L&T's year 2022

In the spring of 2022, we introduced a financial framework tied to sustainability targets as one of the first companies in Finland to do so. The loan is linked to the achievement of two Sustainability Performance Targets: reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the company’s own operations and reducing the use of fuel by subcontractors in transport.

In late 2022, Suomen Pakkaustuottajat Oy and Lassila & Tikanoja signed an agreement on the recycling of consumer plastic packaging. The agreement covers approximately 20,000 tonnes of consumer packaging plastic collected in Finland, which corresponds to approximately half of the packaging plastic collected in Finland each year. The agreement entered into force at the beginning of 2023.

During the year, energy prices increased and L&T also paid special attention to proactive energy-saving measures whose objective was to reduce the peak demand of electricity and participate in joint energy-saving efforts. Thanks to the measures, the energy consumption of L&T’s properties decreased by 6% in 2022, compared to 2021. In the second half of the year, the energy consumption of electricity decreased by 10%, compared to the previous year.

In the spring of 2022, we set separate emission targets for our operations in terms of transport subcontracting. Our target is to reduce transport and machinery emissions from subcontracting by 30% by 2030, using 2020 as the baseline. The target applies to subcontractors that provide L&T with snow ploughing services, transport of raw materials or earthworks and related transport.

As a leading operator in the circular economy, we want to be a pioneer in the implementation of emission-free transport solutions and to open-mindedly try new technologies, such as electricity. In 2022, we introduced our first electric waste truck.

We helped our customers to take concrete actions to promote biodiversity by offering services for turning lawns into meadows. During the year, we turned a total of 8,200 m2 of our customers’ lawn areas into meadows, thus providing a landing site for various pollinating insects and promoting the preservation of Finnish nature.

We participated in the “Security through work” project launched by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) and the StaffPoint Group to offer work to people who fled the war in Ukraine. In addition, we participated in the IKUT project, which provided employment support for victims of human trafficking and other vulnerable persons.

We updated our sustainability programme to better reflect our mission of circular economy management. The renewed sustainability programme consists of three focal points: environment, people and governance. With the new programme, we will further deepen our sustainability work in the supply chain, and the promotion of biodiversity was added to the programme as a completely new part.

The circular economy plays a key role with regard to climate action and biodiversity. L&T promotes the transition to the circular economy in its own operations as well as in its customers’ operations. We continuously develop new services that promote the circular economy, and our aim is to increase the use of recycled raw materials instead of virgin raw materials.

Our goal is to mitigate climate change and also set an example for our partners. The services we produce for our customers reduce emissions and promote material recycling and energy efficiency. This constitutes our carbon handprint, and increasing it is one of our strategic long-term objectives. A further goal is to halve the emissions of our own operations by 2030. We have also set separate emission targets for our supply chain.

Biodiversity has declined significantly over the past decades. The effects of biodiversity loss are already reflected in, for example, the decline of pollinator populations, increasing flooding and soil degradation. Circular economy solutions are effective in fighting biodiversity loss. Our aim is to have a positive impact on biodiversity, particularly in the built environment.