When companies invest in environmental expertise, both customers and the industry can develop
The calculations of Environmental Manager Viivi Kettula help Kiilto and its customers make fact-based environmental decisions.
Environmental Manager Viivi Kettula does environmental calculation for a living and says environmental action should be based on research data and accurate calculations.
“In Kiilto’s environmental work, green energy, packaging, logistics, services and materials have been taken into account and numerical target limits have been set for each. We are working hard across the company to meet these goals. My job is to make calculations and collect concrete numerical data and facts that help us assess the environmental impact of various products and measures,” says Kettula.
“This process also helps the entire organisation learn more about our environmental impact.”
The learning is not, however, limited to the company, as customers learn new things as well. Kettula points out that for some of the customer companies, addressing environmental issues is quite new, whereas some have already been reflecting on the impact of their operations for a long time. Information on the environmental impact of actions and products also helps the customers.
“When we provide more information on the environmental impact of our products, our customers can utilise it in their own environmental calculations and operations,” says Kettula.
“For example, matters related to the protection of biodiversity are relatively new to all companies. When the environmental specialists of companies learn more about the subject and share information via common forums, the industry as a whole also learns more about the phenomenon.”
Tools for product development
Kettula carries out life-cycle assessments (LCAs) to evaluate the environmental impact of Kiilto’s products for their entire life cycle. Based on these assessments, long and extensive environmental product declarations (EPDs) are drawn up with an external expert.
“The calculations show, for instance, the origin of the emissions and provide us with a valuable tool to support product development. If a product developer wants to know the environmental impact of a new solution, we can easily check it by comparing the new solution with a calculation that I have made earlier. This way, we can find out precisely how the previous result has been obtained and how the new solution will change it.”
Addressing indirect emissions
Kettula also produces emission calculations at the organisational level. Such calculations include Scope 3 emissions, or indirect emissions, that can be the result of raw-material production, for example.
Kettula emphasises the fact that Kiilto has invested a great deal in matters such as green energy and managed to significantly reduce its greenhouse emissions.
“Currently, most of Kiilto’s emissions are indirect emissions, and to reduce them, we must focus – together with our partners – on our supply chain and raw materials and the emissions related to their production.”
The most important thing is to take action
Kettula says that Kiilto plans to update its Promise to the Environment by making its existing objectives more stringent and implementing new objectives. New matters have also been brought up, and the aim is to include, for example, biodiversity in the Promise in the future.
“We want to keep including more topics in our Promise, which is why we will also establish objectives to protect biodiversity. The challenge is, however, that biodiversity is a new and complex matter without any commonly used indicators as yet.”
Kettula points out that even though there are no accurate indicators at the moment, there is something that can be done already at this point.
“We have, for example, carried out a project involving the creation of meadows in the vicinity of our factories in Lempäälä and Turku in Finland, since we know that meadows benefit nature.”
Strength in collaboration
Kettula has been working at Kiilto since 2020, and the company has made a conscious decision to invest in environmental expertise.
Environmental Manager Kettula is also an athlete who competes as the captain of Finland’s national cheerdance team. Her achievements this year include World Championship bronze, European Championship gold and the Finnish Championship.
“Even in competitive sports, nothing happens without effort, without common goals and hard long-term work. There is inexplicable strength in collaboration when everything falls into place.”
Kettula thinks that her work at Kiilto has a lot in common with team sports.
”Best results are not achieved alone but together as a team, company or even as an entire industry. To meet our environmental goals, we need the contribution of all Kiilto employees and the members of our supply chain. Kiilto wants to set an example and help our customers meet their own environmental goals.”
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