From taking care of people working for us, to reducing the environmental impact of our products and operations, we hear from our sustainability experts Malin Ekefalk, Head of Social Sustainability, and Tomas Dahlman, Head of Climate and Green Financing.
With 36 years of combined experience working with sustainability at Electrolux Group, they are working to maintain our position in the industry as a sustainability leader.
Thirty-six years is impressive! Tell us more about your careers at Electrolux Group
Ekefalk: I have always worked with social sustainability and at Electrolux Group we have a long and proud history of working with these topics, but our focus has changed tremendously over the years — from the development of our Ethics Helpline and our approach to human rights to setting up the non-profit Electrolux Food Foundation to promote more sustainable food habits and support people in need, as well as our community investment agenda.
Dahlman: The red thread during my long career with the company has been to constantly find new ways for us to reduce our energy footprint throughout our business. I am passionate about working together across functions and regions in this important task, starting with our products and later leading the global Green Spirit program in operations, which became the basis for our first science-based climate target. In recent years, we have added green financing to our work.
How are your roles currently evolving?
Ekefalk: I am continuing to work with human rights as well as overseeing our work with responsible sourcing. My focus will be to ensure that we do not directly or indirectly contribute to harming people. As an organization with more than 40,000 colleagues and thousands of people in our supply chain, we have a great responsibility to take care of people.
Dahlman: With overall responsibility for climate throughout our value chain and green financing, I will continue to guide the mitigation of impacts from our operations and get back to my roots again, by including our products. My role will ensure that we are in line with the set roadmaps and targets in our For the Better 2030 sustainability framework, as well as external expectations, which I see as a priority for us going forward.
How does your position support the Group’s sustainability agenda?
Ekefalk: Our ability to be an early adopter of international standards and norms has made us a sustainability leader. With so much new legislation in the pipeline, our challenge is how we can continue to be an industry leader by going beyond new legislation that protects the people working for us and by being a responsible company and role model in the industry.
Dahlman: We’ve done a fantastic job in recent years to reduce the environmental impact of both our products and our operations. We will continue to focus on resource efficiency to further streamline our operational footprint, improve product energy efficiency and shift to more sustainable materials. As approximately 85% of our climate footprint is generated by our products, this is where we have the greatest potential to reduce our climate impact. Circularity, including materials in products, will also be a focus area.
What do you see as the greatest opportunities?
Ekefalk: Businesses can be role models in their communities and at the same time attract talent, investors and ultimately consumers. How companies treat people throughout their entire value chain is essential for the betterment of this planet — in areas such as ethics, human rights, diversity and inclusion. I’m proud to be part of a company that puts people first.
Dahlman: We play an important role guiding the consumers to choose our most energy-efficient products, such as Electrolux EcoLine and AEG EcoLine. By offering more sustainable and smart products and features to the consumer, we can help change behavior in the home for the long-run and that is exciting.
