Our circular economy actions include a wide range of topics from resource efficiency and use of secondary raw materials to value retention maximisation and end of life. In 2024, we launched a redesigned charger packaging alternative across all our hearing aids brands globally, with the exception of charger packaging for one private-label customer. The project aimed to eliminate plastic content and reduce the packaging size to minimise material consumption. While we still use plastic bags to protect our products inside the package, both the inside and outside of the packaging itself is now plastic-free. In collaboration with our largest supplier of plastic for our diagnostic equipment, some of the plastic we receive and use in our devices is from recycled sources. The recycled content in the plastic we use comes from waste generated during our supplier’s internal plastic production. We started using recycled plastic in 2014 and in 2024, we used 1.5 tonnes of recycled plastic. We plan to continue with this initiative in the future.

In 2024, the resource inflow decreased by 1,572 tonnes compared to 2023, mainly due to reduced purchases of plastic by our Diagnostics business area in 2024. The percentage of biological materials used in manufacturing in 2024 is 12.1%, and reused or recycled materials used in manufacturing and packaging is 1.62%.