A linear economy (take, make, use, dispose, pollute) is both unsustainable and inefficient. Miljø Norge aims to accelerate the transition to a circular economy and to use our resources more efficiently and responsibly, one fire extinguisher at a time. Their vision: We save lives and the environment.

Newly established in 2021, Miljø Norge’s goal is to increase the circularity of commonly used products. They reuse resources and process waste in ways that captures value while increasing sustainability. Their first circular product is the life-saving and ubiquitous fire extinguisher.

In Norway alone, every year a minimum of 1 million extinguishers need to be serviced or replaced. Most are thrown away after being used or when they expire. Reusing extinguishers means fewer imports. Avoided transportation and fewer raw materials result in an immense reduction in CO2 emissions. One extinguisher needs over 4 kg of steel, which is often from China with higher emissions from steel production and greater emissions from transportation.

A single reused fire extinguisher saves the environment 38kg of CO2. By reducing imports, that could save the environment almost 38.000 tons of CO2 on a yearly basis in Norway alone. That is about the same as 25.000 fossil-fueled cars a year.

The company has designed a circular business model where expired extinguishers are taken in for servicing and returned to the market, good as new. Through automation and digitalization, the company has developed a production line that ensures high quality while handling high production levels on the scale needed to meet the demands of the market.

Already serving clients across Norway, one example of how the market has validated Miljø Norge’s business model is Jernia AS. In close collaboration with Miljø Norge, they have selected multiple stores as collection points where the customer can return their discontinued fire extinguisher when purchasing Miljø Norge's recycled fire extinguisher. Jernia is making this standard in all their stores nationally. According to Espen Karlsen, CEO of Jernia AS, [translated] “This is a dream come true for Jernia, that we now have players such as Miljø Norge who challenge the current process and business models. With the sales volumes we estimate for fire extinguishers, we alone reduce the climate footprint by 1000 tonnes of CO2.”

The potential market for Miljø Norge is massive, including industry, public buildings, infrastructure and real-estate development. And their business model and production line can be adopted to virtually every market that has fire extinguishers. EU fire extinguisher standards especially make this particularly easy for them to scale in Europe.

Miljø Norge makes it natural to choose circular products, reducing society’s climate impact. Simply extending a common product’s longevity results in a dramatic drop in emissions and consumption. They ensure that the environmentally harmful and hazardous waste in fire extinguishers is handled in a proper and safe manner. And they do it to take care of the planet for future generations.

If you find Miljø Norge and their technology interesting, check out their profile on ClimatePoint Connect, have a look at their website or contact them.