Pollex AB is located in Nödinge, 20 km northeast of Gothenburg, and has worked with renovation and maintenance of water and sewage systems for nearly 40 years.
When Mattias became CEO in 2011, the company decided to make a major investment in No Dig methods as part of the long-term growth strategy.
During the last 40 years, completely new technologies have been developed for installation, maintenance and renewal of water supply and sewerage systems. What are your thoughts on this?
The trenchless technologies were developed in the 1960s and has since been tested and improved for 60 years. Traditional excavation methods are expensive and have a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, the municipalities are now looking at alternative methods for installation and renovation of underground pipes.
The No Dig technologies have developed significantly and are now very secure. Today, the competence is very high in the area and the equipment and materials used have never been better.
Today’s increasing demand for advanced technology coincides with the increasing demand for sustainable solutions. Because of this, there is a race between No Dig and the traditional excavators, and maybe we have already passed them.
Pollex is extremely customer focused and active on the sales side, something that has been an important part of the company’s culture since the beginning. Pollex’s motto has always been to take good care of customers and treat them like friends.
90 % of our customers are municipalities. It is imperative that we talk to them and explain the benefits of the methods, how they work and why they are needed. These type of projects otherwise tend to be postponed to the future – “this can wait another year, we can prioritize it later.”
We are visible, we are available and I dare say that at least one person in every municipality in Sweden has heard of us. We want to be the first thing people think of when it comes to cleaning or renovating pipes – the obvious association.
Pollex thinks long-term in the relationship with the customers and tries to make them look ahead and choose the right solution. How do you get people to realize they need No Dig?
Some things can be difficult to document and show with numbers, and that is precisely one of the reasons why we joined NDA. We know that this is an area that NDA focuses on – documenting CO2 savings and sustainability benefits so that they become visible. Because we are a larger group of companies and have greater resources, we can develop digital systems and tools that help us document what we do so that we can show customers that there are better ways to maintain their infrastructure. We want customers to think No Dig before they decide to start digging. Roughly speaking, a No Dig solution is preferable to excavation in three out of four cases.
So, why the No Dig Alliance?
The market for underground pipeline installation and renovation is constantly growing and this applies not least to the use of No Dig technologies.
By belonging to a group of companies, we can undertake larger projects, strengthen our skills and hire the right people – if we are to exceed customers’ expectations, it is very important that we find the right people for each assignment.
Together with our partners in NDA, we can undertake complex and more challenging projects and more easily implement them from start to finish. We share knowledge and expertise and offer a complete over all solution package together.
By 2045, Sweden will have no net greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, the city of Oslo has started taxing carbon dioxide emissions and the Swedish construction sector plans to be climate neutral by 2045. How can the No Dig techniques contribute to this?
No Dig technologies reduce the carbon footprint by as much as 60-90 percent. If we can reduce emissions by approx. 70 percent by using No Dig, only 30 percent remain until the goal is reached – No Dig is a no brainer in that calculation.
If taxation of carbon dioxide emissions becomes the norm, and not just in Oslo, the No Dig methods will reduce both the total cost and the total impact on society. If you then add other environmental savings such as logistics, noise, airborne dust and human resources, it almost sounds like the No Dig methods are too good to be true. But they do exist. And it is time for people to find out.
Although we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 90 percent, we should strive to electrify our methods. We must be innovative and modern, think long-term and keep the bigger picture in mind. It is not easy to be first, but we will push for development and take the lead in the transition.