Vaisala - Annual Report 2005

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The environment and customer applications

Vaisala’s environmental measurement products contribute favorably to the environment in many ways. Diverse phenomena caused by changes in the global climate are being closely studied and measured. Vaisala’s worldwide weather observation systems support this work. The minimization of the detrimental environmental effects caused by exceptional weather conditions is key, and this is why weather parameters are measured more extensively and at shorter intervals. For example, by measuring the water level and its movement we can minimize flood damage. Road weather stations provide real-time weather information to support road maintenance, enabling the accurate identification and timing of road maintenance operations, such as salting. The optimization of winter road maintenance reduces the environmental load.

Vaisala instruments for industry are used to improve product quality and production process efficiency, reduce energy consumption and promote safety and workplace wellbeing. In many manufacturing processes, it is of the utmost importance to accurately measure and control humidity, so that product quality can be kept high and energy consumption low. In addition, carbon dioxide measurements give a good indication of indoor air quality and ventilation efficiency, since people exhale carbon dioxide into the surrounding air. Indoor air can be kept fresh without wasting energy if ventilation is controlled with carbon dioxide measuring instruments.

Certified environmental management system

Vaisala’s environmental management system is ISO 14001 certified and covers all of Vaisala’s offices, operations and products. A major emphasis of Vaisala’s environmental management program is to continuously improve the environmental qualities of new products. The waste management practices have been developed to the highest standards in all Vaisala locations. In customer use, Vaisala’s weather observation and environmental measurement products contribute favorably to the environment in many ways.

Improving the environmental qualities of products

The WEEE directive (Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), became effective in Finland in August 2005. As required, Vaisala has labeled all its recyclable products, and acts as a responsible member of SELT ry, a producers' community committed to the issues of electrical and electronic waste collection and recycling.

The RoHS Directive on the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment will become effective in July 2006. Similar legislation is also under development outside the EU, for example in China. In 2005, Vaisala and some of its partners participated in the YPSE project: the Impact of Environmental Policy Instruments on Activities, Products and Environmental Capabilities in the Electrical and Electronics Industry, financed by the Environment Cluster (a network of companies and organizations in the Oulu region) and the Technology Industries of Finland organization. The goal is to investigate the introduction of product-oriented environmental policies from a business point of view.

According to the most recent revisions in 2005, the RoHS requirements do not apply to Vaisala's products in the first phase, as they belong to category 9 (monitoring and control instruments). In 2002, Vaisala's Management Group made a decision in principle to adjust operations to meet the Directive requirements according to its schedule. The Management Group further specified in 2005 that all new product designs, and from the existing products the Vaisala Instruments division's high volume products as well as the Vaisala Radiosonde RS92, will be modified to meet the RoHS requirements along with the original schedule.

New products’ environmental qualities are continuously improved as part of the product design process. The next goal is to develop the Key Environmental Performance Indicators (KEPI) best suited to measure Vaisala products' environmental qualities.