41 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2024
Strategic report
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Vodafone is a founding member of the European Green Digital Coalition (‘EGDC’). Since its establishment in 2021, we have actively participated in the development of an ICT sector methodology for measuring the carbon enablement impact, known as the ‘net carbon impact’, of green digital solutions, leveraging the lessons learned from our own experience of carbon enablement reporting over the past four years. Circularity Goals: To reuse, resell or recycle 100% of our network waste by 2025; to collect 1 million used mobile phone devices for reuse, recycling or donation. The UN estimates that as much as 50 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) is produced globally each year, with only 20% being formally recycled. As the use of technology expands and develops, we are playing our part to address the growing global e-waste problem. Our circular economy (‘circularity’) initiatives look at two main types of e-waste; network equipment, such as radio equipment used to run our fixed and mobile access networks and the electronic devices that we sell to customers such as smartphones. Our FY24 performance: We reused, resold or recycled 96% of network waste in FY24 (FY23: 95%). In partnership with WWF, we have collected 337,680 used phones for refurbishment and reuse, recycling or donation, which is 34% towards our ‘1 million Phones for the Planet’ goal. Network waste We implement resource efficiency and waste disposal management programmes in all our markets to minimise environmental impacts from network waste and IT equipment waste. This year, we generated an estimated 6,205 tonnes of network waste equipment (including hazardous waste) (FY23: 7,716). We reused, resold and recycled 96% of the non-hazardous waste, partly via our asset marketplace, which was established in 2020 to resell and repurpose excess or decommissioned network equipment (thus extending its life cycle) by enabling trading between our operating companies and across the telecommunications industry. This year, we estimate that we have saved €3.9 million of spend and avoided over 398 tCO 2 e through our asset marketplace platform. This is in addition to our strategy to reuse equipment within individual operating companies. For example, Vodafone UK avoided an estimated 1,045 tonnes of CO 2 e in FY24 by reusing network equipment. FY24 network waste management (excluding hazardous waste) 1,2 2024 2023 Reused 3 2% 2% Recycled 94% 93% Disposed 4 4% 5% Total network waste (metric tonnes) 3,831 4,633 Notes: 1. During the current year, information relating to 2023 has been restated to reflect the portfolio changes during 2023 and 2024. 2. Excludes our discontinued operations in Italy and Spain. 3. Includes network equipment resold between markets where we operate, or to external third parties, for reuse for the same purpose. 4. Disposed network waste includes used network equipment that is disposed to landfill or incineration. Devices We are exploring a range of ways to help build a more circular economy for home and mobile devices, including collection of used devices, supporting refurbishment and reuse, increasing recycling of end-of-life devices, and improving the market availability of more sustainable devices. Collection Over the year, we continued with campaigns, initiatives and the provision of services to support our customers to keep electronic devices in use for longer – through repair, refurbishment and reuse. When devices reach the end of their useful life, our aim is for them to be responsibly recycled instead of being sent to landfill.
reductions – including increasing supplier engagement, building a more circular economy for electronic devices, and engaging companies we invest in to support their transition to net zero. We will implement these planned actions in parallel with continued improvement of our Scope 3 data modelling to better reflect our emission reduction efforts. Enablement Goal: To enable our business customers to reduce their own GHG emissions by 350 million tonnes between 2020 and 2030 through the use of our green digital solutions. 1 Research suggests that 84% of existing Internet of Things (‘IoT’) deployments have the potential to also address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’) 2 . With increasing adoption rates of IoT, one of our most important contributions to protecting our planet is enabling our customers, including consumers, businesses and governments, to reduce their environmental footprint using our digital technologies and services. We continued this journey with a focus on using digital solutions to tackle climate change and help decarbonise society. Our FY24 performance: This year, we estimate we have enabled the avoidance of 32.8 million tCO 2 e, which is around 75 times the emissions generated from our own operations (Scope 1 and 2 in FY24). Since setting our enablement target in 2020, we estimate we have enabled our customers to avoid a cumulative 78.3 million tCO 2 e. This year, we reviewed the emissions reduction impact of an additional four green digital solutions within our product portfolio, including connectivity solutions that use software defined local area networks (‘SD LAN’). IoT products remain the most significant contributor to enablement. We estimate that 55% of our 187 million IoT connections directly enabled customers to reduce their emissions in the past year. For example, we continue to support customers to improve operational efficiency, reduce fuel costs and reduce their emissions through our Vodafone Business Fleet Analytics solution, which helps our customers to optimise routes and identify opportunities to electrify their fleet. FY24 enablement overview 1 Estimated GHG emissions avoided (million tonnes CO 2 e) 1 2024 2023 Smart meters 4.4 3.7 Fleet management 3.9 3.3 EV charging 2.9 0.9 Healthcare 4.9 3.1 Other transport solutions and logistics solutions 15.8 13.3 Other (e.g. remote working, water leak detection) 0.8 0.6 Total emissions avoided (enablement) 32.8 24.9 Scope 1 and Scope 2 market-based emissions (million tonnes of CO 2 e) 0.43 0.66 Enablement ratio 75.4x 38.2x Cumulative total emissions avoided (since FY20) 2 78.3 45.5 Notes: 1. Enablement data is estimated using the methodology detailed in our ESG Addendum Methodology document: investors.vodafone.com/esgmethodology. 2. Cumulative total since FY20 is based on the total of FY21 to FY24 emissions avoided, including restated FY22 emissions avoided as detailed in our ESG Addendum: investors. vodafone.com/esgaddendum. As part of our continued efforts to raise awareness of the role of digital technology in the green transition, we hosted a summit for our Vodafone Business customers in London in January 2024, on the theme of ‘Innovation for Impact’. The summit was attended by over 100 Vodafone Business customers and visitors and included a range of talks and events to help them think about our collective role in the green digital transition. Notes: 1. Target currently under review in light of evolving methodologies for measuring the ‘net carbon impact’ of digital solutions. 2. WEF, 2020
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