6 minute read
Champion sustainable resource usage
COMMITMENT 9
Champion sustainable resource usage
The climate –one of our times’ biggest challenges
Global emissions of greenhouse gases must revert from today’s increase to a major decrease in order to stay at a level with manageable risks for serious climate impacts. All countries in the world are affected and all are part of both the problem and the solution. Our environmental objective is to decrease our climate impacts with 34 % by 2025, with 2011 as the base year. This commitment is aligned with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report’s reduction pathway to limit warming to 1.5°C. Our environmental engagement is part of Sodexo’s mission and an alleged priority within our sustainability program Better Tomorrow 2025. In order to reach our set targets, knowledge is required and that’s why we since 2014 perform environmental trainings, which are mandatory for all employees. We measure our climate impacts according to the international established standard from Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) where there is a direct and indirect categorization of carbon emissions such as CO2 equivalent emissions.
Scope 1 relates to direct emissions from operations owned or controlled by Sodexo, and include emissions from vehicles, tools and self-heating. Scope 2 relates to indirect emissions from purchased and used electricity, heating and cooling. In a physical sense, these emissions are made at sites where electricity, heating and cooling are produced.
Scope 3 relates to other indirect emissions, for Sodexo mainly from our supply chain, production of raw material (food), purchased transports and business travel. This is where our biggest climate impact arises due to our food operations.
COMMITMENT 9
Champion sustainable resource usage
Sodexo´s efforts to reduce climate impacts
We have achieved considerable reductions in climate impacts from transports and electricity, not least by, since 2015, only buying fossil free hydro power electricity. The opportunity for us to make a difference is largest within the area of indirect emissions (Scope 3). According to EAT/Lancet and several other reports, an extensive adaptation is required where consumption of red meat and sugar needs to be reduced by about 50%, while consumption of nuts, fruit, vegetables and pulses must more than double. It is a big challenge for us to influence our children’s and adult’s food habits. In order to succeed, comprehensive efforts and a dialogue with clients and guests are required.
Our efferts mainly consist of: 1. Preventing Food Waste
Preventing food waste is the single most important area where we can work to reduce emissions.
Sodexo has implemented WasteWatch, a waste reduction program to help meet food waste reduction goals. Using this program, Sodexo site teams take action and drive change to cut food waste generated in the kitchen as well as that left on consumers’ plates. That requires good planning, tools, perseverance and trained staff in order to succeed. In Sweden we have been measuring and reducing food waste in a structured way since 2013. We are already reporting of food waste from most of our food sites in the Nordic countries. Sodexo’s Nordic objective is to reduce food waste below 50 gram per served meal before 2022.
Another Swedish example is our cooperation with Karma app for left over food. Karma is an app that connects surplus food from our restaurants, cafes to consumers for a reduced price. As a result, users eat great food for less and we receive an additional revenue stream — all while reducing food waste.
Sodexo employees, clients and consumers around the world are particularly mobilized around the topic of waste, every autumn, during our annual event, WasteLESS Week.
COMMITMENT 9
Champion sustainable resource usage
Sodexo´s efforts to reduce climate impacts
2. Promoting Plant-Based Meal Options
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, raising livestock contributes 14.5% of all climate change related emissions (FAO) or about 7 times more than global air transport.
In order to raise awareness on the health and environmental benefits of plant-based meals, Sodexo has implemented programs like Love of Food and offers like Mindful. Sodexo has also partnered with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to work on criteria for dishes that are better for consumers and for the environment. Sodexo will feature recipes inspired by Knorr and WWF’s Future 50 Foods report, 50 nutritious foods that are healthy, flavorful, accessible and can be better for the planet than comparison foods. This will provide and promote a balanced intake of protein through plant based protein alternatives and other sustainable offers.
Our long term goal is to reduce climate impact per meal to under 0.5 kg CO2 equivalent emissions. In Sweden this is for example being done through our cooperation with our Sparx start-up company Klimato.
COMMITMENT 9
Champion sustainable resource usage
Sodexo´s efforts to reduce climate impacts
3. Reduce our use of disposable plastics
We have a Nordic Commitment to eliminate single use plastics by 2025. We have already started to step by step replace plastic material with more sustainable alternatives. (read more on the pages 23-24).
4. Increasing local and small business engagement and responsible sourcing
Sodexo places a strong focus on supporting local and small businesses such as suppliers promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Today, more than half of Sodexo’s carbon emissions come from its supply chain, primarily from carbon intensive commodities such as beef, dairy, palm oil, soy and paper that can also have an impact on deforestation.
Sodexo is continuing our collaborative efforts with the WWF (our global technical partner on environmental issues since 2010) and its suppliers to reduce the emissions associated with the products used, particularly products such as these ones.
With our structured process for supplier assessment (SoSP) we can evaluate and prioritize suppliers with an active environment work. We have specific demands within different supply chain areas, through Sodexo´s Supplier Code of Conduct which regulate for example areas such as palm oil, sea food and disposables.
5. Develop services that help our clients to measure and reduce their climate impacts
Sodexo is working with our clients on-site to reduce energy consumption. Sodexo can help a business reduce its energy costs by six figure amounts in some instances; and reduce its carbon emission through auditing, monitoring, design, and by bringing about behavioral change. Additionally, Sodexo Nordics only buy electricity from fossil free Hydropower with very low carbon footprint.
COMMITMENT 9
Champion sustainable resource usage
CASE
WasteLESS Week
WasteLESS Week is a global, five day campaign which is run by Sodexo on a yearly basis in the autumn. During the week Sodexo encourages employees, clients and customers to be thrifty when it comes to consumption of water, energy and paper.
During the campaign teams on-site focuses on reviewing various actions in order to streamline and improve their waste management. The also highlight importance of reducing food waste during the week. For instance we encourage our guests at Sodexo restaurants to only take as much food on their plates as they can eat, and to only take one napkin at a time.
- Our employees work to reduce the amount of waste and the consumption of natural resources together with our customers on a daily basis. During WasteLESS Week we focus on communicating about our environmental work and we try to have a positive dialogue with our clients and customers, Per Liljedahl, Director QHSE Sodexo Nordics says.
