Targets
'A Colourful Tomorrow' is Tikkurila's Sustainability programme, through which we are able to develop our responsibility efforts in a strategic manner. It also defines the goals and indicators of our responsibility.
In operations, our main targets focus on occupational safety, water, and waste.
Management standards
Tikkurila relies on international management standards, such as ISO 14001 for managing environmental issues, ISO 45001 or OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety, and ISO 9001 for quality management.
The certificates confirm the compliance of the company's management, processes, and practices with the international quality, environmental, occupational health and safety standards, and ensure that those are developed systematically. You can find an up-to-date list of certifications here.
The environmental permits of our production facilities underline our operations. We act proactively, continuously improving our operations, focusing on occupational, chemical, and fire safety to prevent potential environmental damage.
Risks related to environmental leaks are comprehensively assessed. We maintain constant monitoring, both internally and in cooperation with authorities and external auditors.
Water
Water is the most significant single ingredient in Tikkurila's products. About 80% of Tikkurila's paints are waterborne.
Most of the water used comes from local water distribution networks. About half of the water used goes directly into the final product.
Our goal is to reduce both the amount of used water and wastewater.
In production, water is used in final products, in cooling circuits, or to clean equipment. Some of this cleaning water is also reused in the manufacture of the paint when it can be ensured that this will not compromise the quality and properties of the paint.
Less than 10% of water withdrawn is discharged as production wastewater. Untreated wastewater is never released into the environment but is treated either at Tikkurila's own water treatment plant, used in Poland, or by an external party. For example, at the Vantaa factory, water is treated, and solids are removed before being transferred to a waste handler.
Energy
Paint production is not very energy-intensive. Energy is needed for mixing, grinding, and transferring raw materials and products and the use of support systems and tools. Much of the energy used is spent on heating and ventilation of our production facilities.
Tikkurila regularly monitors and evaluates its energy consumption and implements projects to optimise its energy usage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We favour renewable energy; for example, our production facility in Sweden has been run completely on renewable energy since 2012. The production facility in Vantaa, Finland, started using renewable energy for heating and electricity in 2021. Realistic targets for energy sources are also being prepared for Poland and Russia. However, the availability of non-fossil energy poses a challenge in certain countries.
Waste
Tikkurila's production generates various types of waste: solids removed from the cleaning water in waterborne paint production, obsolete or out-of-date raw materials, discontinued products, and packaging waste.
We purposefully reduce the waste so that no waste ends up in landfills. We recycle waste as accurately and responsibly as possible. In 2021, the recycling rate of production waste was 96.9. As often as possible, we reuse surpluses in paint production processes while ensuring that it doesn't compromise the quality of our products. For example, some of the washing water from the equipment can be utilized and reused for paint production.
VOC emissions
The manufacturing process of solvent-borne paints releases some Volatile Organic Compounds in the raw materials, known as VOCs. Tikkurila has significantly reduced VOC emissions by replacing solvent-borne products with waterborne products.
At our Vantaa facility, VOC emissions are recaptured and incinerated. This increases CO2 emissions, but not in significant quantities.
A safe place to work
Tikkurila wants to be a safe place to work for everyone – our employees, contractors, and partners. We are working hard to reduce injuries at work, and the goal is, of course, zero injuries. In 2021, LTIF was 4.5. Read more about our occupational safety here.
You can read more about Tikkurila's sustainability in our Sustainability Report.