Interview with Carmela Crippa, Head of Corporate Sustainability of the JENSEN-GROUP

Questions on Climate Goals and Sustainability Commitments

Ambition vs. Reality: The JENSEN-GROUP has set ambitious climate targets. How are you ensuring that these are not just lofty promises, but tangible and achievable? What specific steps are you taking, particularly within the laundry and textile industries, to meet these climate goals?

This commitment represents a natural and logical progression in our history, where sustainability has always been a key focus. As a laundry equipment manufacturer, we contribute to one of the oldest circular economies, enabling textile reuse and reducing the need for resource-intensive new textiles. Recognizing the water and energy demands of the industry, JENSEN introduced the CleanTech concept 17 years ago (2008) to save resources and extend textile lifespans. In 2018, the partnership with Inwatec, specialist in laundry robotics and AI, advanced our efforts to reduce textile waste even further. With its innovative technology, workwear containing foreign objects, like scissors or pens, are automatically detected and sorted out to avoid damage to the garments.

Two years ago, Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) became a strategic driver of the JENSEN-GROUP in alignment with the European Union’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In preparation for our first Sustainability Statement under the CSRD in 2025, we have gathered extensive ESG data and gained insights into our carbon footprint. Recently, we joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), committing to emission reduction goals aligned with the global warming targets of the Paris Climate Agreement and validated by independent third-party reviews.

Key targets pending validation by the SBTi include reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 58.8% and Scope 3 by 35% by 2034. Strategies include electrifying our fleet, reducing operational energy consumption, switching to zero-emission electricity, developing innovative energy-efficient solutions, advancing renewable heating technologies, improving Scope 3 data accuracy, and fostering industry collaboration. As part of this effort, trade associations play a vital role in connecting stakeholders and driving collective action to decarbonize the laundry industry. I am co-chairing the Sustainability Working Group of the European Textile Service Association (ETSA) on behalf of JENSEN, where a diverse group of industry stakeholders come together to learn from one another and develop solutions for a more sustainable future.

Balancing Profit with Purpose: In the industrial laundry sector, profitability is key. How does the JENSEN-GROUP reconcile the need to maintain profit margins with its sustainability commitments? Can you share examples where you have had to make tough choices between these two priorities?

Truly sustainable success includes financial health. According to an analysis by McKinsey [1], financially successful companies that integrate ESG into their core strategy outperform their peers, while excelling at ESG alone is not enough to “compensate for poor growth and profitability”. Beyond responsible actions like tree planting, success involves fostering growth, supporting the economy, and securing jobs. JENSEN’s solid financial foundation provides laundries with long-term reliability and stability.

Our innovative solutions blend profitability with sustainability. Using robotics and automation, JENSEN enhances efficiency, reduces errors, and ensures faster ROI. Durable designs lower costs and increase the lifetime of the equipment, while intelligent systems improve working conditions, enabling employees to focus on less strenuous, safer tasks. In fully automated laundries, items pass through just three pairs of hands, thanks to seamless interfaces, boosting safety and workplace appeal.

The CleanTech concept maximizes output while minimizing energy and water use, aligning cost savings with resource conservation. With JENSEN, customers achieve economic success and sustainability together.

Metrics of Success: For the JENSEN-GROUP's sustainability initiatives, what does success look like? Are you tracking the right metrics within your product lines and operations, and how transparent are you about sharing this progress with stakeholders, including your customers?

As a stock-quoted supplier, JENSEN has been offering complete transparency on its activities for years, including the disclosure of non-financial information in its annual report.  In line with CSRD requirements, we conducted a double materiality assessment in early 2024 with internal and external stakeholders to identify key business topics and ensure we measure the right metrics. Enhanced reporting processes and team dedication have significantly improved ESG data quality, enabling us to set science-based climate targets.

Optimizing the energy use of our equipment will play a major role in our climate transition plan, as the amount of energy used by customers impacts the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere. Innovative product developments and adequate service offers play a crucial role in this transition. The major challenge is measuring the laundries’ energy consumption, which can vary significantly among sites, and tracking our equipment's performance at our customers over time.

