Planet: preserve the environment

Reduce the carbon footprint and the consumption of energy, natural resources and wasteCarbon footprint & resources

Edenred aims to improve its energy efficiency thanks to its environmental management system based on the principles of the ISO 14001 standard.

Since 2013, the Group has been committed to reducing its GHG emissions, particularly those related to its energy consumption. In 2020, its total emissions per surface area were reduced by 46% compared to 2013.

By turning to electronic media such as cards, smartphones and online platforms, Edenred is able to reduce the impact of its activities on paper resources.

The Group is committed to improve the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of its data centres with an objective to reach 1.45 of average PUE (power usage effectiveness) by 2020. To do that, Edenred works to reduce the energy consumption with increased usage of virtual servers and to optimize the use of energy, 23% of Edenred’s data centers are consuming renewable energy. In 2020, the average PUE is 1.41.

Design eco-services Eco-services

Edenred faces an environmental challenge in terms of GHG emissions with its mobility solutions and in terms of food waste with its restaurant vouchers.

The Group encourages new forms of sustainable mobility by developing low-carbon services and solutions, for example in Brazil:

• The Carbon Credit program in Brazil which generates carbon credits by replacing petrol with ethanol
• Compense Platform provides a way to buy and sell carbon credits on the voluntary market.
• The Ticket Car Partners, an application that allows to Ticket Car employee card users to have access to a single payment system for a wide range of vehicle services and modes of transport, such as taxis, public transportation and carpooling.

The Commuter Benefits solution of Edenred US allows American employees, since 2017, to use different means of transportation (bus, subway, bicycle) instead of their own car. 
In 2020, Edenred France launched Ticket Mobilité, a card for employees to facilitate home-to-work travel and support the transition to more environmentally friendly mobility.

Edenred pays also a special attention to food waste as part of several initiatives:

• In 2019, Edenred Chile formed a new partnership with Karübag, a company that uses vermicomposting to treat and recover organic waste from offices, homes, restaurants and others. Since its launch, over 36 of Edenred’s corporate clients have joined the Karübag initiative.
• Framheim, a startup specialized in the fight against food waste, sent a questionnaire to some 180,000 Edenred partner restaurant owners in France to find out more about their anti-food waste practices and commitments. Following this survey, 100 establishments were awarded the label in 2019.
• The Austrian subsidiary and the organization Too Good To Go launched a partnership in April 2019 to capitalize on Edenred’s network in order to encourage partners and employees to fight against food waste. Other Edenred countries, such as Spain, Portugal and Italy, also teamed up with the startup in 2020. 

The Ticket EcoCheque vouchers, created in 2009 in Belgium, promote products and services that respect the environment. They encourage more responsible purchasing in various fields, including food, decoration, furniture, and transport.
 

Managing the impact of solutions during their lifetime Impact of solutions

Edenred increasingly develops paperless formats for its payment solutions available to employee users. Taking an eco-design approach to these solutions, whether physical or digital, is one of the key priorities of Edenred’s environmental policy.
Edenred carries out lifecycle assessment (LCA) surveys in its countries to compare the environmental impact of its products. The first survey was carried out in 2017 to assess the impacts of the paper and card of the Ticket Restaurant solution.

In this case, paper vouchers are printed using pre-printed stock from external providers. In 2020, 17 subsidiaries (representing 75% of business volume in subsidiaries producing paper vouchers) used FSC or recycled paper to produce their vouchers.

In addition, the Group was the first to set up a system for collecting and recycling cards within its French subsidiary. When the "Ticket Restaurant" card expires, the beneficiary receives a new one along with the conditions for returning of his/her old card so that it can be recycled. The old cards are pulped by the Edenred partner company, Bigarren Bizi, using a completely mechanical, environment-friendly process. The materials obtained (98% plastic, 2% metals) are then used to manufacture new products.
 

* GHG = Greenhouse Gas. 2020 total emission for point sources = 3,432 t.  
** Targets calculated using the Science Based Targets initiative methodology.