Hydro is introducing a new commercial concept to help customers develop aluminium products that are more functional for consumers and better for the planet. It is called Hydro EcoDesign.
The concept supports customers by combining technical excellence with creative design to improve the functionality of a product, as well as its social and environmental footprint. It is a collaboration between customer and supplier, bringing product designers together with engineers schooled in the unique methodology of Hydro EcoDesign.
Hydro EcoDesign complements the growing number of products and services the company is offering in line with its sustainability strategy, including the low-carbon aluminium brands Hydro REDUXA and Hydro CIRCAL.
“Most of the cost of a product and its environmental impacts are committed early in the design process, on the drawing board. This is where circular economy begins, and this is where Hydro EcoDesign has a role to play,” says Egil Hogna, executive vice president responsible for Hydro’s Extruded Solutions business area. “We aim to go beyond reducing negative impacts, to improving positive impacts.”
Hydro Extruded Solutions will launch Hydro EcoDesign this autumn in Europe, employing its network of more than 30 aluminium extrusion plants across the continent. Most of the manufacturing sites are certified according to ASI’s Performance Standard. Many have also achieved certification to the ASI Chain of Custody Standard, which allows the sites to sell ASI-certified material to customers.
Photo: Buzon Pedestal International utilised Hydro EcoDesign to improve the gutter profiles in its product package, used here for the Hammersmith project in London.