Sustainability at HYCON
Powerful tools. Built to work responsibly.
At HYCON, we believe sustainability is about more than how a product is powered. It is also about how efficiently a job can be completed, how long the equipment remains in service, how it affects the people using it, and how responsibly we operate as a business.
Hydraulic technology has some inherent advantages in these areas. It allows us to separate the power source from the handheld tool, deliver high power from compact equipment, build tools with relatively few moving parts, and use one power source across a broad range of applications.
At the same time, hydraulics are not without environmental impact. Hydraulic transmission involves energy losses, hydraulic systems require oil, and combustion-powered power packs still consume fuel and produce emissions. Our approach is therefore not to call hydraulics inherently sustainable, but to focus on the right applications where it can reduce environmental impact, improve working conditions and extend the useful life of professional equipment.
Better working conditions
Professional tools are used for hours at a time, often in demanding environments. Their impact on the operator matters.
One of the key advantages of a hydraulic handheld tool is that the power source does not need to be carried by the operator. HYCON saws, for example, do not contain their own combustion engine. This contributes to a high power-to-weight ratio and allows us to build compact tools designed for demanding professional work. The HYCON HRS400 weighs only 10 kg without blade and hoses, but has a cutting depth of 300 mm.
Reducing handheld weight can reduce physical strain and make a tool easier to position, particularly during vertical cutting, pipe work and other tasks where the operator is working in difficult positions.
Separating the tool from its power source also separates the operator from the combustion engine. When a HYCON tool is powered by a petrol or diesel power pack, the power pack can be positioned away from the immediate working area. This means that exhaust is not produced directly at the handheld tool.
This is particularly relevant when compared with handheld petrol equipment, where the engine and exhaust source move with the operator.
With a HYCON electric power pack, there is no combustion exhaust at all at the point of use. HYCON currently offers electric power packs including the HPP09E, HPP18E and HPP18E FLEX range.
Moving the power source away from the operator can also move one source of noise away from the immediate working position. However, cutting concrete, asphalt, steel and other materials remains inherently noisy, and the cutting action itself generates significant sound.
Safety also depends on how the tool behaves during demanding cuts. HYCON saws incorporates a pressure-relief system that stops the saw if the blade jams. The HRS400 ring saw uses a ring-blade principle that allows deep handheld cutting and avoids the conventional kickback associated with a jammed centre-driven blade.
For pipe cutting, trench work and confined working positions, these characteristics can make hydraulic cutting a particularly useful alternative where control, tool positioning and operator conditions are important.
Efficient use of energy
Efficiency should not only be measured by how much energy a machine consumes while it is running. What matters is also how much energy is required to complete the job.
Hydraulic transmission involves losses through pumps, hoses and motors. A hydraulic system should therefore not automatically be described as more energy-efficient than a directly driven machine.
The advantage of hydraulics is instead the amount of power that can be delivered through a compact handheld tool. HYCON tools are designed around a high power-to-size and power-to-weight ratio, allowing demanding cutting, breaking, drilling and pumping tasks to be carried out with compact equipment. HYCON's HRS400, for example, weighs approximately 10 kg while providing a cutting depth of up to 300 mm.
Higher available tool power and greater cutting depth can reduce the time, number of passes or amount of repositioning required to complete some tasks. In those applications, a machine that consumes more energy per hour may still require less energy to complete the work.
Our broad range of power packs also gives customers flexibility in how hydraulic power is produced. HYCON offers petrol, diesel and electric power sources at different capacities, so a user only gets the power that is needed. A truck full of hydraulic tools for different jobs can therefore be compatible with different ways of generating hydraulic power depending on the application and available infrastructure. This means a contractor does not necessarily require a separate engine or motor for every individual handheld tool. One power source can support different activities such as cutting, breaking, drilling and pumping, helping make better use of the equipment already on site.
Electric power packs are particularly relevant in applications where local exhaust emissions need to be eliminated. The HPP18E FLEX also uses variable-frequency control to adjust electric motor speed according to the required hydraulic flow rather than continuously operating the motor at full speed and restricting the output. HYCON states that this reduces unnecessary energy consumption and improves efficiency.
Where combustion power is required, HYCON petrol power packs use four-stroke engines rather than the two-stroke petrol engines commonly found on handheld petrol cut-off saws. Because a four-stroke engine has a separate lubrication system, it does not require lubricating oil to be mixed with and intentionally burned alongside the fuel.
Built to last
One of the simplest ways to reduce the resource impact of professional equipment is to keep it working for longer.
HYCON tools are designed for demanding environments and use relatively simple hydraulic systems with few moving parts. All internal moving parts are bathed in oil, protecting them from the water, dust and slurry commonly encountered in construction, utility and underwater work. HYCON provides spare-parts documentation for current products as well as archived product generations, supporting maintenance and repair throughout a product's working life.
The hydraulic system also separates the tool from its power source. Given the correct pressure and flow, a HYCON power pack can operate a broad range of HYCON handheld hydraulic tools, reducing the number of combustion engines needed to complete a wide variety of tasks.
Our philosophy is to maintain and repair professional equipment rather than treat it as disposable. We have tools and power packs that are more than 10 years old still running in the field.
Serviceability is equally important. Spare parts and technical documentation allow worn components to be replaced without automatically replacing the complete tool. Designing products with accessible service points and replaceable components can extend useful lifetime and reduce unnecessary consumption of materials. All HYCON tools are repair ready and are assembled using screws and bolts rather than glue, removing the need for specialist service equipment.
Keeping equipment operating also requires access to service. HYCON works through an international distributor network with over 70 distributors who are able to service our tools locally. That means that a tool that needs repairs do not need to be transported to Denmark and back again.
In order to keep a tool running, it must be maintained properly. That's why we provide training materials for our distributors and end users on how to maintain a tool to lengthen the life span.
Responsible business
Sustainability also concerns how we run our company and how we work with employees, customers, suppliers and business partners.
Since April 2026, HYCON has been part of Lagercrantz Group, which acquired 95% of HYCON A/S.
As part of Lagercrantz Group, HYCON operates within a broader sustainability framework focused on three material areas: reduced climate impact, motivated employees and safe workplaces, and responsible business. Lagercrantz provides group-wide governance, support and follow-up, while individual companies are responsible for implementing relevant sustainability initiatives within their own operations.
The Group's Code of Conduct establishes principles for legally compliant, fair and ethical treatment of employees, suppliers, customers and other business partners.
For HYCON, being part of this framework gives us goals and objectives to meet and live up to.
Click here if you want to read more about Lagercrantz' sustainability efforts.
Measuring what matters
We are determined to develop our understanding of the environmental impact of our own operations and, importantly, of our products throughout their working lives.
Areas we believe are particularly relevant include the energy required to complete a given task, the working life and repairability of our equipment, the transition toward electric power sources, and the working conditions of the people who use HYCON tools every day.
As better data becomes available, our ambition should be to make these impacts increasingly transparent and to use them to guide future product development.
For HYCON, sustainability and performance should not be opposing objectives. The goal is to build equipment that gets demanding work done effectively, remains in service for a long time, and creates better conditions for both the people using it and the resources required to produce and operate it.
