EMMA IS ELROY BONGERS

Elroy Bongers has been the proud ‘Head of Innovation and Sustainability’ at EMMA Safety Footwear since December 2024. The fact that Elroy travels all the way from his home town of Soest to faraway Kerkrade for his work proves that his new position is very much his dream job. “In this position, my background in product development and my personal mission to make the industry more sustainable come together nicely. EMMA is an ambitious company full of challenges, with a beautiful history and an eye for social employment. It's a true jewel of the south, so I'm happy to spend those extra hours travelling to work.”

In his new role, Elroy is ultimately responsible for EMMA Safety Footwear's future product range and also monitors the company's long-term direction. Elroy ensures that the company's range of safety shoes not only meets customers' needs and market demand, but that it also contributes towards the achievement of EMMA's sustainability goals. “EMMA Safety Footwear is one of the few manufacturing companies in this industry where sustainability is so ingrained in the company. This is because EMMA has been working on sustainability for more than a decade, has included sustainability in its policy plan, has a sustainability manager AND also has employees who live the sustainability mission.”
 

Choices with an eye for the environment
The fact that Elroy decided to take up a job with a company that lives and breathes sustainability comes as no surprise to us. “I'm very concerned about climate change and so I make my choices – whether personal or business-related – with the environment in mind. For example, I have been eating vegan for a year and as a family, we go on holiday by electric car or train instead of by plane. I also want my career to be about sustainability. In business, my goal is to show the world that it can be done – sustainable production in the Netherlands and serving customers in the best possible way while at the same time growing and being profitable. Not an easy task, but together with the team at EMMA, I'm rising to that challenge.”
 

A complex puzzle
To achieve Elroy's goal and EMMA's mission, product development is crucial. Elroy: “That's the reason why we're auditing the footprint of materials such as leather, steel and PU and are looking at alternatives, including bio-based PU, natural rubber and pineapple leather. We're also keeping an eye on the latest technologies to see which of them we can apply in our production operations in Kerkrade. Together with the other brands within the Hultafors Group, we have implemented some sharply defined CO2-reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. The overall picture is a complex puzzle of wishes and requirements, which we as a team are going to piece together during the next few years.”
 

True circularity
Elroy and his colleagues collaborate closely with partners in order to create a future-proof product range. “I've only been in my new job for a few weeks, so right now I'm mostly conducting familiarisation meetings with suppliers, though you could say that these meetings are more like a reunion for me, since I still know many people from my time at Dunlop Protective Footwear. I worked there for over 12 years and we produced safety boots and were therefore part of the same industry as EMMA's safety shoes. Back then, I was actually already watching EMMA Safety Footwear through the corner of my eye; I made sure I monitored their website closely and read their sustainability each year. Dunlop Protective Footwear and EMMA have many similarities; both companies are traditionally Dutch, have a history going back more than 100 years, are forerunners in sustainability and both manufacture their products in the Netherlands. The big difference is that Dunlop delivers worldwide and EMMA’s operational footprint is relatively local. If you're based in the Netherlands, producing and delivering the majority of your products in the Netherlands gives you an unprecedented advantage when it comes to achieving return logistics and therefore true circularity. The ‘Circular Footwear Alliance’ that EMMA has established with industry partners is a fantastic initiative and forms an important pillar in our strategy.”