GREEN SOLUTIONS

Envac
in 1995. This was a very promising
start. However, an order that proved
to be much more important to the
company’s future came when the
Olympic city of Barcelona chose to
install Centralsug’s vacuum system.
The “new Barcelona” would look out
onto the sea. It would be built on the
site of the derelict industrial and
docklands neighborhood along the
coastline. The Olympic village was
just the first phase, but Envac’s
installation in the Olympic village in
Barcelona was so successful that the
City of Barcelona decided that more
vacuum waste management systems
should be built. Ten years later,
Barcelona City included vacuum
systems as a “common utility” in its
master plan for the city’s expansion.
These installations in Barcelona were
quickly also adopted throughout the
rest of Spain. The Spanish market is
now one of Envac’s largest and the
company has offices in several
Spanish cities.
Today, Envac has over 600
installations in more than 30 countries.
Jonas Törnblom, Director of
Marketing and Communication at
Envac, explains that Spain was an
important market for the company to
establish itself in, but that China is
44 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN
becoming an increasingly important
market for the simple reason that a lot
of construction is taking place there.
Törnblom reveals that, despite
successful installations in many
countries, it took several years before
exports really took off. He explains
what it was that finally made growth a
reality:
“Growth really took off when cities
around the world were forced to
introduce waste sorting and when
they, at the same time, began to
realize that they no longer had room
to store waste on sidewalks and in
open spaces. Being clean and accessible
became progressively more
important in cities’ marketability,”
says Törnblom.
One important reason why exports
have increased is the fact that Envac
has no production facility of its own.
“We buy in all the parts and
assemble and install our systems
on-site. Not being dependent on a
factory has facilitated our geographic
expansion, at the same time as it has
also made the company less vulnerable
to economic fluctuations,” he
explains.
When it comes to Sweden,
Törnblom believes that there is no
shortage of good products and ideas
that can increase cleantech exports–
but that this alone is not enough.
“I think you need to realize that
just because a cleantech solution is
viable in Sweden, doesn’t mean it’s
viable in other countries. Markets
often differ due to strong political
influences. The most important factor
in every product sale is that the
product provides clear customer
benefit,” Törnblom says. “Given that
cleantech sales are so dependent on
political decisions in the form of
regulations, subsidies, and so on,
customer value can often be more
difficult to estimate and predict than
for other types of sales. For example,
how much is clean air and less noise
pollution actually worth in dollars?”
The future looks bright for one of
Sweden’s most successful export
companies in cleantech and its plans
for tomorrow are clearly laid out.
“We’re looking closely at the
prospects our products have in North
America. Developments in the US
economy and housing construction
look promising, which are important
preconditions for sales of Envac’s
products,” Törnblom concludes.
Facts: Envac:
Envac AB is a Swedish company
with more than 50 years’ experience
in automated waste management,
and is one of Sweden’s
foremost cleantech companies.
Envac invented the vacuum waste
management system that applies
vacuum technology to waste
management in the early 1960s.
Today, Envac’s system is installed
around the world–in neighborhoods,
malls, city centers, industrial
kitchens, hospitals, and
airports. System construction is
coordinated with the installation of
other infrastructure, such as
electricity, sewage, and water
systems.
Envac is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Stena Adactum AB, a company
within the Stena Sphere.