Elan, a global ski manufacturer located in the Slovenian Alps that handcrafts skis 100 percent on green energy, has earned the GREEN STAR Certificate for the company’s integration of social responsibility and sustainability plans through 2030 and beyond.
As a heritage brand, the 77-year-old Elan is connected deeply to its local community and environment. Sustainable development always has been part of Elan’s identity. Today, it claims to be the only global ski manufacturing company running 100 percent on green energy. It says all its products are handmade in a single location in the Alps, with an emphasis on the sustainability of the supply chain. The company declares that 99 percent of the raw materials used to make skis come from the European Union, and that nearly 70 percent of the material comes from within 400 kilometers of the Elan Factory. Furthermore, the company uses sustainable-sourced wood with controlled origin and traceability.
This year has been a landmark year for Elan. It built a solar power plant at the company’s headquarters, allowing its products to be powered by electricity generated 100 percent from sustainable renewable energy sources, as it works toward an emission-free future. This follows the company’s various sustainability efforts over the past decade such as pioneering a standard in the industry for digital printing technology, saving more than 32 tons of volatile organic compounds waste since 2016.
Elan’s actions earned the GREEN STAR recognition, the first certificate of its kind for contribution to climate neutrality and a greener future. CER Sustainable Business Network – the Slovenian-based third-party assessment uses science-based metrics and data to set strategic priorities and highlight areas of improvement to help achieve green transformation and the road to net zero, giving Elan recognition of a “determined challenger.”
“When you place sustainability in the context of a business balance sheet and use it as a cornerstone of the business ethos, it transforms into an opportunity to drive the strategic direction of the business and harness its innovative potential,” said Director Leon Korošec of Elan’s Winter Division. “When your work is so closely intertwined with nature the lines between personal commitment to the future of the environment and business commitment to sustainable growth become blurred. But that’s why we are sustainable by nature.”
Elan draws inspiration for a sustainable future from its environment, the local Slovenian Alps and its people, the multi-generational employees committed to designing skis of the future but also the future of skiing while protecting the plant.
For more information visit: https://elanskis.com/us_en/sustainability
