Contura Steel: “Prevex’s environmental work makes calculating our carbon footprint easy”

Swedish Contura Steel has been manufacturing stainless steel sinks for almost a hundred years. The company’s factory is in Sweden, and it likes to choose subcontractors that are located nearby. This provides both security of supply and environmental benefits.

– The construction industry has been late in adopting an environmental approach, but a lot has happened in the last 1–2 years, says Patrik Jarlhage, CEO of Contura Steel.

Contura Steel supplies its sinks with water traps, so the main materials the company uses are stainless steel for the sinks and plastic for the water traps.

– Neither steel nor plastic are particularly environmentally friendly materials, so we are happy to have found good suppliers. We have been using 90 percent recycled stainless steel for some time now. When Prevex announced that it was starting to manufacture its water traps from recycled plastic, it was the icing on the cake for us.

Environmental work helps secure the future

Contura Steel has not yet calculated its own carbon footprint, but is preparing to do so. Thanks to the fact that the company’s main suppliers have their climate calculations in order, Jarlhage believes that the work will go smoothly.

Customers are not necessarily prepared to pay much more for an environmentally friendly sink, but Jarlhage sees environmental work as a way of future-proofing the business.

– In public procurement, environmental work may already be a requirement, and its importance will not diminish in the future.

From customer to partner

Contura Steel and Prevex have a long history of cooperation. Together, the two companies have developed water traps exclusively for Contura. Over time, the collaboration has become more and more like a partnership.

– It started with our customers increasingly asking for spare parts for water traps. We realized that there was no company on the Swedish market that sells spare parts, and that people were throwing away entire water traps just because a small part was missing, says Jarlhage.

– A few years ago, we started offering a range of water traps and spare parts that we sell directly to our customers and via our website. We sell both to private individuals and to corporate customers who want to buy smaller volumes than Prevex can deliver.

Over time, the collaboration has evolved and now Contura Steel acts as a partner and reseller for some customers of Prevex. The water traps are sold both under Contura’s own brand and the Prevex brand.

Everything is based on trust

When asked what it has been like to cooperate with Prevex, Jarlhage has only positive things to say.

– Our cooperation has gradually grown and deepened. Such close cooperation is based on trust – I have great confidence in our contact persons at Prevex.