Our group of companies' overall emissions was 810 tons CO₂ in 2021, most of it was attributed to petrol consumption (323 tons CO₂). Hence, the overall emissions increased by 12% in 2021, from 726 tons CO₂ in 2020 to 810 tons in 2021. Increased fuel consumption, imports via airfreight, and domestic product distribution were responsible for the most emissions, equivalent to 699 tons in 2021. Our group of companies expanding operations and the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the supply chain of health care products imported to Iceland. There is much room for improvement for our group of companies, both regarding car fleet replacement and reduction of airfreight imports.

Overall emissions associated with staff air travel was 32 tons CO₂ in 2021. Staff air travel has been significantly reduced during past two years, in part because of the travel restrictions imposed by Covid-19. A minor increase was seen in air travel during 2021, but still a significant reduction in emissions was realized compared to 2019, equivalent to 100 tons (69%).

1. Overall emissions from the transport of imported goods was 343 tons CO₂ in 2021. Airfreight imports stand for 236 tons CO₂ of the overall emissions. Overall emissions in 2020 from freight of purchase products were 302 tons CO₂, which means an increase in emissions by 14% in 2021. That increase can be traced to our expanding operations as well as to the constant shortage of products caused by the pandemics. Delayed shipments and increased demand meant that we had to resort more often to express airfreight shipment in order to service the health care marketplace in Iceland. That is the reason behind the higher percentage of airfreight imports year over year. Hence, we failed to reach our goal of reducing CO₂ emissions by 15% last year.

Emissions of CO₂ associated with imports is correlated to the distance from origin, and the volume of the shipment. We assume that emissions with airfreight is 20 times higher than with sea freight. Data shows emissions for all products imported by our group of companies. However, 63% of carbon emissions correspond to goods imports where the suppliers are responsible for the freight. Further analyses were conducted by Vistor and MEDOR, where relatively few suppliers are responsible for airfreight of products. We are already engaging and cooperating with our suppliers to find new solutions and change the import routes wherever possible.

"In the future, we can strive ever more to procure eco-friendlier products and demand that from our suppliers. We also have to increase our awareness on the kind of product we purchase. Airfreight is very carbon emission-intensive. Our business trips also has a very high impact, as we usually travel a lot to take part in trade fairs and business meetings. This is something where can directly make a difference. We can focus on importing more products with sea freight instead of airfreight, as well as cutting down our business trips. Many meetings can take place via video conferencing. Airfreight is only resorted to in case a medicine is needed with urgency, or where something misfires throughout the supply chain. Sometimes, e.g. when we are purchasing a small volume from a new supplier, airfreight is more advantageous. Airfreight is preferred in those cases,” says Brynjúlfur Gudmundsson, General Manager, Artasan.

The overall emissions depends on Veritas volume of business. To facilitate comparing emissions from year to year, the adopted parameter is the emission of CO₂ per employee. In 2021, emissions were 3.2 tons per employee, an increase of 8% year on year.

Árið 2021 var heildarfjöldi ökutækja samstæðunnar 88 bílar og jókst heildareldsneytisnotkun um 9%  á milli ára sem þýðir að kolefnislosun vegna ökutækja úr 297 tonnum í 323 tonn. Á miðju ári 2020 var ákveðið að fara í eigin dreifingu á vörum innan höfuðborgarsvæðisins til þess að auka þjónustu við viðskiptavini. Það er meginástæðan fyrir þessari aukningu í eldsneytisnotkun en einnig er aukning hjá öllum fyrirtækjum samstæðunnar á árinu.

Eitt af meginmarkmiðum Veritas er að tryggja að orkunotkun sé haldið í lágmarki og leitast er við að draga úr mengun í allri starfsemi. Losun á CO₂ vegna notkunar á rafmagni og heitu vatni hjá Veritas samstæðunni var í heild 17 tonn eða um 2% af heildarlosun samstæðunnar og er öll orka til húshitunar græn orka. Losun samstæðunnar hverju sinni er háð umfangi starfseminnar og takmörkuð tækifæri eru til að draga úr losun fyrir þessa liði. Nánast enginn munur er á rafmagnsnotkun á milli ára en notkun á heitu vatni hjá samstæðunni jókst um 30% á milli ára.

