How one man’s trash is another man’s – or firm’s – treasure at Ragn-Sells
For Ragn-Sells sustainability director Pär Larshans, good waste is not to be wasted. The circular model of his firm transforms waste into valuable resources, driving profitability while reducing environmental impact. At the Treasury 360° Nordic 2025 conference, Larshans dove into how sustainability efforts can become a strategic imperative that impacts liquidity, risk management, and long-term growth in the session titled “Tapping waste for revenues – how true circularity reflects in the books at Ragn-Sells”.
When Larshans joined Ragn-Sells in 2015, the firm’s finances were not in a good shape. It maximised its financial overdraft every month, and had separate treasuries for every subsidiary. But Larshans saw potential in one of the firm’s recent acquisitions: a firm innovating with phosphorus.
Phosphorus, a key component in fertliser, is essential in agriculture. Without it, crop yields would drop, affecting food supply. Unfortunately, phosphorus is not being treated sustainably – neither during the mining process, nor in post-usage. Fertiliser runoff from farming deposits phosphorus into lakes, rivers, and oceans, causing eutrophication and impacting water ecosystems.
To tackle the issue, Ragn-Sells is proposing a shift in the way we handle waste. The production of fertiliser should not only extract phosphorus, but also other important elements, incluidng silica, iron chloride, aluminium, and sulphates. Water treatment plants should become resource recovery plants.
Today, 10 years after Larshans came on board, the firm’s green efforts have garnered it attention from the UN and several governments. It has been commended as an example for innovation and leadership for the UN’s sustainability development goals (SDGs). Its system for transforming waste water treatment in cities is seeing interest from the British and German authorities, as well as the United Nations Environmental Assembly and World Trade Organization.
Well funded
Of course, these sustainability efforts would be impossible without funds. Pär says, “You need to have a treasury to invest in new things… if you don’t have good treasury management, these opportunities will not be possible.”
He believes that consolidating the multiple treasuries the firm had under its many subsidiaries had been key to success. “We needed to have one funnel for investment; we needed to make sure that we have one treasury that we used.”
Given Ragn-Sells’ business model, which comprises subsidiaries involved in many different sectors that might be in competition with one another, it’s all the more important that “treasury management focuses on strategy and doing the right type of investments”.
Speakers:
Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ragn-Sells
Stig Vervik Ellingsen, Global Head of Treasury Management, DNB
• News from Treasury 360° Nordic 2025, at Stockholmsmässan on 22 May, is gathered here.
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