Environmental Sphere
Y-EMEA is steadfast in its commitment to key principles outlined in the Environmental, Health, and Safety Policy, embracing a proactive stance to ensure compliance with environmental laws and other relevant requirements. This commitment extends to preventing pollution and consistently improving our environmental performance through the adoption of cost-effective practices, seeking to eliminate, minimize, or mitigate environmental impacts. Every employee, contractor, and visitor share the responsibility of upholding this policy
3 Spheres
In the following sections we address initiatives that contribute to each area.
Key facts
Environmental stewardship
Each location establishes and maintains procedures to involve workers in the development, planning, implementation, and improvement of EH&S practices. Environmental performance indicators are monitored monthly at manufacturing sites and annually at office locations. These insights inform the development of targeted action plans designed to further enhance our environmental practices, ensuring a continuous cycle of improvement. All manufacturing plants have annual environmental monitoring plans in place. Our sites undergo regular external and internal EHS audits. Periodic management system audits are conducted by local staff, to ensure that the EHS management system has been properly implemented, maintained and conform with the local requirements and the international standard ISO14001:2015. During the reporting period, all active manufacturing sites have successfully maintained their Environmental Management Systems certification under ISO 14001, reaffirming Y-EMEA’s dedication to sustainable and eco-friendly practices. To foster environmental responsibility throughout our supply chain, our Business Partner Code of Conduct establishes clear expectations for environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and ethical practices among our suppliers.
Water consumption
At the end of the reporting period, Y-EMEA's total water usage was 377,614m³, with 84% sourced from municipal supplies and 16% from private water wells. This represents a 6% decrease compared to the previous year and a 14% reduction when compared to 2017.
Energy consumption
In the Business Year 2023, our total annual energy consumption at our plants and offices reached 118,348 MWh (corresponding to 426,052 GJ), which represents an absolute decrease of 19% compared to 2017 and an absolute increase of 0.2% compared to 2022. Electricity is the main source of energy for our operations, accounting for approximately 80% of our total energy footprint. During the business year, our total electricity consumption amounted to 94,133 MWh, reflecting a 14% decrease compared to 2017. However, electricity consumption intensity, calculated in working hours, increased slightly by 1% compared to the previous year. Although our current energy mix includes renewable sources, we are committed to increasing the share of green electricity to achieve our 2025 ambitions. By the end of the reporting period, 55% of the electricity consumed at Y-EMEA sites came from renewable sources.
GHS emissions
We measure our annual corporate carbon footprint assessing emissions across scope 1, 2 and 3 in accordance with the GHG Protocol standards. This comprehensive approach allows us to thoroughly account for:
- direct emissions from our operations associated to fuel combustion in buildings, our company's vehicle fleet and fugitive gases from refrigerants (Scope 1),
- indirect emissions from purchased electricity and district/municipal heating (Scope 2) and
- a broad spectrum of indirect emissions throughout our value chain (Scope 3).
Compared to the previous Business Year (P82), our emissions decreased by 18%. Furthermore, when benchmarked against the baseline year (2017), our emissions dropped by 31%. Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions amounted to approximately 28,565 tCO2e, representing just 6% of our total carbon footprint. The majority of our emissions, at 94%, fall under Scope 3.
Employees´ awareness
Our commitment to sustainability extends beyond designated sustainability roles. We are dedicated to assisting our diverse workforce in seamlessly incorporating sustainability into their responsibilities. This is achieved through the provision of learning opportunities and the establishment of channels for active participation in our sustainability initiatives. During the period of reporting, in the regions where Y-EMEA operates, several awareness initiatives were carried out dedicated to promoting environmental responsible behaviors and best practices among employees.
Solar panels projects in Morocco and Portugal
While being aware of the current challenging global landscape to access clean energy in certain regions of the globe, Y-EMEA is taking a proactive approach by exploring the availability of local green energy suppliers to expand green electricity contracts and carrying out feasibility studies for solar panel installations. Currently we have solar panels projects in our facilities in Morocco and Portugal.
Think and Act Green: Green Ambassadors
The Green Ambassador Program, under the motto "Think Green, Act Green," encourages Y-EMEA employees to lead eco-friendly initiatives within the company. Ambassadors can raise awareness and inspire others to adopt sustainable practices.
Biodiversity protection efforts across Y-EMEA
Despite none of our sites are located in protected and biodiversity sensitive areas, our EHS Policy and local annual EHS plans include biodiversity protection aiming to supporting nature conservation efforts in our surrounding communities. On an annual basis our manufacturing sites implement nature conservation measures in the surroundings of our facilities like for example beaches cleaning, forest cleaning and trees plantation.
