Make new from old: How LTS supports a circular economy

“The age of old, power-guzzling, conventional lighting is coming to an end.”?LTS

As part of the Fagerhult Group, at LTS we are committed to the design and production of high-quality luminaires and spotlights, advising our clients on the benefits of modern, sustainable LED lighting and how improved efficiency can reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact of their lighting scheme.?

Sofie Dahlberg, Managing Director at LTS, spoke to us as part of our four-part circulatory series about the approach that LTS takes when it comes to sustainable lighting solutions.

What does circularity mean to you?

For me, circularity is primarily about the reduction of waste within society, and this is something we want to achieve at every stage of a luminaire’s lifecycle. From where and what materials and components we use and how our products are made, to smart controls and optimal light distributions to remove wasted light and energy. And, of course, it is about closing the loop when we get to end-of-life.

Supplier code of conduct and local supply chain

As a company we ask all our suppliers to follow a code of conduct. For us as a German company we are legally obliged to follow the German Supply chain act (Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains) Our aim is for as much of our supply chain to be within Europe as possible: ‘Made in Europe, for Europe’.

Having a local supply chain makes it easier for us to put in place - and control - good working conditions. We are not 100% there yet, but that’s our mission. Some components, electrical, for instance, have to be taken from the Far East, but again all suppliers sign a code of conduct in the same way that our suppliers in Europe do.

Designing for disassembly

The ease of disassembly depends on the product – a lot were designed a long time ago. But now we are rethinking and designing for disassembly at design stage, factoring in these considerations a lot earlier.

It's easy to take our products apart and we are developing more and more products with recyclable components. For instance, making aluminium profiles involves a high level of energy consumption, so we’re now able to replace the insert – this is one way to reuse part of the product, but exchange it to keep it up to date.

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Ensuring lighting products are energy-efficient throughout their lifecycle, from manufacturing to usage and disposal

From our side, we only work with the best suppliers – high quality electronic suppliers for the drivers and LEDS. Having a long-life span for the luminaire results in lower environmental impact.

We make sure that our products are updated on a continuous basis; every 1.5 – 2 years we update them to ensure they have the latest energy efficiency. We have worked with LED for more than 10 years now and the development of the energy efficiency has got faster and faster.

We also engineer the luminaire in other ways to make it more efficient and to improve the quality of the light. For example, is it possible to use two luminaires on one driver? How can they be combined? We’re always thinking about ways to change, about innovation, and how we can use less material.

Minimising the environmental impact of packaging and transportation

Our customers are mainly in Europe, which means less environmental impact from transportation. In terms of packaging, we try to do multi packaging, so there isn’t just a single luminaire in a box – although this depends on the customer of course.

We’ve exchanged plastic bags for paper, and we have a machine in the factory which can make cartons to the exact size we need, so there is no additional air. We can then reduce the space that is needed when transporting.

Products at the end of their life cycle

What happens to a product at the end of its life cycle differs from customer to customer. We offer a recycling service, so when the customer doesn’t want to use the luminaries any more we can take them back, again using our workshops, to disassemble the products and sort into different types of materials. At the moment we can’t just reduce components, but as they have been separated, we are able to recycle them.

We have a specific circular model we are piloting with one of our biggest retail customers, providing them with a cleaning and update service: we take their product, clean it and exchange the electrical component, reusing all the parts we can.

We also have the possibility to repair luminaires - sometimes if a customer has an older installation (where the product has been discontinued), it can be repaired so they don’t have to change everything. We use sheltered workshops in the local area for repairs, providing jobs and contributing back to the local community.

Certifications and Standards

Transparency of information and setting measurable targets is at the heart of our approach to circularity. We are ISO 14001 certified, and as a group we are already working to meet our approved our near Science Based Targets to reduce emissions by 70 per cent in Scope 1 and Scope 2, and by 30 per cent in Scope 3 by 2030 and a long-term Science Based Target to become net- zero by 2045.

Different markets have different need and demands. We’re working on EPDs, which is like a product passport, and while this process is underway, we are working with local markets to provide detailed information to help designers and specifiers calculate the carbon impact of their buildings.

Use the LTS efficiency calculator and find out in a few clicks how big your annual savings potential is in terms of energy consumption and energy costs if you replace your existing lighting with modern LED lights.