"We are extremely committed to sustainability"

The lighting company Fagerhult, one of the 11 industrial partners in the research programme GRACE, has set tough targets for its extensive climate work. A shining example is the best-selling ceiling luminaire - now made from recycled cardboard!

—We're the ones who get to do the fun stuff - packaging the light that comes from the optics department, says Martin Bååth a little jokingly when we meet in Fagerhult's "experience center" - a floor decorated with environments, products and varying lighting in the head office's dimly lit basement just three miles north of Jönköping.

As head of the new development department, he works with project manager Beatrice Andersson and others to develop the casing around new light sources - what is visible, apart from the lamp itself. The idea for new products can come from different sources, for example from an external designer who has developed a shape that the company's mechanical engineers will realize, but it can also be about purely technical solutions and economics in industrial lighting.

—We collaborate in the R&D department, we are free to present our own ideas and sometimes the designers' ideas lead to the final product, explains Beatrice Andersson, a project manager and mechanical engineer trained at JTH.

Lighting in recycled cardboard

Fagerhult is one of Europe's leading lighting companies and has set clear sustainability goals. By 2030, 80 percent of all materials used in production will be renewable or recycled. The company is working on these issues in various ways, including developing efficient lighting ("the right light in the right place" as Beatrice Andersson puts it). A decision has been made to use only recycled aluminum, and in the so-called ReLight concept, older luminaires are upgraded by replacing the light package itself.

One of the most visible examples of Fagerhult's sustainability work comes from the designers, says Martin Bååth, who has worked with product development and design "all his life".

Their suggestions led to Fagerhult's best-selling light panel, which is mounted on ceilings in offices, for example, now also being made of recycled cardboard instead of sheet steel.

—We got to design both the shape and the solution, which is great fun!

Collaborative research for the future

One future issue that is being discussed within the framework of GRACE is the circular economy - how does it work? What do material flows look like that work in the long term? How can we work to recycle luminaires to a greater extent, for example?

—We need to understand, early on. If we are to be a leader in Europe, we need to be constantly at the forefront and see where research is heading. It's also about future regulations - if we've already been sniffing around this, the threshold will be lower when the requirements come, explains Martin Bååth. But it is not requirements that are behind Fagerhult's environmental ambitions, he says.

—It comes from within and it has become a normal state of affairs that we always look for the most sustainable material we can find, even if it is not in a specification. The entire R&D department is extremely committed to the issue of sustainability, he says.

The collaboration with JTH and the companies in GRACE provides an opportunity to share experiences and build consensus with others facing similar challenges.

—It's bigger than just working for the individual company, says Beatrice Andersson. The goal is for everyone to be able to work for the green transition, so collaboration is very important.