Eleda play a key role in society's transition

As an entrepreneur in community-supporting infrastructure, Eleda is at the centre of the climate transition.
"Most of our projects have the potential to contribute or are already contributing to a positive development," says the Head of Sustainability at Eleda, Jennie Widell.

Eleda delivers many solutions for a more sustainable society, such as electrical installations and maintenance of power lines, wind and hydropower plants, improvement of the railway network, water and sewage systems, and data centres and charging infrastructure.

"Our activities enable a well-functioning society. We are both taking care of the existing and developing a more climate-smart infrastructure," says Jennie Widell.

Projects for the transformation of society

In the Norwegian Municipality Gran, the Eleda company Anlegg Øst Entreprenør is building a new road and water and sewage system.

"The project is Norway's first completely emission-free project. All transports and machines run on electricity, except for the road roller, which we unfortunately had to run on HVO100. The charging infrastructure is a major challenge in a project like this, and we have used both fixed and mobile charging stations. We have also tested fuel cells, a solution that can be used for charging machines with no electricity grid," she explains.

"As more and more society is electrified, it is important to have this type of project to learn more, find a structure for the work and test new solutions that can then be scaled up," continues Jennie Widell.

Another project is the “Mässtunneln” (“the Fair tunnel”), which will be part of Stockholm's future wastewater treatment system and reduce the risk of flooding.

"This project enables sustainable urban development. For the city to be able to build more housing, the sewage system needs to be developed," she says.

Eleda-bolaget JVAB borrar anslutningar till tunneln och använder moderna metoder för att minimera miljöpåverkan från avfallshantering, schakt och transport.  

Ambitious goals in social and ecological sustainability

Social sustainability is high on the agenda. The construction and civil engineering industry is affected by accidents, and Eleda is constantly working to reduce the number of workplace accidents. A joint training day is arranged annually for all employees to focus on the work environment and safety.

"Our vision is, of course, zero serious accidents. We put the work environment first by working in a structured way, educating ourselves and working proactively with risk observations. We want to take care of each other so that all employees get home safely every day," says Jennie Widell.

Eleda has ambitious goals regarding climate change. They must reduce emissions throughout the value chain and work for increased circularity. A challenge in reducing emissions is a lack of data, especially in Scope 3, the supply chain.

"It is difficult to get good climate data from suppliers and subcontractors. The industry is getting better, but we need to increase the pace. Hopefully, the new CSRD reporting will help," says Jennie Widell and concludes:

"There are many sustainability challenges, and we cannot solve them alone. We must work together with customers, suppliers, and industry colleagues to find sustainable solutions for society's needs.

For more information, please contact Jennie Widell, Head of Sustainability Eleda, jennie.widell@eleda.se, +46 (0)703-10 71 04.