Solaris Group Annual Sustainability Report Released
Every year Solaris Group introduces Sustainability Reports. The publications summarise the Polish manufacturer’s activities over the years. They look at managing corporate governance, developing Solaris’ products, minimising the Group’s impact on the environment, and performing positively in the social space.
The Reports include an extensive description of measures undertaken by Solaris. It responds to challenges posed by increasing urbanisation, global climate and civilizational change.
Solaris continues to reduce its carbon footprint
“Behind us is another year of comprehensive improvement and alignment of the Solaris Group’s sustainable production,” said in the official statement.
During the last 5 years, Solaris reduced its carbon footprint emissions related to manufacturing processes and energy consumed by as much as 64%. In line with the proximity principle, Solaris is conscious of giving preference to domestic suppliers, thereby contributing to the maintenance of jobs in Poland and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transport. In 2023, nearly 70% of their suppliers were domestic suppliers.
Solaris is fully aware of the problem of depletion of natural resources. It is therefore defining activities to use recycled materials and enable the recycling of products, as well as to ensure the reuse of raw materials and products. The content of recycled steel in the stainless steel used to manufacture the frames of Solaris buses was 89.8% according to ISO 14021.
In July 2023, Solaris began the new Hydrogen Hall investment project. This project allowed them to centralise production stations and work related to specific types of propulsion – hydrogen and CNG – in a single, specially adapted hall.
Sustainability Report for 2023
The focal point of the Report is Solaris’ constructive impact on the transition of Europe’s public transport. Zero- and low-emission buses accounted for 82% of all vehicles marketed last year, more than half of which were battery and hydrogen-powered models. In 2023, Solaris took the number one position in Europe’s zero-emission city bus market. Moreover, the Company achieved the best performance in hydrogen technology: almost every second hydrogen-powered city bus in Europe was sold by Solaris, demonstrating the Company’s leadership in transitioning urban mobility towards carbon neutrality.
Solaris remains committed to innovation, including by continuously designing new battery solutions. In 2023, a dedicated battery competence centre was established within the Company’s structures, called the Solaris Battery HUB. The centre was established to ensure comprehensive management of battery-related work and pursue the implementation of a closed-loop economy approach in respect to lithium-ion batteries.
The report also describes the activities Solaris takes to benefit its employees. In 2023, the Company focused predominantly on safety and comfort, implementing several process improvements in production coupled with various occupational health and safety initiatives. Also, the company developed training programs to assist employees in acquiring new skills, which were identified as indispensable for the ongoing improvement of the competencies of its staff.
A new version of the Internal Notification System (for whistleblowers) was also launched in 2023, enabling the reporting of breaches of the law securely and confidentially, not only by Solaris employees but also by people employed by subsidiaries and third parties.
