Environment
Reducing our carbon footprint
The tens of thousands of meals we serve every day have an impact not only on people’s well-being but also on the environment. Calculating our carbon footprint is part of our long-term sustainability work and environmental programme, and it helps us steer our operations towards our climate targets whilst increasing openness and transparency in what we do.
Pirkanmaan Voimian’s total carbon footprint in 2024 was approximately 21,700 tCO₂e. When this figure is put into perspective against our turnover, the emissions intensity was 0.22 tCO₂e per thousand euros. This benchmark allows us to monitor the effectiveness of our climate work in relation to business growth and to set clear reduction targets for the coming years. To put this into perspective, Voimia’s carbon footprint would be equivalent to, for example, 8,675 return flights between Helsinki and Bangkok or 145 million kilometres driven.
We have managed to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our meals. Did you know that the carbon footprint of a cheeseburger meal is around two to three times greater than that of a Voimia school lunch?
The majority – over 93 per cent of total emissions – came from value chain (Scope 3) activities, of which food accounted for around 75 per cent. Meat products accounted for around 42 per cent of total food emissions, even though they made up only 8 per cent of the total weight of food purchased.
Direct emissions from our own operations (Scope 1) were mainly attributable to the use of refrigerants and accounted for 1.8 per cent of total emissions. Indirect emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2) accounted for 4.5 per cent of the total.
The calculation was carried out in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol standard and also takes into account the requirements of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The calculation was carried out by Etteplan Finland Oy. The calculation covers both the company’s own operations (Scope 1 and 2) and emissions across the wider value chain (Scope 3).
Calculating our carbon footprint serves as a tool for us in planning our future emissions reductions. Our aim is to reduce emissions systematically and measurably each year.
What have we done?
Improving wastage management
To reduce food waste, we have introduced a system to monitor it. At all our sites, we work with customers on a daily basis to reduce food waste.
Menu planning
All nurseries, schools and educational institutions offer a vegetarian option every day. Oat milk is available as a drink option, and its use has increased by 36 per cent over the past two years.
Responsible procurement
We have established sustainability indicators for our procurement processes. In our procurement, we pay particular attention to animal welfare and the origin of raw materials.
Transport
We have reduced transport emissions by combining shipments more efficiently and, together with our transport partners, switching to lower-emission forms of energy.
Swan-labelled purity
We are the first public sector organisation in Finland whose cleaning service has been awarded the Swan label. We meet the label’s strict environmental requirements, which are based on a life-cycle approach.
Partnerships
We support the climate and environmental goals of the City of Tampere and our other owner-clients. One example of this is the Carbon-Neutral Tampere 2030 project.
Turning goals into reality
Voimian’s Climate and Nature Trail Map shows the way
Our work is now guided more clearly by our climate and nature roadmap, which sets out our objectives and, above all, the actions we are taking to systematically and measurably reduce the carbon footprint of our operations year on year.
Food waste and ways to tackle it
Reducing food waste is a key factor in cutting climate emissions. Did you know that you can track the amount of food left on plates in Tampere’s schools and educational institutions in near real time?