Client Demand vs. Push Strategy: Your clients in the industrial laundry sector might not always prioritize sustainability. How does the JENSEN-GROUP balance responding to current client demands while proactively leading them towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions?

We prioritize customer needs through strong project management and long-term relationships. Profitability drives laundries to cut costs, especially for utilities and labor. By reducing energy and water use and embracing automation, our solutions help lower expenses while promoting sustainable practices.

The example of the fully automated system on the soil side of a laundry showcases the relationship between sustainability and profit. Health-related staff costs are minimized, as employees no longer have to work in this unsafe section of the laundry. The THOR sorting robot quite literally enables laundries to leave the handling of dirty linen to machines, which protect staff from hazards caused by possible contamination or dangerous objects. With our automated systems, less employees are needed for the least attractive tasks, enhancing efficiency, safety, and working conditions. The JENSEN-GROUP aims for this fully automated system to become as essential and standard in laundry operations as tunnel washers or integrated finishing lines, ultimately transforming how laundries streamline their processes and improve efficiency.

Sustainability is not a label; it is a mindset adopted by large corporations and small family-operated laundries eager to pass down a thriving business to future generations. With new EU reporting requirements impacting many SMEs, we support compliance through transparent reporting and tools like Globe by Gotli Labs, which simplifies data management. Our climate targets also benefit public-sector customers, aligning with tender requirements for carbon reduction plans.

Questions on Internal Change for Sustainability

Cultural Shift: For a company like JENSEN-GROUP, operating in a traditional manufacturing space, what are the biggest challenges you face in fostering a cultural shift towards sustainability within your teams and operations? How are you overcoming these barriers?

With entities all around the world, we need to be compliant with local laws and at the same time promote a universal behaviour and language that makes us naturally do the right thing. This is why our core values are so important. They are embodied in our “JENSEN Spirit” that shapes our company culture and ensures consistency in behavior across our diverse global community. These values unite us as a team and reaffirm what the JENSEN-GROUP stands for worldwide. They include our dedication to innovation, ESG, and CleanTech, and promote a collaborative and respectful workplace. Our responsibilities and values are also reflected in our Code of Conduct for employees and suppliers.

The commitment to sustainability is deeply ingrained in our DNA. It is seamlessly integrated with our mission statement, the strategic focus on ESG criteria, and the design of solutions that consistently consider environmental and social considerations. By embedding the JENSEN values into the core of our strategy and innovations, we improve ourselves and contribute to advancing our industry. Emphasizing these values in leadership trainings and roles is equally crucial for setting inspiring examples of responsible behaviour.

Engagement and Empowerment: How is the JENSEN-GROUP empowering employees, from engineering to sales teams, to contribute to your sustainability goals? Are there any internal programs, innovations, or initiatives that excite you when it comes to driving sustainability within the company?

For the past 17 years, JENSEN has focused on integrating sustainability into its product development through the CleanTech approach. This strategy enhances operational efficiency, minimizes water and energy consumption, and ensures long-term profitability. However, to refine our approach to sustainability, the CSRD has been instrumental, compelling us to pinpoint key sustainable areas to focus on and gather relevant ESG data. With each JENSEN entity now compiling their ESG data quarterly, they are equipped to monitor their own progress and make knowledgeable choices, using solid data as the foundation for their decisions. Nevertheless, achieving greater employee engagement and an effective sustainable transformation necessitate clear commitments and targets at Group level. We have begun this process by setting climate reduction goals for the next decade. Additional goals are being set to complement these efforts and will be communicated progressively. They will also be detailed in the sustainability statement of our annual report.

We also foster a culture of idea-sharing and initiative-taking through our internal platform, Beekeeper, and consistently highlight ESG and CleanTech in our customer stories, underscoring their significance in the solutions we offer. To maintain transparency and foster open communication, we keep our employees updated on improvements through e-learning sessions, virtual and on-site meetings, and various internal communication channels. Furthermore, we regularly engage in dialogue with employees to leverage their deep insights.

