CSR - SDG 12: Responsible production & consumption

Our contribution

At Enexis Group, we take responsibility for our own consumption patterns and the associated production chain. We believe that a fair way of doing business with regard for people, environment and society is in line with our position in society and therefore want to contribute to SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption. We make our contribution to SDG 12 from a systematic approach: we focus on socially responsible procurement where we pay attention to people, materials and the environment (SRI), we use our products for as long as possible (re-use) and ensure at the end of the chain for good (and where possible high-quality) processing of waste. See below how Enexis is covering these three themes.

Socially responsible procurement

Taking responsibility for our chain starts with our purchasing process. By applying our Socially Responsible Procurement (SRI) policy in all European tenders, we discuss responsibility with our suppliers about people, materials and the environment. For each product or service we look for ways to improve the current state of affairs in our chain, for example in terms of working conditions, more sustainable materials and / or lower emissions, for example in production processes. We also ask for a 'raw materials passport' in every European tender for products from the primary process to promote transparency in the chain, with the aim of achieving more circularity in our products.

Reuse

We try to keep the products we buy in use for as long as possible and reuse them where possible. This means that we can purchase fewer products and produce less waste every year, reducing our use of raw materials, greenhouse gas emissions and our costs. The materials needed for our components, such as copper and aluminum, will become increasingly scarce in the future and we have also faced a scarcity of materials in the past. That is why we have a special department that actively focuses on the reuse of various components from our networks: the Re-use department.
This department itself overhauls parts of which the manufacturer no longer exists, we simply have the knowledge for this in-house. The overhauled installations are then reused for at least 15 years (!). The Re-use department has grown strongly in recent years and is able to make more and more installations and components suitable for a second life. Thanks to re-usage, Enexis was able to avoid more than 1,700 tons of CO₂ in 2019 and saved over 6 million euros.

Waste management

When materials can no longer be reused, we process them as sustainably as possible. At the end of the lifespan, we apply waste management, whereby we strive with our partners for the highest possible recycling percentage. For example, we managed to recycle no less than 93% of our waste in 2019.

	2019	2018	2017	2016*	2015
Quantity of waste in tonnes**
Recycled waste	28.540	27.281	30.185	16.115	22.383
Burn waste	1.523	1.618	1.529	1.129	1.238
Landfilled waste	355	1.142	2.177	1.173	1.018
Biomass	92	203	-	-	-
Fermented waste	95	101	-	-	-
Composted waste	33	35	-	-	-
Total	30.638	30.380	33.891	18.417	24.639
Of which hazardous waste (%)	4,7	5,3	0,4	0,7	0,7

* Figures 2016 do not include Endinet.
** From 2018 on the Milgro classification method was applied. Until 2017, the SUEZ classification method was used (Lansink Ladder).
Enexis does not carry radioactive waste. This is not released in our work processes.