Hello! Can you briefly tell us who you are and what you do at Axel Larsson?
My name is Mårten Nahlin and I work as a purchasing and technical manager at Axel Larsson. I have been here for almost 20 years and had several different roles during that time, including as production manager and product manager. It has given me a broad understanding of the company and our processes.
What is the most fun thing about your job?
The absolute most fun is to come to work and meet all my colleagues. We have a very good atmosphere at the company, and that makes every day rewarding.
Which sustainability aspect do you think is most important in your work?
For us at Purchasing, sustainability is very much about logistics and transport. This is where we have the greatest opportunity to influence the environment. All our parcel shipments with Schenker are already climate compensated, and they have been for several years, at no extra cost to customers. We are now working to ensure that all deliveries with pallets will also be climate compensated in the near future. In 2026, we will also start reviewing our inbound freights, with the goal of climate offsetting them as well.
What is the biggest environmental challenge you are facing?
The big challenge is air freight, both to and from us. They account for an overwhelming majority of our carbon dioxide emissions, despite the fact that they make up a small part of all our transport. Therefore, we are now focusing on reducing the number of air freight and instead merging several shipments into fewer but larger shipments. It makes a big difference. At the same time, we know that air travel is sometimes necessary, and in those cases we will also climate compensate for these.
Are there any difficulties in this work?
Yes, absolutely. Not all freight forwarders can still offer completely carbon-neutral freight, especially in aviation. Most offer carbon offsets, but we want to take the next step and reach true climate neutrality. It is a challenge, but something we hope more players will be able to offer in the future.
Why is this work so important?
We strongly believe that sustainability is not only crucial for the environment, but also for our customers and for our future as a company. We want to be able to offer sustainable products and conduct sustainable business throughout the supply chain. That is why we also make demands on our suppliers, for example to enable detailed carbon dioxide calculations at product level in the future.
Can you tell us more about product-level reporting?
We are continuously developing our systems, and in 2026 new features will be introduced for sustainability reporting and calculating carbon footprints per part number. This gives us the opportunity to follow up our environmental impact in a much more detailed way in the future. We are not there yet, but this is an area we will actively work on.
Do you have anything else you want to add?
Environmental issues are high on our agenda, from management to employees on the floor. We are constantly trying to improve, for example by using recycled materials in packaging and optimising the fill rate in our transports so that we do not "drag air". We also work with our largest suppliers to reduce unnecessary transports. There is always more to do, but we have come a long way and are proud of the progress we make every day.