Our indirect emissions, i.e. third-party products/services emissions, and own products/services emissions are accounted for in part in this report. Those include product import and distribution, waste processing, and air flights (both domestic and international).

Íslenska gámafélagið (ÍGF) provides Veritas with a full array of waste management services. In 2019, ÍGF started exporting household refuse to Europe for energy production. Therefore, no refuse ÍGF collects from Veritas is disposed in landfills.

Veritas set a goal of increasing garbage sorting, and to promote re-use and recycling. Our benchmark is to keep a minimum 50% recycling ratio. Recycling has improved with united efforts but we still have many miles to go. Our group of companies’ recycling ratio fell from 52% to 50% year over year, demonstrating that are lots of potential to increase the ratio and that we can indeed do better. By mid-2021 we started co-operating with Pure North Recycling, bringing us the chance to recycle plastic better and boosting the life cycle of raw materials we use. An audit conducted by Pure North Recycling of Veritas waste management revealed errors in data and data processing in our previous report. As a result, our recycling ratio was lower than the figures then published suggested. The outcome of the audit was that there is a window of opportunity to better recycle raw material waste, thereby boosting the life cycle of raw materials we use. In the wake of the audit, we started using a packer waste press to bundle cardboard boxes and plastic in our Miðhraun warehouse, with the aim of better providing materials for recycling.

Veritas has the ambition to provide only established, high-quality products from manufacturers which comply with the most stringent quality requirements. It is important to try and impact suppliers in a positive way, but the relative size of our group of companies by international standards limits the extent of our impact. On the other hand, many of Veritas suppliers are world leaders as sustainability is concerned, and their focus is more and more on improvement in terms of sustainability and social responsibility both internally and externally. Resellers have also started to make demands and reject products with excessive or environmentally unfriendly packaging. In other words, sustainability is becoming ever more important within our supply chain.

"To be able to state that our products are products are manufactured in an eco-friendly fashion, it is crucial for our marketing activities that our manufacturers strive to cut their manufacture and distribution emissions. It is easier to market products like this. If it is a question of choosing between products A and B, the message will always sound better for A if it is the more sustainable product. We have not adopted any proviso in our supplier assessment check-list regarding social responsibility, but we show a deeper interest for biological, co-friendly products and the like. We also show a deeper interest for products which create value for us, and we usually highlight in our sales approach that our products or their packaging are sustainable," says Brynjúlfur Guðmundsson, General Manager, Artasan.

"We took a very positive step in 2020 regarding our suppliers. When selecting our business partners, we look closely into how they fulfil their social responsibilities. This is actually the apex of our business actions last year. We are not satisfied only by financially advantageous proposals. We also send a questionnaire to our business partners whereby they have to provide answers on how they fulfil their social responsibilities. In my opinion, this is a hugely progressive step. The fact is that our business partners are helping us in our pathway to become a corporation which demonstrates social responsibility, with a bigger impact on the community than before," says Arnar Thórdarson, General Manager, Vistor.

Veritas adopted a goal to increase its ratio of paperless business, provided all quality requirements are met. Our goal is to minimise printing by reducing it year by year.

There was a 3% increase in the number of printed pages in 2021 vs. 2020. That is explained by our expanding operations and by the fact that electronic receipt of goods has not yet become a reality. We adopted last year a series of improvements to our operational procedures to reduce printing. However, 80% of the volume is due to warehouses, invoicing, and quality control requirements. Last year’s improvements in this regard consisted of the implementation of electronic signatures, increased paperless communications both internally and externally, and a sharper focus on electronic data storage.

The 2021 Recycloctober was dedicated to educating our staff about the responsible disposal of medicines. Procedures for the disposal of medicines are clear: All medicinal products must be disposed of according to strict requirements laid down by the Icelandic authorities. All medicines to be disposed of are shipped to Kalka Disposal Plant in Suðurnes for incineration. Kalka is the only company in Iceland accredited by The Environment Agency of Iceland to dispose of medicines.

Almost 15 thousand kilos of medicines and other products were disposed of in 2021, representing a significant increase year on year. The volume was expected to increase in 2021, as fewer batches were shipped for incineration in 2020 due to Covid-19.