Legrand's commitment to combat pollution, limit emissions, and innovate for the circular economy
Legrand’s responsibility is to limit the impact of its activities on the environment, and to be a benchmark player in the onset of a low carbon society. This responsibility extends through our locations around the globe and into the life cycle of our products, from their design to the end of their useful life. Our challenge is to meet the science-based target to which we committed, by leveraging all forms of innovation, reducing the environmental footprint of our products and operations and exhorting our suppliers to make their own carbon reduction commitments.We invest in product transparency documentation, like environmental and health product declarations, and continuously adopt the practices of a more circular economy. In our operations, we are dedicated to lowering our energy, water, and waste footprint, and minimizing the impact of our transportation. In our CSR Roadmap, we’ve outlined the areas of action which will deepen our commitment to the environment.
Limiting our greenhouse gas emissions
7% absolute reduction in CO2 emissions:
Legrand is taking responsibility to achieve a 7% absolute reduction in carbon emissions. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the world’s atmosphere are driving temperature increases, putting ecosystems, species, and sea levels at risk. In 2018, Legrand became one of about 500 companies world-wide to commit to Science Based Targets aimed at reducing carbon emissions to a level that supports limiting a global temperature rise to just 2 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution temperatures. Legrand is focusing on minimizing our footprint by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels in our facilities, reducing the overall consumption of energy, as well as piloting alternative and lower carbon energy sources like solar. Learn more about our operational goals to reduce our energy and carbon here and about our Science-Based Target Commitment here.
2.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided due to the use of our energy efficient products:
Legrand manufactures many products that assist our customers in meeting their own energy efficiency and carbon reduction goals, including occupancy sensors, plug-load controls, LED lighting fixtures, energy management systems, and more. Our goal is to avoid 2.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions due to the use of our energy efficient products. To discover how Legrand’s products can assist in meeting your high performance building needs, click here.
Innovating for a circular economy
Integrating circular economy principles into the development of new products:
Legrand is committed to manufacturing products that perform within a circular economy, which refers to the shift from a linear, or “take, make, dispose” economy to one where products and materials remain at their highest and best use for as long as possible. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has defined three key principles for the circular economy: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in play, and regenerating natural systems. We are challenging our product design teams to rethink the traditional design process and to embed eco-design considerations into new product development. We utilize life cycle assessment tools up front in order to lessen the environmental impacts of manufacturing, distributing, using, and disposing of our products, and look for opportunities to embed circular economy principles
Supplying product transparency:
Legrand is committed to providing product transparency in the form of Health Product Declarations (HPDs), Declare Labels, and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in the form of Product Environmental Profiles (PEPs) which is the electric, electronic, and heating and cooling industries form of an EPD. An EPD discloses the environmental impacts of a product lifecycle from raw material extraction to end of life. An HPD is document which discloses chemical product ingredients and the associated potential human and environmental health hazards. These documents are used by building professionals to make informed product decisions and can also contribute to credits for green building rating systems like the Materials and Resources Credits in LEED. Our goal is to provide transparency documentation for 2/3 of our products by sales. To locate EPDs and HPDs from Legrand, visit this page.
Ensuring waste recovery:
We are committed to reducing both the short- and long-term negative impacts of our businesses on the environment while simultaneously building efficiency into our manufacturing process by using all possible material, reusing leftover material, and recycling when we cannot. As of 2018, following many years of dedicated work by our operations and facilities teams, we’ve managed to divert over 94% of our waste from landfill. Going forward, we are exploring ways to not only divert waste, but reduce the generation of waste by applying the principles of the circular economy in our product design and manufacturing processes. The Legrand Group global goal for this roadmap is 90% of waste recovered.
Combating pollution
Reducing Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions:
Legrand seeks to lower our Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions to assist with the goal of combatting air pollution. A VOC is a chemical byproduct emitted as a gas, often experienced as a smell, like the smell of a new car or carpet. The injection and molding of plastic components, stamping of metal parts, assembly of plastic, metallic, and electronic components, and painting or surface treatment of components can release VOCs into the atmosphere and although the quantities involved are quite low, Legrand is committed to reducing them even further. By reducing the VOCs in our factories, we create healthier indoor environments for our employees and lower our air pollutants. To meet this goal, we are working with our operations teams and have already created an action plan that will contribute to our roadmap goal of 10% reduction in VOC emissions.