Focus area: Environment in mind

The resources used in care have an external impact on the environment and the climate. Attendo strives to make carefully considered green choices in purchasing and the use of various resources and has a long-term ambition to progress towards adding zero greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Smart and effective choices for the environment

Attendo is a service company whose principal operations is care provision.
The environmental and climate impact that arises in our operations comes primarily from the energy used in buildings and transportation, as well as purchases of food and other consumables used in our local units.

Attendo’s environmental policy guides us towards making green choices in the areas of purchasing, transport, energy and water consumption and waste management (including environmentally hazardous waste). As an example we have a travel policy in which rail is the preferred mode for trips of up to 500 km.

Attendo Scandinavia continued the process of electrifying the vehicle fleet
in 2022. A new home care operation was started in Värmdö outside Stockholm, with 100 percent electric cars. An accessible charging infrastructure is a prerequisite for electrification. The process to map charging locations has been initiated for Attendo home care services across Sweden and installation of charging stations has begun within Attendo’s largest operation in Västerås.

Systematic improvement

Attendo’s environmental management system complies with the ISO 14001
standard. The management system governs the initiatives we take, how they
are carried out, the extent to which they are used and their results.

Improvements and new solutions are planned based on the conclusions. Of these, we select and implement measures and subsequently analyse the
results. Thereafter, we go to back to the drawing board. In this way, Attendo’s
environmental work is developed and improved from one year to the next.
Attendo’s business areas implement their own projects and set environmental targets within the framework of the environmental management system.

Goal-oriented efforts to reduce carbon emissions

Attendo continued its systematic efforts to measure and track its climate impact in 2022. About a quarter of Attendo’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comes directly from operation of local units (Scope 1 and Scope 2). This includes energy and fuel used in Attendo’s facilities and vehicles. Attendo has a long-term ambition to achieve net zero emissions of GHG from its own operations. A sub goal is to reach 100% renewable electricity purchased and to phase out fossil fuels used for heating.

The majority of GHG emissions generated by Attendo's operations arise
from external sources (Scope 3). This includes Attendo’s purchases of goods
including food and consumables, investments and employee’s commutes to and from work. Attendo can primarily affect these emissions indirectly, by improving the use of consumable supplies, reducing food waste and composing climate-smart menus, for example, and by encouraging employees to use modes of transport with less climate impact for
their daily commutes.

Attendo Scandinavia climate-calculated its menus in 2022 and arrived at an average of less than 1 kg CO2e per meal, which can be compared to
the national average of 1.8 kg CO2e per meal. Recycling of work wear in Finland has resulted in 170 kg of recovered fibre, corresponding to an emissions reduction of 0.6 tonnes CO2e.

A significant portion of emissions comes from the buildings Attendo rents to conduct operations. During the year, Attendo Scandinavia installed solar
panels at a nursing home on Gotland, worked to achieve more energy-efficient lighting and switched from burning oil to pellets for heating at Tallbackagården in Taberg.

Attendo Finland has initiated a project to reduce the number of transports to
local units in connection with purchases. The recommendation is for deliveries
from wholesalers to local units should be made once a month. 

Purchases that reduce environmental impact

Attendo coordinates all purchasing to achieve synergies and ensure Attendo coordinates all purchasing to achieve synergies and ensure environmental benefit. Suppliers that qualify to be included in Attendo’s central
purchasing system must be aware of and meet the requirements specified in
Attendo’s environmental policy.

Attendo continued to compensate for paper consumption in operations
in 2022 by replanting trees. In total, Attendo produces 6.6 million printed
documents every year. Since January 2020, this has been compensated for
by the planting of 2,252 new trees on Madagascar.

Attendo and EU:s taxonomy

As a large listed company with many employees, Attendo is obliged to report according to the EU Taxonomy for sustainable investments. A description of Attendo's operations and disclosure according to the Taxonomy can be found here.