Annual Review for Bona, 2009

A spread I have written for the 2009 Close-up Annual Review for the Malmö-based international company Bona. They specialise in products for the treatment and care of wooden floors and have a strong environmental profile with water-borne finishes and safe adhesives. I have written for Bona for more than 20 years.

SAMPLE COPY

“On track for sustainability

In 2008, Bona took a new step in their environmental work by launching a brand new campaign, “On Track for Sustainability”.

One commonly used definition of sustainability is “development that meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It has become a buzzword in the boardrooms of many large corporations in recent years but Bona was actually caring and concerned about the environment long before sustainability was in vogue.

“We were pioneers in the 1970s by introducing our water-borne finishes for wooden floors. Since then we have pioneered dust-free sanding and a whole range of silane-based adhesives. These breakthroughs make a difference to the working environment of the flooring contractor and for the outdoor environment too,” says Arne Wallin, Environmental Manager at Bona. “Sustainability is our goal. It includes three parts: environment, economy and ethics.”

A big milestone for the environmental work at Bona was the ceasing of sales of solvent-based finishes in the EU by Bona in February 2009. The next step will be to phase out Bona’s solvent-based adhesives as well and the date has just been set by Bona as 31 December 2010. The company is moving more and more towards sustainable solutions.”

Design by Borstahusen in Sweden.