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Nordics' largest reseller to launch ten-year sustainability plan

Atea reveals it recycled or reused over 450,000 units last year

Atea said it will launch a ten-year sustainability plan this year as it revealed that the number of units it recycled or reused last year rose by 11 per cent.

The Nordics' largest reseller also revealed in its 2019 Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Report that it cut GHG emission per revenue by nearly a quarter per cent in 2019, and also assessed over 90 per cent of its suppliers for social environmental impacts in the supply chain.

Setting out the report, Atea CEO Steinar Sønsteby stressed that Atea maintained its gold ranking by supplier sustainability evaluator EcoVadis last year, putting it in the top one per cent of 55,000 companies.

"This year, I am looking forward to participating in the launch of Atea's Strategic Visionary 2030 Plan on Sustainability," he said.

"This is a new initiative and is the next step forward in our ten-year plan. I will be personally involved in this launch during 2020."

"Here at Atea today, we are ushering in a new decade for sustainability — one where promises are transformed into action", added Atea's director of corporate responsibility, Andreas Antonsen.

Antonsen highlighted Atea's GoITLoop reuse and recycling service, which is designed to prevent materials heading to landfill. The scheme handled 450,970 units in 2019, an 11 per cent hike. It has encompassed 1.8 million units in its five-year lifespan.

When it comes to responsible sourcing, Atea says it assessed 93.3 per cent of its suppliers (expressed in terms of spend) for social and environmental impacts in the supply chain last year.

In September, members of its team visited China on a trip organised by Dell Technologies. The trip included visits to three factories: packaging supplier, a Dell-owned OEM and a display manufacturer.

GHG emission per revenue fell by 24 per cent last year, Atea said, adding that Atea Norway intends to compensate for its entire business during 2019.

Atea, which employs 7,600 staff across the Nordics and Baltics and claims to be Europe's third largest IT infrastructure reseller, also used the report to set out how it is using technology to help other industries with their sustainable transformations.

This includes a project to help the Nordic seafood industry better manage their fish stocks using blockchain technology.

"Humanity's story has always been one about technology. It's the tool we use the most to solve complicated problems. That's why IT today is front-and-centre in how we tackle society's biggest challenges," Sønsteby said.