Our dedicated ESG booth at Texcare International 2024 underscored the importance of this topic and provided an excellent platform for engaging with customers and sales colleagues.

Our "Good Deeds by JENSEN" initiative supports social and environmental causes locally, raising awareness and fostering action on sustainability. Echoing Mark Twain's wisdom, we embrace the principle that "continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." It is the cumulative impact of small actions, no matter their size, that fosters increased awareness and encourages responsible behavior.

Walking the Talk: Sustainability is not just about public commitments but also about internal practices. How is the JENSEN-GROUP ensuring that your day-to-day operations—such as manufacturing, supply chain, and energy usage—align with the sustainability promises you make to your clients and stakeholders?

Our commitment to sustainability is embedded in our business operations and strategy, from innovation to servitization over commercial excellence. By steering our product development and sales with the CleanTech concept and automation, and prioritizing the durability and repairability of our products, we demonstrate a tangible commitment to sustainable practices.

Thanks to our customer-centric approach, we have traditionally emphasized our solutions more than our internal practices. Yet, with growing interest from stakeholders such as customers, employees, and investors, coupled with increased reporting demands, we have begun to turn our attention inward to evaluate and communicate the progress of our internal sustainability efforts more extensively.

While we already have solar panels in one of our main factories and taken other small steps in the right direction, there is still room for improvement in making our operations more sustainable. The climate targets we set ourselves will push us to take additional measures in this regard.

Questions on Long-term Vision and Challenges

Learning from Others: Are there any companies in manufacturing, or adjacent industries, that you admire for their sustainability efforts? What can the JENSEN-GROUP learn from their successes, and how do you plan to incorporate these lessons into your own sustainability journey?

Numerous industry players have acknowledged the necessity of adopting more sustainable practices and are diligently working towards their goals. This includes a broad spectrum from textile manufacturers and customers of varying sizes to detergent suppliers. Many have pledged to meet specific climate objectives and are actively seeking methods to enhance the industry's sustainability. This trend has undoubtedly inspired us to set our own sustainability targets. Additionally, we have observed a significant increase in industry-wide discussions on reducing negative environmental impacts and tackling forthcoming challenges.

The Future Landscape: Looking ahead 10 years, how do you envision JENSEN-GROUP’s sustainability and innovation strategies evolving? What are the biggest obstacles specific to the laundry automation and machinery industry that could hinder your progress, and how do you plan to address these challenges?

The challenge of ensuring a consistent supply of fresh linen while reducing environmental impact, particularly with an aging population, is significant. At JENSEN, we see this as an opportunity to innovate further and lead the way in sustainable laundry solutions. Through our CleanTech approach, we assist customers in meeting their environmental, social, and economic goals. Automation enhances productivity, safety, and employee well-being while cutting energy and resource consumption. We also foresee a future where the lifespan of textiles and equipment is extended, minimizing waste and fostering sustainability.

Innovative designs, automation, and maintenance solutions contribute to the durability of laundry systems. Automated soil sorting is expected to become as standard as tunnel washers and finishing lines. With this in mind, we focus on anticipating future regulations that may limit hazardous tasks, such as handling soiled linen manually.

As laundries become more automated and data-driven, internal logistics will be key to ensuring smoother, more efficient operations. This shift will enhance forecasting and customer satisfaction. We remain committed to monitoring EU regulations closely and staying ahead of emerging trends, ensuring we remain a reliable partner for our customers. Our goal is to create a technologically advanced, sustainable laundry industry that addresses the needs of customers, employees, and the environment.

Carmela Crippa - personal details

Carmela Crippa based in Burgdorf/Switzerland is Head of Corporate Sustainability of the JENSEN-GROUP. As a trained archaeologist, she has always been fascinated by the human footprint and its impact. Her educational and professional experiences have deeply instilled in her the value of interdisciplinary collaboration essential for driving sustainable transformation.

[1] „The triple play: Growth, profit, and sustainability”, McKinsey, August 2023.