To protect our planet and reverse the effects of climate change, we are aiming to become the benchmark for ecological transformation. Our Sustainability Report 2021 details our progress towards this aim over the past year.
In line with our multifaceted performance goals, we have measured our progress across the following five areas: employees, customers, planet, society and shareholders. Read on to find out more:
Employees
Our people are crucial to supporting us to achieve our environmental aims, so it's vital that we create a working environment with purpose and meaning, that allows people to fulfil their potential. To reflect this, our employee commitment indicator is 85.9% for 2021, with employees undertaking an average of 19 training hours each. Nurturing the next generation of talent is also a priority, with 77 apprentices and 39 graduates joining the company last year. We work with partners such as Prospects and AON to attract graduates, young professionals and a wide range of other candidates to join Veolia at all levels of the business.
Customers
At Veolia, we take a partnership approach to working with our customers, to find new ways of combatting sustainability challenges. For example, we worked with Royal Berkshire Hospital to convert the site from steam to a Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) system, guaranteeing total savings of £1,183,000 per year. Elsewhere, we have helped St. Albans Council to maintain the UK's best recycling rate, by supporting the introduction of a new garden waste subscription service and running education roadshows with the public. In 2020/21, we helped the city to recycle 64.2% of its waste, compared to the national average of 42.3%.
Planet
Along with our ecological transformation ambition, we have committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050. Our Net Zero Roadmap lays out the actions and commitments that will help us to achieve this goal, such as reducing our operational emissions, including emissions from our fuel, gas and electricity consumption by 2% year-on-year to 2040, and switching 100% of our energy portfolio to zero-emission processes by 2050. We have already reduced our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) footprint over the last year through a range of measures, including implementing energy savings across our District Heating Networks, introducing Real-Time Control (RTC) optimisation at our Tidworth water and wastewater site, and upgrading boiler house lighting to LED at our South East London Combined Heat & Power (SELCHP) facility.
Society
We understand that social value is just as crucial as our environmental commitments in our ambition to be a more sustainable business. Our partnership with Groundwork, a charity all about mobilising community action to eradicate poverty and protect the environment, enables us to make a positive impact on local communities across the UK. For example, 2021 saw three Veolia teams volunteer with the charity at the Old Brickworks project in the West Midlands, helping to support the development of green space at the site of a former brick making factory. Elsewhere, our Road to Work scheme (in partnership with Westminster City Council) offers a return-to-work programme for the homeless and vulnerable, combining specialised support services like counselling, housing and advice with flexible workplace arrangements. So far, we have offered opportunities to more than 100 candidates and have had 13 new starters stay on with the company.
Shareholders
To meet the expectations of our long-term investors and shareholders, we must align how we look after our people, our planet, our customers and society with how we continue to increase commercial prosperity and results over time. A growing number of our shareholders are employees, with 13,715 employees being offered the option to take part in one of two different employee share plans, and 16.3% taking up this offer. Looking at another employee-focused initiative, we have launched our Expect Respect training programme, which is designed to guide and protect our employees who work with the general public if regrettable instances of abuse occur.
-Further Reading-
Guardians of Grub: Rising Up Against Food Waste
In the name of rising up against food waste, our good friends at WRAP talk about their Guardians of Grub campaign in this special guest insight.
An innovative decarbonisation project has been announced for Finland
In Finland, Veolia has recently announced the development of an innovative industrial solution, to produce carbon-neutral biofuel from pulp production. Find out how this solution supports our ecological transformation mission.
Veolia and Solvay's decarbonisation solution for the chemical sector
In collaboration with international chemical company Solvay, Veolia has launched an energy transition project: 'Dombasle Énergie'. The project aims to replace coal with refuse-derived fuel (RDF).