Sustainability in Everything We Do

The concept of sustainability means being able to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

At Vestas, sustainability is grounded in our four corporate values:

• Simplicity
• Collaboration
• Accountability 
• Passion

Sustainability at Vestas means reducing or eliminating negative environmental and social impacts, as well as maximising the value that our business and products provide for our customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, local communities, and the planet at large. It also means upholding sustainability in governance structures. We believe these efforts will help to elevate the standards of our industry as a whole.

As Vestas is committed to leading the transition to a world entirely powered by sustainable energy, we will not use carbon offsets to help us achieve carbon neutrality. Instead, we will deliver CO2 reductions through our own actions. 

Carbon offsetting means that companies invest in environmental projects around the world to balance out their own carbon footprints. The problem with carbon offsets is it can be very difficult to ascertain that the projects invested in are real, measurable, permanent and that they would not have taken place without the finance provided by the sale of credits.

We want to lead the transition to renewable energy and achieve net-zero emissions in our own operations. Therefore, we will not be using offsets to achieve our goals. Renewable electricity certificates (RECs) are not considered carbon offsets. RECs guarantee that one additional MWh of renewable electricity is generated.

Taking the first steps in 2020, we have now transitioned 88 percent of our corporate benefit cars to electrical vehicles or plug-in hybrids and introduced a total of approximately 300 sustainably fuelled vehicles to our service fleet. Our goal is that in 2025, our entire corporate fleet consists of zero emission vehicles.

We are also committing to reduce the CO2 emissions from our supply chain by 45 per cent per MWh generated by 2030. These commitments are based on recommendations from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The carbon neutrality target for our own operations was validated and approved by the SBTi, in August 2020.

Today, Vestas wind turbines are on average 85 percent recyclable. However, our wind turbine rotors (i.e. blades and hub) consist of a relatively large amount of non-recyclable composite materials.

Therefore, we will as a first step focus on improving the recyclability of all turbine rotors. We have introduced incremental targets to increase the recyclability rate of these components from 42 percent to 50 percent by 2025, and to 100 percent by 2030. We are implementing several initiatives designed to address the handling of existing blades after decommissioning, such as exploring new recycling technologies, working with material value chains as well as developing decommissioning guidelines for the wind turbine operators.

Committing to zero-waste turbines means we are aiming to create a value chain that generates no waste materials. Therefore – in October 2021 we launched our Circularity Roadmap. The roadmap outlines circularity pathways for Vestas’ entire value chain by setting new targets across three key areas: design, operations and material recovery.

You can read more about our zero-waste wind turbine initiatives by clicking the links below.

To be sustainable in everything we do, we must work even harder to ensure safety, inclusivity and social responsibility are a core part of everything we do at Vestas.

We are introducing medium and long-term targets for reducing the total recordable injury rate at Vestas to 1.5 by 2025 and 0.6 by 2030 - ensuring a 15 percent reduction in total recordable injury rate year-on-year.

A diverse workforce is comprised of a variety of social identities: This includes diversity in gender, age, culture, ethnicity, physical abilities, political and religious beliefs, sexual orientation and other attributes. As a first step, we are focusing on increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions in the company to 25 percent by 2025, and to 30 percent by 2030. Whilst we acknowledge that gender is only one form of social identity, we also believe it is a measurable and fair indication.

Unconscious bias training, an external pay audit and a review of our recruitment and exit procedures include some of the initiatives we have launched in 2020 to achieve these goals.

At Vestas, building the social license to operate and conducting social due diligence based on international standards is key to being the most socially-responsible company. Vestas’ Social Due Diligence systematically identifies, quantifies, and assesses the social risks associated with Vestas’ project activities in emerging markets.

This goal marks our commitment to take a leadership role in driving decarbonisation and electrification beyond the power sector.

To limit carbon emissions at a necessary scale to meet the Paris Agreement, we must also work to reduce emissions in other economic sectors – including industrial production and transport. The opportunities for Power-to-X are a great example of how we are propelling the energy transition forward. Power-to-X technologies make use of electric power in non-electricity sectors such as transport or chemicals. We strive to apply our research within hydrogen and e-fuels to drive electrification and decarbonisation in sectors where it has traditionally been difficult to achieve.

The coming years will also see Vestas pursuing more partnerships with both global and local stakeholders that can help us to amplify this agenda. This work has already begun, with Vestas joining the Getting to Zero Coalition in 2019 - an initiative to reduce CO2 emissions in the shipping sector.

Another example is our partnership with Mercedes-EQ in the Formula E Championship. This is a platform well-positioned to drive electrification in the transport sector - uniting the power of sport with the power of sustainable energy.