parts can be sold so that other cars can drive on the road for longer. A simple recycling business.
To find value in residual products, Salling Autogenbrug has allied itself with TrÆls from Hedensted, which is already successful in thinking residual materials into new contexts. As the name suggests, they work particularly with wood and, more specifically, with disposable pallets that would otherwise have been burned. TrÆls creates furniture and environments out of this residual wood and uses methods that ensure that the material can be used again and again – whether as furniture or as another product.
“Consumers decide which products are on the shelves and, thus, which companies will survive in the future. And with the increasing attention to creating a better world, breaking consumption patterns and taking social responsibility, we will see a different kind of company in the future. Consumers do not allow companies to not take responsibility and will neither hire nor buy products or services from companies that do not contribute to the green transition,” says Anders Koed, owner of TrÆls, which produces furniture from recycled wood and continues:
“It’s great to look into an industry you don’t know because then you see everything that the seasoned eyes don’t see, says Anders Koed. In addition to the sale and rental of sustainable furniture and environments, he and his partner, Anne Poulsen, also help other companies and advise on how they can convert their company to a more sustainable business model.”
More bottom lines
At Salling Autogenbrug, there are several good reasons to work with a green transition.
“It is no secret that we work with residual materials and the green transition because we believe there is a financial benefit to be gained in the long term. In addition, we believe that development in this area is going so fast that if we are not ready to change, we will not be here in 10 years. Likewise, we do not ignore the fact that this also plays a role in relation to the recruitment and retention of employees. We work with several bottom lines; the economic, the sustainable and the social,” concludes Lise Korsgaard from Salling Autogenbrug.
Specifically, the collaboration between Salling Autogenbrug and TrÆls resulted in a stool made from wood from disposable pallets and harnesses from old cars, as well as a series of outdoor lounge cushions made from old airbags and fabric scraps from industry.
This article was originally posted at subziter.dk/gamle-airbags-fra-biler-bliver-til-moderigtige-moebler
