Growing Consumer Consciousness
Sustainability sells. With climate concerns hitting the headlines every week, it’s no wonder that consumers are becoming ever more aware of the environmental impact of their choices. A report by The Economist Intelligence Unit in May 2021 found that online searches for sustainable goods globally have skyrocketed by 71% over the past five years. And this eco-consciousness will only continue to grow; 75% of millennials say they consider environmental sustainability as a factor when they make a purchase.
Businesses must therefore react. We have no choice but to innovate to improve sustainability across the board, or risk losing consumer confidence. According to Cristianne Close, Global Markets Practice Leader at WWF International, “brands that deliver on pursuit of purpose, that drive a culture of sustainable innovation, are the front runners in consumers’ eyes – and they are watching”.
Sustainability at the Heart of CDVI
At CDVI, we are listening. At our local country level as well as at our international group manufacturing level, we are making changes to improve the sustainability of our products and operations. As a global group, we are committed to putting environmentally-friendly strategies at the heart of everything we do. New technologies and techniques are emerging all the time in the security industry, and we will change what we do for the better.
As a manufacturer of access control solutions, security is always our number one priority. Our mission is therefore to balance the need for reliable, robust security with the need to adopt sustainable materials and practices.
Changing our products
The CDVI product range is under constant review, to ensure that we are producing high-quality items with the best possible materials.
- Magnetic architectural handles. We have selected a new type of eco-friendly aluminium for these handles. CO2 emissions produced by the manufacture and machining of our new aluminium are a huge five times lower than our previous provider.
- Mobile-PASS. Our high security smartphone credential product was designed to empower end user organisations to reduce their consumption of plastic by eliminating the need for plastic access cards. The vast majority of people already have a smartphone – incorporating their access credentials into it instead of forcing them to carry plastic credentials is an easy environmental win.
- Removing resin. Many of our readers and keypads have traditionally been manufactured with resin in order to make them waterproof and vandal-resistant. Unfortunately, products made with resin cannot be recycled. We are working towards adopting a new process called tropicalisation to replace resin. This entails applying a film of more environmentally-friendly varnish to the product instead.
Changing our packaging
We work constantly to find innovative ways to update our packaging and reduce wastage.
- Magnetic architectural handles. We have reduced cardboard packaging by 5000m2, packing tape by 20km, and foam wedges by 100m3 annually.
- Polystyrene. We’ve stopped using polystyrene in our packaging and replaced it with cardboard, plastic film, or biodegradable plastics.
- Printed manuals. We have massively reduced our printing of paper manuals and catalogues globally. A large proportion of our documents are now published digitally and can be accessed via QR codes printed on packaging. In some areas, such as ievo biometric solutions, we are no longer printing manuals at all.
- Recycling cardboard. Our factory in Bury, France has invested in a machine that repurposes used cardboard into wedging for cushioning and protecting products inside packages. The cost of this machine was matched by the savings made in just six months of use.
Changing our practices
Big impacts come from small changes in our day-to-day operations. We’re keeping environmental concerns at the forefront of our minds in all of our decision-making processes.
- Product development. From the very beginning of our product development cycle, our engineers are briefed to ensure that durability and recyclability are incorporated into new products.
- Suppliers. Our Purchasing department takes the environmental ethics of our suppliers very seriously. New suppliers must prove their ROHS compliance before we agree to work with them. The ROHS directive aims to reduce the usage of dangerous substances like lead, mercury, and cadmium in electronic equipment.
- Transport. We transport from suppliers by boat whenever possible to avoid the much greater emissions produced by air travel. Having our product design and assembly plants in Europe also allows us to limit long-distance transportation of products from supplier to sales markets. In addition, we are reducing deliveries from our product assembly headquarters in France to the UK from weekly to monthly, reducing unnecessary travel and emissions.
- Electric cars. In the UK, many of CDVI’s field sales team have swapped their petrol or diesel company cars for electric or hybrid models. Since the onset of the pandemic, we are also now arranging many more virtual meetings, further reducing emissions from driving.
- LED lighting. Our assembly plants in France are large sites that require almost permanent lighting throughout the day for safety reasons. In order to reduce the annual energy consumption on the site, we are planning to switch from neon lighting to fully LED lighting. This will reduce consumption by 50% every year.
These points are examples of the wider strategy that the CDVI group has committed to for the future. We are transforming our product cycle, from suppliers to manufacturing to packaging and transportation. We will reduce our use of harmful materials while protecting the essential elements that ensure maximum security.
For more information about CDVI’s current and future plans to reduce emissions and increase sustainability, please contact info@cdvi.co.uk.