Environmental actions

Amer Sports and our brand companies continued to develop numerous environmental programs in 2009, encouraged by the positive impacts of even minor actions. Following the examples from the previous year, we asked our employees to consider every element of their jobs and how they can improve their performance while reducing their environmental impact.

As many of our employees have happily noted, improvements can be achieved in our daily business operations. Several Amer Sports companies launched initiatives to educate their employees about changing work habits, which resulted in the reduction of paper use, energy consumption, travel rationalization and increased recycling.

Reduced air travel became possible thanks to the increased use of an upgraded video conference meeting system and travel rationalization programs. Identified cost savings in 2009 were as much as 30 percent at Wilson and 40 percent at Suunto compared to 2008. Companies managed to reduce paper consumption by reminding their staffs to use two-sided printing and simply avoid printing whenever possible. For example, at Amer Sports HQ in Helsinki, the reduction amounted to 23 percent less paper used. A new electronic document storage system at Precor resulted in the annual reduction of 216,000 sheets of paper and $26,000 in storage costs. To reduce electricity consumption, shortened hours for building air conditioning systems were implemented, and electric lighting was reduced where possible. Employees were also encouraged to switch off their room lights when leaving the office and to shut off their PC monitors during lunch.

Increased activity was also seen through participation in environmental associations. These vary from industry-wide organizations to local community activities. For example, Salomon is a member of the European Outdoor Group and is represented on its product end of life committee, which is working to establish industry standards for how products are developed and disposed of. Salomon is also a co-founder of the Fondation Eau, Neige & Glace, which was established in October 2009 to improve the management of mountain water resources. Amer Sports Winter & Outdoor Americas (ASWO), located in Ogden, Utah, partners with several local organizations, for instance one whose mission is to promote, plan and preserve trails and open space in and around the local community.

ASWO is also a member of committee to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality in Utah. ASWO’s employees have founded their own Green Committee, which meets regularly to review the company’s performance against environmental targets and to consider new opportunities. A similar committee also is in place at Arc’teryx headquarters in Vancouver. Initiated and supported by the company, the Arc’teryx Green Committee is an employee-based group that dedicates part of their work week towards reducing the environmental footprint of the business. Through research and identifying problem areas within the company, Green Committee members propose and implement more sustainable solutions.

Precor’s new strength equipment manufacturing facility in North Carolina is anticipated to be operational from early 2010. The company has worked with the architects, developers and contractors to ensure the highest possible energy conservation in the new facility. Overall the building will have a reduced energy usage of 40–50 percent compared to the current strength equipment manufacturing facility in use. The Precor team has targeted a goal of achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold status for the facility.