Our path to climate neutrality 2030
With our multifaceted commitment, we at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions take our responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from our business activities seriously.
We consider the fields of action "Locations," "Employees," and "Services" and specify our ambitions with the help of specific action plans and milestones. The degree of target achievement is regularly reported to the Bertelsmann Group Executive Board on the basis of uniform key figures.
We prioritize measures that lead to an actual avoidance and reduction of emissions over compensation activities, because we believe that we should eliminate root causes first, and offset remaining unavoidable emissions only in a second step from 2030 onwards.
Andreas Barth on Sustainability at Arvato
Climate Report
We are continuously working on our sustainability projects to achieve our goals. Learn more about our progress and achievements in our Climate Report for 2021.
Goals
1) Purchase of 100% green electricity worldwide by the end of 2022. Our logistics halls need electricity to deliver goods around the world for our customers. Generating electricity from conventional fossil fuels causes greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate global warming. Therefore, wherever we do not produce electricity for our own use with the help of photovoltaic systems, we will switch to purchasing 100% green electricity by the end of 2022.
2) 50% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, starting from a 2018 baseline.
We take our commitment seriously and therefore continuously measure what emissions are generated by our operations, especially directly in and at our sites. We are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Scope 1 and 2 by half by 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.
3) 50% reduction per package of Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a 2018 baseline.
Global trade is growing, and with it global parcel volumes. As a driver of greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain, we are also reducing emissions from Scope 1, 2 and 3 per package shipped by half by 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline.
4) Offset remaining unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions from 2030 onwards (with the exception of Scope 3 service-related emissions ).
In order to achieve climate neutrality, offsetting of unavoidable emissions from 2030 onwards will be carried out from a portfolio of voluntary climate protection projects, which bind CO2 emissions from the atmosphere over the long term ("removals") and thus actually neutralize the amount of emissions caused by Arvato.
Measures and Examples
The basis for effective climate protection is transparency regarding all relevant direct and indirect emission sources. Since the 2017 financial year, data collection and climate accounting has been carried out across our sites with the help of our green.screen energy and environment platform. It is also the backbone of our yearly environmental data analysis, in which more than 100 employees participate globally. As our need to include more and more detailed data points into our analyses grows, we continuously develop and extend emission transparency and accounting options in green.screen.
In 2021, more than two thirds (68%) of the global electricity consumption was covered by renewable sources. According to our definition, only electricity generated from solar, wind, or water sources is considered to be renewable. We follow the approach to procure renewable energy preferably close to our location, i.e. on the local market. In countries where there is no local offering, we use Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and similar. As of 2021, sites in the following countries already use green electricity (partly or fully): Austria, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, UK, US. Moreover, we are already producing our own electricity in a variety of sites.
Procuring renewable energy only as of 2023 is one of the key pillars in our sustainability strategy. On top of that, our logistics facilities have a great potential for creating our own solar energy, so why not go ahead and use the roof space for a good cause? Before we decide for a new photovoltaic system on an existing building, we have to take structural parameters into consideration: Unfortunately, not all buildings can support additional weight on the roof. For leased sites, we are in close contact with our landlords to find out how we can jointly make these buildings more sustainable.
Currently, there are PV systems installed in our sites in Heijen/NL, Venlo/NL, Landsberg/DE, Marienfeld/DE, Gütersloh/DE, Harsewinkel/DE, Düren/DE, Birmingham/UK, Plewiska/PL, Istanbul/TK, Valencia/US, Tuen Mun/HK. In addition, other projects are at various stages of the planning phase.
Read more about our lighthouse project in Heijen here.
The need for energy (electricity and heating energy) in the warehouse rises, especially with the increase of automation. Therefore, energy-efficient action means being mindful of resources. We try to keep our consumption to a minimum by installing LED lighting as a standard feature, or using motion sensors in our offices and warehouses. Further options to reduce energy consumption include improved insulation of the facilities and directing heating energy smartly into the areas of the warehouse that are most busy. To cover our need for renewable electricity, we are also investing in photovoltaic systems.
With the help of recognized standards and certificates such as ISO 14001, LEED, DGNB or BREEAM, we can anchor our goals and measures locally. Sites with certification or in the certification process are located in Austria, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the US.
Circular economy in logistics
"There is no Planet B"
The earth's increasingly progressive consumption of resources can have serious human, planetary and industrial consequences for the future. The circular economy business model is designed to enable companies to counteract these consequences. Our new white paper discusses this type of circular economy in logistics.