Absorbests medtech and sustainability

Absorbest medtech

Our journey began with an absorbent insert for fish boxes, a product still in regular use within the fishing industry today. Nowadays, we are a company that focuses primarily on medtech, where evidence and analysis are the mainstay of our development work. We are one of only a few companies operating in this sector that has complete control over its entire production process, from raw materials to the finished product. We avoid using semi-finished components as far as possible. The complete integration of manufacture enables us to implement changes quickly and respond rapidly to our customers’ demands.

foretaget-absorbest-medicinteknik

Our shared future

A growing aging population means an increase in the number of people globally with hard-to-heal wounds. The pressure on health services is increasing all the time. We as a company and the industry as a whole have an important responsibility to continuously develop products that contribute to improved health, practices and health economics.

We set high standards for ourselves and for our products, which fulfil the environmental, hygiene and functional requirements of regulatory and health authorities the world over. Products for wound care and fluid management are manufactured in our modern clean room and in a controlled zone.

We devote time and energy to improving our existing products – and inventing new ones, which we do by drawing on our extensive knowledge and experience and engaging in constant dialogue with clinical staff.

Absorbest’s sustainability work

“The 2030 Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. Its goals and targets are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.” You can read more about this on the websites of the Swedish Government and the UN.

In choosing to focus on three of the global goals, Absorbest has opted to work strategically with the 2030 Agenda as a way of contributing to sustainable development.

Absorbest sustainability work and growth, 2030 Agenda.

Decent work conditions and economic growth

A philosophy that is reflected in our relationships with employees, partners, suppliers and end customers.

People need balance in their life to feel happy. Finding a balance between work and other areas of life, such as family and leisure time, is the key to being happy and performing well at work. As an employer, Absorbest endeavours to ensure that our employees are happy at work. The work environment here at Absorbest will comply with legislation and other relevant requirements, and employees will have colleagues who also find working here an enjoyable experience. Managers at Absorbest attend training courses on improving the work environment (Bättre arbetsmiljö [BAM]).

A great deal of consideration goes into choosing our raw material suppliers and service providers. Our audits and supplier agreements ensure that the suppliers we do work with provide decent working conditions for their own employees.

We also choose our customers with care and have, for example, terminated our commercial dealings with Russia.

We know that a good HR policy produces good results, which is why Absorbest looks to develop long-term employee relationships that should, in turn, support the company’s financial growth. Longevity serves as a guiding principle in our relationships with customers too. We want to develop long-term collaborative relationships, where we work in partnership to create growth.

Absorbest sustainability work, good health and well being. Agenda 2030.

Good health and well-being

For the sake of both employees and the company.
Being able to go to work without risk of illness or injury is a right. Employees at Absorbest are offered a generous wellness allowance and are encouraged to be active and healthy. Employee satisfaction surveys and performance and development reviews allow us to gauge how our employees feel and take an active role in ensuring workplace satisfaction. scheduled intervals and everyone receives CPR training.

Throughout 2021, during the pandemic, and into the spring of 2022, employees at Absorbest took up a health challenge, with each team focusing on daily exercise, movement and making healthy choices for a period of seven weeks.

Employee activities were organised at regular intervals, and the fantastic results achieved by the company as a whole were celebrated in style by everyone involved.

Depending on a person’s role, Absorbest offers the opportunity to follow a hybrid work model, with employees alternating between working remotely and on site. A solution that we believe promotes employee well-being and good health.

The products that Absorbest manufactures and supplies to the healthcare sector are designed to ensure good health and well-being for patients and healthcare professionals. One example is our wound care products, which help wounds to heal and contribute to an improved quality of life for the patient. Bed pads and mats for dealing with excess fluids in care settings reduce the risk of slipping on wet floors and provide a better and drier work environment for nursing staff.

Global goals, climate action. Absorbests' sustainability work.

Climate action
How Absorbest works with energy, transport and use of resources

Energy

Absorbest has been proactive in choosing a local electricity provider that delivers the following:

  • 100% renewable energy, with a mix of sources: 9% hydroelectric power, 75% wind power, 15% biofuels and 1% solar power
  • 0% Nuclear power
  • 0% Fossil-based

Overall, the environmental impact for this particular mix is 0.0 g nuclear waste (g/kWh) and 0.0 g carbon dioxide (g/kWh).

By means of smart production planning and efficient business systems, we are taking command of our processes, and we are working hard to reduce consumption of electricity associated with the use of production machinery at our production site in Sweden.

Here, a charging station has been installed to enable electric cars to be charged on site.

Transport

Our logistics operation works with load optimisation, i.e. loading as many units as possible on to the same transport, to increase efficiency and satisfy sustainability aspects. Absorbest’s products are marketed and sold globally, but our raw material suppliers are local companies in Sweden or Europe.

Our healthcare items are designed to be thin and lightweight. They do not contain unnecessary cellulose fluff material and so a transport unit is made up of a large number of individual units. This is a smart way to reduce the number of transports, as more units can be carried in the same vehicle.

As our dressings are designed to have a longer wear time than traditional solutions, a reduction in the frequency of dressing changes is achievable. This results in nursing staff potentially making fewer physical visits, which in practice may mean that a home healthcare nurse makes fewer journeys to visit a patient than before.

Use of resources and choice of material

Continuous improvement work takes place to optimise use of resources within all our production processes. The reduction of waste is a top priority for Absorbest.

One result of this work has been that during an 8-month period the amount of combustible waste was reduced by 30%, while productivity increased by 5% compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

Efficient process control allows us to better manage dosing of component materials in finished products. Consequently, we are able to comply 100% with product specifications, avoid unnecessary overdosing, and maximise use of resources.

A number of our products are manufactured using cellulose raw material from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Choosing FSC-certified materials contributes to ecofriendly and sustainable products.

Small but simple changes like removing single-use coffee cups from the company canteen have helped to reduce the use of unnecessary single-use materials.