Car policy aims to reduce emissions by 30%

Munters has introduced new global guidelines for leased and owned company cars. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions from its car fleet by at least 30% by 2023 from today’s levels.

Munters wants to accelerate its carbon emission reductions from business travel by transitioning to a car fleet with significantly lower emissions. As a result, all local car policies must now be revised to include environmentally friendly car models.*

"This is an important step in our journey to reduce our climate impact,” says Maj-Britt Hällmark, Vice President and Senior Advisor at Munters based in Amesbury, USA. “We have about 350 company vehicles in Munters and choosing models with lower emissions is an excellent way to contribute to a healthier planet."

A policy for all

Coming up with a framework that can be used at all sites was not easy. Not only have the countries in which Munters operates progressed differently in terms of infrastructure for charging electric or hybrid vehicles. All sites have also different business needs that must be met.

To solve the problem, Munters formed a global working group with members from sales, services and other functions. Together, they came up with a framework that works for all.

"We see this as an important first step towards a greener car fleet," says Hällmark. "As the infrastructure matures and more electric and hybrid vehicle models are becoming available, we will set new milestones in a few years."

To help all sites monitor their car fleet and adjust it to meet the new lower emissions levels, Munters has updated its leasing database to include information such as fuel type and CO2 emission factor for each vehicle. It has also created a similar database for vehicles owned by the company. The goal is that in three years' time, every site will have a car fleet with combined emissions that are at least 30% lower than current levels.

The new guidelines make it possible for Munters to provide one-off financial support to employees who select an electric or hybrid vehicle if they have costs to upgrade their home's electric charging functions. Local policies will be able to take into account local tax incentives related to having an environmentally friendly car.

Munters UK leads the way

Munters UK began its journey towards a more environmentally friendly car fleet a few years ago. Today, they have the lowest emission fleet in the company.

Lee Suffolk, Munters Vice President of AirTech for the EMEA region, was responsible for the transition as business unit manager in 2018. He says the successful change was largely possible thanks to an open dialogue with the employees.

"We listened to employees' concerns about the transition to green cars, such as affordability," he says. Another driving factor was that the tax mechanism in the UK motivates drivers to switch to hybrid or electric cars.

As of Q2, 38 out of 46 cars were hybrid in the UK. That's 82% of the UK fleet, which all emit less than 50g CO2/km per vehicle.

The service organization at Munters has also made great strides in switching to environmentally friendly cars. In the Netherlands, Munters recently acquired five new hybrid cars that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32% and in Singapore it has a fully electric service van.

*Environmentally friendly is defined as a vehicle with a maximum emission of 80 g CO2 / km (or equivalent CO2 emissions per mile), according to WLTP (Worldwide harmonized Light-duty Vehicle Test Procedures).

We work to reduce our carbon emissions in a number of ways. Read about our progress here.