Flex announced its factory site in Sorocaba, Brazil has been designated as a Sustainability Lighthouse, a special distinction of the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network (GLN). This is the first factory in Brazil to receive a Sustainability Lighthouse recognition and comes just three months after the company’s factory in Sorocaba was admitted into the GLN.
To achieve the Sustainability Lighthouse designation, the Flex team in Sorocaba, Brazil demonstrated a substantial reduction in their environmental footprint. In a journey spanning almost a decade, the team developed an innovative, smart and sustainable circular economy ecosystem that leverages Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, including a cloud-based reverse logistics system, automated materials separation, and IoT-enabled collection bins to transform electronic waste and reintroduce materials into the supply chain by repairing, harvesting and recycling parts and materials. The Flex site in Sorocaba also reduced energy usage, water consumption and scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions with 4IR technologies like smart utilities management and a digitized CO2 emissions dashboard.
“Embedding sustainability into our advanced manufacturing operations is a strategic priority for Flex, so it is an incredible achievement to have our Sorocaba site named as Flex’s first Sustainability Lighthouse factory, as well as the first of its kind in Brazil,” said Hooi Tan, President, Global Operations and Supply Chain, Flex. “We will continue to scale our sustainable manufacturing practices at our sites across the globe to help us take meaningful steps toward our long-term commitments, including reaching net zero by 2040.”