Reducing our carbon footprint with recycled plastic

At ABB, sustainable innovation is a core part or our company DNA and the number one motivator for our R&D team

In my 34 years with ABB, 2021 has been one of the most innovative in our use of sustainable materials. When it comes to preserving resources and reducing our CO₂ footprint, switching to recycled plastic can have a major impact. This is the year we’ve made significant achievements.

Commercial and residential buildings use large amounts of plastics in electrical installation products. While these are long-life products – potentially lasting more than 60 years – they are extremely high volume. More sustainable production can have a big environmental impact.

This year we became the first company to introduce a range of surface mounted junction boxes made entirely from recycled plastic waste. While this may seem like a small innovation, hundreds of millions of these boxes are installed across Europe every year. Using recycled rather than new plastic can reduce carbon emissions be up to 70%.

In the Netherlands alone, we’re aiming for this new range of junction boxes to achieve an annual CO₂ footprint reduction that could reach up to 300,000 kilos – the equivalent of 500 flights from London to New York. But of course, we don’t stop there.

Innovative collaboration

At ABB, sustainable innovation is a core part or our company DNA and the number one motivator for our R&D team. We’ll continue to work together and with our partners and customers to explore new ways to incorporate sustainable materials across our solutions and bring them to new markets.

I’m excited to see the impact our innovations will have in reducing emissions in 2022 and beyond and proud that ABB is leading the way in this area.