A halving of food waste, significant strides towards fossil-free transportation, and the establishment of the country’s largest solar park are among Axfood’s most notable sustainability achievements in 2024. Additionally, the group’s sustainability reporting has been aligned with the EU’s new reporting standards, ESRS.
A halving of food waste, significant strides towards fossil-free transportation, and the establishment of the country’s largest solar park are among Axfood’s most notable sustainability achievements in 2024. Additionally, the group’s sustainability reporting has been aligned with the EU’s new reporting standards, ESRS.
In 2024, Axfood has made significant sustainability investments. Efforts to achieve the group’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2030 have intensified, while initiatives to reduce food waste, decrease climate impact in the supply chain, and establish Sweden’s largest solar park.
–With halved food waste and significant emission reductions from transportation, we are making great positive strides in our sustainability work. Long-term thinking and decisiveness, combined with the entire organization rallying around the ambitions, are key to sustainable development, says Åsa Domeij, Axfood’s Sustainability Manager.
Halved food waste – one year ahead of schedule
In 2024, Axfood achieved the group’s goal of halving food waste in stores compared to the base year 2015, one year ahead of schedule. Food waste has been reduced to 0.9 percent of turnover through initiatives such as selling products with short expiration dates, donations to charities, and implementing new waste routines. These efforts have not only reduced the group’s food waste but also contributed to a more sustainable food chain with less environmental impact.
The work to further reduce food waste continues with a new goal of lowering food waste to below 0.7 percent of turnover by 2030. This represents a reduction of just over 20 percent compared to the already low level in 2024.
Towards fossil-free transportation
In 2024, Axfood accelerated the transition to renewable fuels and electricity for transportation between warehouses and stores. This effort resulted in a significant reduction in climate impact per transported ton of goods, with a 36 percent decrease since 2023 and a 53 percent decrease since 2021. By December 2024, 97 percent of own-operated transports were fossil-free, while the corresponding figure for hired transports was 72 percent.
By the end of 2025, both own-operated and hired transports between warehouses and stores will run on renewable fuels or electricity. An ambitious effort is also being made to electrify parts of the company’s own truck fleet.
Establishment of Sweden’s largest solar park
Outside Hallstavik in Uppland, Axfood is establishing and commissioning Sweden’s largest solar park in collaboration with the energy company Alight. The park, set to be operational in the spring and will feature approximately 92,000 solar panels spread over 71 hectares. With a total capacity of about 64 MW and an annual output of 63 GWh, this will cover around 15 percent of the group’s electricity consumption. The aim is to secure the electricity supply and contribute to increasing the amount of renewable electricity in the power grid.
This initiative follows the commissioning of Sweden’s largest rooftop solar installation at the logistics center in Bålsta, as well as a large solar installation on the roof of the fruit and vegetable warehouse in Landskrona. Axfood has long invested in solar energy and has exclusively purchased renewable electricity since 2008.
Increased transparency and comparability in sustainability reporting
To enhance transparency and comparability in the development of the group’s sustainability efforts, Axfood has adapted the 2024 annual and sustainability report for 2024 to the new reporting standard ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards). The reporting is based on a double materiality assessment, considering both Axfood’s impact on the world and the world’s impact the group’s operations. A total of eleven standards are reported, detailing significant impacts, risks, opportunities, actions, as well as goals and metrics in areas such as climate, water resources, biodiversity, and workers in the value chain.
– Axfood’s annual and sustainability report is more comprehensive than ever this year. As we continue to explore new ways and face challenges in the sustainability area, we also aim to enhance to implement how we report our progress. Therefore, we have chosen to implement the EU’s new sustainability reporting regulations already this year, says Sara Kraft Westrell, Axfood’s Communications Director.
The progress made in the area of sustainability during 2024 is reported in Axfood’s annual and sustainability report, which is available on the group’s website, www.axfood.se.
For further information, contact:
Magnus Törnblom, Head of Press, Axfood, +46 70-266 27 12, magnus.tornblom@axfood.se
Alexander Bergendorf, Head of Investor Relations, Axfood, +46 73-049 18 44, alexander.bergendorf@axfood.se
Axfood aspires to be the leader in affordable, good and sustainable food. Our family of companies includes the store chains Willys, Hemköp and City Gross as well as Tempo, Handlar’n and Matöppet. B2B sales are handled through Snabbgross, and our support company Dagab is responsible for the Group's product development, purchasing and logistics. The Axfood family also includes Urban Deli as well as the partly owned companies Apohem and Eurocash. Together the Group has more than 15,000 employees and sales of more than SEK 80 billion. Axfood has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 1997, and the principal owner is Axel Johnson AB. Read more at www.axfood.com.