Suunto gives rogue components another chance by implementing wristop recycling program

Press release

The leading sports and outdoor instrument innovator has teamed with fellow Finnish based company, Stena Technoworld to recycle thousands of replaced wristops.

Suunto has been designing and manufacturing precision sports and outdoor instruments for longer than 70 years. Now, the progressive Helsinki-based company is making the Earth a bit cleaner by sweeping the cutting-room floor; by collecting and storing unused or defective product parts for the last four years.

Suunto has partnered with fellow Stena Technoworld, to recycle those wristops and components and have them remade into various other metal products for a variety of companies.

"Every single part is recycled as well as possible," says Riku Mikkonen, Suunto's Global Customer Care Manager, "parts that can't be recycled, mainly plastics, will be used in energy waste."

Each Suunto office and warehouse across the globe is gathering up any imperfect pieces and keeping them in large storage bins until they are shipped to Finland for recycling. It is estimated that the first shipment of replaced watches from Suunto's United States offices in Ogden , Utah to Finland weighed nearly 5,700 lbs.

The newly-created green disposal process is just one way Suunto is demonstrating its environmental awareness. The Suunto USA offices are located in the Amer Sports Winter and Outdoor Americas (ASWO) building, which is a newly renovated historic tin can-making factory in Ogden, Utah. The renovation was done this past summer with "green" materials and methods. And ASWO is a sustainable member of the Ogden community, donating bicycles and bike racks to the city, and helping local environmental advocacy groups clean and protect nearby waterways.

Suunto is a leading designer and manufacturer of sports instruments for diving, training and outdoor sports. Suunto sports instruments combine the aesthetics and functionality of watches with sport-specific computers. Headquartered in Vantaa, Finland, Suunto employs more than 500 people worldwide and distributes its products to over 80 countries. The company is a subsidiary of Helsinki-based Amer Sports Corporation with sister brands Wilson, Precor, Atomic, Salomon and Mavic. www.suunto.com