Responsibility

Finland’s best for individualized plastic applications

Whenever possible, we take into account the environment and sustainable development in our production. Plastic raw materials are by-products of the petrochemical industry, and their procurement does not independently burden natural ecosystems.

Quality and environmental systems

Volar Plastic Oy adheres to the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 quality and environmental management systems in its operations.

Recycling and cost efficiency

We recycle almost all plastic waste generated in production by granulating ABS, HDPE, and PS plastics into pellets, which are then added to our plastic sheet raw material. As a result, the plastic sheets we use contain an average of 30 percent recycled pellets. Plastic waste that is not suitable for recycling is sorted as energy raw material and burned in the gasification power plants of Lahti Energia, located two kilometers from the factory. In these facilities, plastic is converted into electricity and district heating. The newest facility is the world’s first gasification power plant using only recycled fuel.

In thermoforming production, we have mainly transitioned to machines that use halogen heating, which, compared to conventional molding machines, consume almost 50 percent less electricity per heated kilogram of plastic. The efficiency of halogen heating is based on the wavelength of thermal radiation and the rapid adjustability of the heating.

The heating of our production facilities is done with a modern air conditioning system equipped with heat pumps, which recover approximately 85 percent of the waste heat released during production, thereby heating the building. When the temperature drops below -6 ºC, the building requires additional heating, which is supplied as district heating from Lahti Energia’s gasification power plants.

SmartIO saves energy

In 2011, we adopted the wireless SmartIO system, which is used to programmatically and remotely control the factory’s air conditioning system to reduce electricity consumption. We regularly measure the energy consumption of various electric machines and equipment, based on which new investment decisions are made to minimize energy consumption.