Sustainability is the first corporate value of Arion.
We take responsibility for our organization’s impact on the surroundings, in business, environmental and social terms. We continuously look for ways to make our activities and brands – Arion Slide Solution and Swash® – more sustainable. Only then we can live up to our SMILE principles and genuinely identify ourselves as the “Sustainable Makers creating Impact through Leadership and Energy.”
Arion Sustainability Report 2021 presents our actions and efforts in a transparent way. In our report, we highlight both our successes and our challenges in the area of sustainability.
The new sustainability report focuses on the three building blocks of sustainability: People, Planet and Prosperity.
People
Our sustainability mission is to continuously improve the level of happiness of our stakeholders today and tomorrow. Our Arion Slide Solutions and Swash® products improve the lives of thousands of caregivers and care recipients every day across the globe. We also invest in the happiness of employees, suppliers other important Arion stakeholders.
Highlights from the Sustainability report on People
- Consumers give high grades for the safety of our products: on average, a 9.3 on a scale from 1 to 10 in 2020.
- In 2021, we introduced GoodHabitz at Arion. GoodHabitz is an e-learning platform offered to all Arion employees to invest in their knowledge and skills.
- The voluntary employee turnover (people who stopped working for Arion voluntarily) dropped heavily and below 7.5% in 2020.
At Arion, we are proud to stimulate diversity. We have employees from 11 different countries (and cultures) and 42,9% of Arion’s managers are women.
Planet
An important part of sustainability is about our impact on the environment. In the previous sustainability report, we reported about the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which shows that the total ecological impact of Swash® is 74% lower compared to the bed bath with water and soap. Reducing our environmental impact even further in the future has our constant attention.
Highlights from the Sustainability report on Planet
- We participated in several research projects to explore possibilities to make our products more sustainable. We participate in the Wanderful.stream project (EU Interreg project) in which students, business developers and designers explore possibilities to make Swash® more circular. Together with Fontys Hogeschool, we studied the options for collecting and recycling used Arion Slide Solution products. Based on the research, we decided to look for new packaging (materials) for these products.
- Waste levels at Arion decreased in 2020 compared to 2019. Yet, we still need to invest efforts to reach our objectives.
- We plan to invest in solar panels in the next five years.
- We participated in the Week of the Circular Economy in February 2021 by launching a social media campaign about circularity.
Prosperity
At Arion, we want to contribute to the economic system for which we need to be profitable. To be financially sustainable, it is crucial to adhere to regulations. One way in which we keep track of regulations is by collaborating with other companies and networks. We are a member of EDANA, the non-wovens association.
Highlights from the Sustainability report on Prosperity
Our board dedicates time to initiatives that are not Arion-related but that contribute to economic development. In 2020, our CEO spent more than 200 hours on such activities, which shows our commitment to the (local) economy.
Arion contributes to clean drinking water in developing countries through the collaboration with Made Blue. For every Swash® package sold, one liter of clean drinking water is made available in a developing country.
Arion and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
With our partnership with Made Blue, we contribute to SDG 6, “clean water and sanitation”. The 17 SDGs, introduced by the United Nations, represent the current global challenges. At Arion, we focus on three SDGs:
- SDG 3 Good health and well-being – Our products improve the quality of life of end-users by offering valuable health care solutions.
- SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation – In addition to our partnership with Made Blue, the Life Cycle Assessment of Swash® shows that 250 liters of water are saved for each bed bath with Swash®.
- SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production – We explore alternative materials to lower the ecological impact of our products during production and use.
Do you want to contribute to a more sustainable world?
You can start by fill out this survey about sustainability in healthcare. It will only take 5 minutes.
Arion Sustainability Team