1 Time to accelerate development towards a circular economy With a growing middle class, two-thirds of whom are expected to live in cities by 2050, more travel will be undertaken and more waste will be generated. Additionally, emissions and resource use are on the increase. As a strategic partner to our customers, ÅF can help companies develop sustainable and profitable business operations while fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, world leaders gathered at no fewer than three global summits to create a joint roadmap for the future of sustainable development. At the UN summit held in September 2015, the world’s state and government heads adopted seventeen new objectives, termed Sustainable Development Goals. In adopting these goals, the countries of the world have agreed to strive to reduce poverty and hunger and to move towards more sustainable use of the world’s resources. A transition to a circular economy – in which renewable energy dominates, products are designed for longer service lives and materials are recycled to a greater extent – is a prerequisite for reaching the new global goals. Development has already begun with the emergence of new companies that have developed innovative services. This includes, for example, internet services that provide access to various resources rather than ownership, vehicles powered by renewable energy and companies that have devised new, innovative methods for recycling and re-using. However, if the transition to a circular economy is to be successful, investments must increase. Over the coming years, the world’s nations, institutions, private enterprise and civil society need to invest 4,500 billion Swedish crowns a year to achieve the UN’s seventeen new climate and development goals. In the wake of this, new financing methods to increase investments in green projects have emerged in the market, including so-called green bonds. Green bonds offer a fantastic opportunity for investors to allocate larger shares of their portfolios to investments that support the climate and development goals and for trade and industry, together with the public sector, to show that they are pursuing long-term sustainability. As the market for green bonds grows, the complexity of green investments will demand greater technical expertise and a more holistic approach to project life cycles than is currently the case. ÅF, with its broad leading-edge expertise combining many different technology areas, can assume a key role in the transition to a circular economy. ÅF is involved in and influences sustainable solutions throughout its customers’ value chains, adapting infrastructure, energy extraction and production to circular rather than linear processes. It is my hope that with this year’s edition of the Green Advisor Report we can contribute to increased insight into how some of our customers work with sustainability, how in the role of partner ÅF has contributed to its customers’ sustainability goals and how together we have created smart solutions that help moving society forward. This year’s edition highlights, for example, Ekokem’s Circular Economy Village, the infrastructure of which is designed to maximise recycling in the local community. At Scandinavian Enviro Systems, the development of a unique technique has provided the opportunity to rectify one of the greatest environmental headaches of our time, used car tyres, which can now be recycled. Svenska Retursystem’s processing plant in Västerås is ready to handle 70 million returnable crates and pallets a year – a circular solution to a food industry challenge. In your hands are 44 pages of sustainable examples of how ÅF helps make the world a little better and more sustainable. Enjoy your read. Nyamko Sabuni Vice President Sustainability GREEN ADVISOR REPORT 2016
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