Bolon is a cutting-edge Swedish design company managed by sisters Annica and Marie Eklund, the third generation of the family to own the business. Under their leadership, Bolon has been transformed from a traditional weaving mill into an international design brand, with a focus on innovative flooring and creative interiors. Bolon’s list of clientèle includes Armani, Google, Mercedes, Adidas, Reebok and Sheraton, as well as leading architects and designers such as Jean Nouvel and Cappellini. All design and production is carried out in Ulricehamn, Sweden.
The man who lit the Bolon spark was our founder, Nils-Erik Eklund. Today, his grand daughters Annica and Marie keep the spirit alive. Since they took over the company from their parents Lars and Monica in 2003, they have been on a mission – to make Bolon a design-led innovator and fuse the conservative, traditional flooring branch with the boundless creativity of the world of fashion.
In modern-day business, having a sustainable outlook is no longer a choice but a necessity. Customers increasingly look at a company’s environmental credibility and choose products accordingly.
Maybe it’s Bolon’s location in the lush and scenic landscape of Västergötland, next to Lake Åsunden, that is rubbing off on its green thinking; they are keeping the manufacturing in Sweden as this makes sense both in terms of shorter transports and logistics, but also allows full control of the production process; the PVC flooring is produced without added phthalates; and the factory, warehouse and offices are cooled by geothermal means, using locally drawn groundwater rather than refrigerants that damage the ozone layer.
The collection Flow is Bolon’s first recycled flooring, and is a product of the company’s latest initiative, the recycling plant located in the Ulricehamn factory. Bolon has invested SEK 90 million into the process of transitioning to a more sustainable business. And just recently, Bolon secured the process that grinds and modifies old bits of flooring into granules that can then be bound and reshaped into a new material, starting the cycle over.
The plant will also have an impact that stretches outside the company itself. The company has plans in the pipeline to accept waste products from other manufacturers, but that is a very step-by-step procedure. Getting rid of dangerous substances and recycling materials demand both time and financial commitment, but Bolon also prides itself on smaller but equally important actions that help the environment, whether that is using clean energy or filtering out particles in the factory air.
Bolon’s products have been certified for ECOproduct, a sustainability certification rewarding companies that are selecting environmentally friendly materials and products in construction projects. ECOproduct is a collaboration between Green Building Alliance, Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research and Norwegian Building Centre. Environmental declarations and certifications are important to Bolon as they communicate transparent and comparable information about the environmental impact of the company’s lifecycle processes and products.
Receiving the ECOproduct certificate represent a step forward in Bolon’s efforts towards a future without footprints, a top priority in all aspects of the company’s work.