Caring for our planet
Our environmental ambitions & goals
Environmental management is an integral aspect of gategroup’s overall ESG strategy. We understand that our business has a significant environmental footprint, and we have a responsibility to do our part to minimize it. We therefore established environmental ambitions and targets for water, waste, and energy management and we are committed to putting relevant actionable measures in place.
Water
We recognize that protecting this vital natural resource is not only important from a humanitarian perspective but also critical for our business operations.
Ambition
Cut water usage by 50% across our locations in water-stressed areas by 2035.___
Targets
- Conduct groupwide water usage assessment by EoY 2023 and create water management strategy by EoY 2024.
- Deploy a proactive water management program and show demonstrable results by 2025.
By focusing on water conservation, we are actively working to develop strategies to reduce the volume of wastewater we generate and identify opportunities to reuse water. We have started a program to monitor wastewater at our production units and have examples of actions at various locations such as reusing rinse water, collecting rainwater and water from dishwash waste, and reusing water from cooling towers.
Taking steps to cut water usage across our locations in water-stressed areas is one of our environmental ambitions. We are committed to implementing water-saving technologies and practices, as well as raising awareness among our employees and suppliers about the importance of water conservation.
Waste
Ambition
Zero food waste solution across our production operations and promotion of recycling and circular solutions to reduce waste to landfill & incineration by 50% by 2040.___
Targets
- Conduct group-wide waste assessment by EoY 2023 and create waste management strategy to maximize recycling & minimize single-use materials by EoY 2024.
- Deploy a proactive waste reduction program and show demonstrable results by 2025.
Waste not only increases pollution but also accelerates the pace of climate change and contributes to the loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. As such, we recognize the importance of implementing zero-waste initiatives and minimizing our waste production to help protect the planet.
Our ambition is to achieve a zero food waste solution across our production operations (i.e. our kitchens), while in parallel setting up the necessary processes to reduce our total waste to landfill and incineration by 50% by 2040. This is something that cannot be achieved overnight, but we are confident that we will find solutions (ourselves and in collaboration with our customers and partners) to achieve this. For example, we have implemented a waste management plan in Brazil that collects an average of 28,000 kg of recyclables each month, including cardboard, tetra pack, plastic, aluminum, metal, glass, wood, used cooking oil, used engine oil, batteries, and electronics.
Energy, Climate Change & GHG Emissions
Over the past years, we have begun testing alternative drive technologies for our delivery vehicles. Our Nordics units, for example, have committed to and begun a transition towards 100% biodiesel-powered high-loaders. Various units have been implementing local energy-efficiency initiatives to reduce their energy consumption, be it through upgrades to infrastructure or implementing behavioral changes. Solar panel installations at some of our units help reduce gategroup’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources and make financial sense as well.
Ambition
Become a Net Zero Business by 2050.___
Targets
- Conduct a groupwide energy assessment by EoY 2023 and create an energy management strategy by EoY 2024.
- Begin proactive energy reduction program and show demonstrable results by 2025.
These efforts are being given strategic focus as part of the ESG Framework 2025, and we are focusing on processes and infrastructure with highest energy consumption and potential for improvement, as well as broader opportunities for self-generation of energy.