Raising the Bar – the journey towards a carbon-neutral Orion

Last year, Orion decided to raise the bar for its sustainability work and set a target of achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030. In this campaign, we will ask the people of Orion whether this ambitious target is making them have cold feet or courage – that is, whether they feel nervous or confident about achieving the target.

"Personally, I feel very confident about this target. This year, we have made excellent progress by following the roadmap for carbon neutrality. We focus especially on energy efficiency projects where the goal is to both use less purchased energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions," says Noora Paronen, Orion’s Head of Corporate Responsibility.

Achieving carbon neutrality requires investments and innovative solutions. Next on our road to reaching the target, Orion will increase the share of heat and steam that is generated by using renewable energy.

"This year’s significant projects have included the development of a zero-emission heat pump plant in Turku and solar panels at the Hanko plant. In addition to taking ambitious and concrete measures to reduce emissions, we will offset the remaining carbon footprint by 2030," Paronen says.

On the Raising the Bar page, you will find examples of the actions Orion is taking to reduce emissions throughout various operations. The bar is being raised also outside of Orion’s own operations. In the future, Orion will pay even more attention to the emissions in its value chain that are not directly generated by its own operations. These include the emissions generated by the production of the materials used in Orion’s products, and transport.

"A responsible company must understand the environmental impact of its entire value chain. For this reason, we will work even more closely together with our partners," Paronen says.

Ella Junnila to continue as Orion’s brand ambassador

Ella Junnila, a high jumper representing Finland in the European and World Athletics Championships this year, is continuing into her second year as the figurehead of the Raising the Bar campaign.

"We are very happy to continue our partnership with Ella this year. She is an embodiment of continuously working towards one’s goals and raising the bar while doing it. We wish her great success for this summer’s championships," Paronen says.

Junnila is also excited to continue the partnership.

"It was great to be able to challenge people at Orion to meet their carbon neutrality target, while also being challenged myself. I have learned many new things about environmental responsibility during this partnership," Junnila says.

Paronen promises that the bar will be raised even higher.

"Sustainability is something that will never be completed. It needs to be continuously improved, for everyone’s sake. We will continue to raise the bar in all our operations," Paronen says.