Environmental Protection

CAREL and all its employees act in compliance with the ruling laws and regulations when carrying out their duties to protect the environment, reduce pollution and contribute to the achievement of exemplary results in this sector. In addition, CAREL contributes to the promotion of scientific and technological development for the protection of the environment and resources at the appropriate levels and during the performance of its activities.

As noted, dedicated resources at the parent and Carel Electronic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. manage environmental issues as both sites are ISO 14001:2015 certified. They prepare specific environmental policies to flank those defined at group level.

Although it is not exposed to particularly significant risks, CAREL has identified the following possible environmental impacts related to emissions (harmful ozone gas, greenhouse effect, pollutants) and consumption of natural resources (electrical energy, natural gas, water, raw materials). It monitors and manages these impacts constantly to ensure compliance with the ruling legal requirements of the countries where it operates.

Management’s current approach is to assess the energy efficiency of production equipment, vehicles used to transport people and things and technical and technological systems before it purchases them. 

In 2022, the Group continued the works to reduce energy consumption at production sites. These initiatives entailed the following actions:

• the replacement of lighting systems with new LED technology at the Croatian site, at Hygromatik and at the commercial subsidiary Carel Iberica, generating energy savings of approximately 26,800 kWh;
• the improvement of energy efficiency at the Chinese plant by streamlining the use of production lines, generating energy savings of more than 193,000 kWh.

The considerable reduction in emissions is due to both the decrease in energy consumption through the above-mentioned energy efficiency initiatives, and, above all, to the procurement of electricity from completely renewable sources for a significant portion of the production plants. Indeed, in 2022, the group’s energy consumption saw an increase in electricity from renewable sources, reaching the significant target of 85% of total consumption in the year and increasing its green share by more than 500% compared to 2019. In 2022, this translated into avoided CO2 emissions from electricity use totalling 5,351 tCO2eq.