Solaris wins the CSR Silver Leaf awarded by “Polityka”

Solaris has received another awards for its ESG-related activities. The company was given the "POLITYKA" CSR Silver Leaf and the "Award for Urbino 9 LE electric bus for actions supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals for 2021".

Solaris’s activities in the field of sustainable development have been recognised by the jury of the 2022 CSR Leaves of POLITYKA competition. The competition has been going for over a decade and is organised by the Polish weekly POLITYKA in collaboration with consulting company Deloitte and the Responsible Business Forum. The announcement and presentation of the awards took place during a gala ceremony on 31 May 2022. This is already the second Silver Leaf won by Solaris.

The Silver Leaf is awarded to companies that apply all the key solutions of ISO 26000 in their everyday operations. These include the best global and local management practices, the application of the highest HR management standards and the implementation of ethical standards. The jury also appreciated how stakeholders are periodically informed about the activities being undertaken, e.g. via non-financial reports drawn up based on international standards for data presentation.

Furthermore, the company was honored with an Award for Urbino 9 LE electric bus for actions supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals for 2021. This is the result of Solaris' efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals adopted at the UN Summit in 2015, particularly those directly related to the company's operations: - Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy, Goal 9: Industry innovation and infrastructure, Goal 11: Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities, Goal 13: Climate action. As a member of the international organization UITP (International Association of Public Transport) Solaris is also a signatory of the "Charter of Sustainable Development".

“We are very happy to receive these awards and feel motivated to work even harder. Our aim is to further strengthen Solaris’s position as a modern company that is responsible and open to dialogue. As an e-mobility leader, we also want to set an example for others in the fields of responsible operations and impacting the economy, communities and the natural environment”, said Javier Calleja, CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z o.o.

Active support for towns and cities in their transition to green mobility is the foundation of the company’s operations. ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) activities have been implemented by Solaris for many years now, and their scope has been continuously broadened. Recently, the company has focused on environmental projects to minimise its impact on the environment, projects which are thus an expression of its growing awareness and that of its stakeholders.

The company’s most important ESG-related activities to date include, among other things, a life cycle assessment (LCA) study for an e-bus and a hydrogen bus, and obtaining an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for both models. An EPD is an international eco-label that provides clients with solid data on the whole life-cycle environmental impact of a given product. Over the next few months, the company plans to apply for further declarations for other products from its offering. Another significant initiative was to establish a dialogue with battery suppliers in order to jointly ensure a sustainable supply chain.

What is more, Solaris has been implementing numerous initiatives in the field of CSR for many years now. The Green Dachshund Foundation, set up in 2012, has been supporting local communities. The “At the Green Dachshund” nursery, established in the same year and one of the first in-house nurseries in the Great Poland region, takes loving care every day of a few dozen children of Solaris employees. In collaboration with local secondary schools, Solaris has been running vocational classes for a dozen years or so. Developing these activities, in 2014 Solaris started a dual study programme conducted together with the Technical University of Poznań. In addition, spring 2022 saw the launch of CityMission by Solaris, an educational project with an eco-learning goal under the surface, and devised for children in grades 1 to 3 of primary school. The first pilot edition is being carried out in Poznań and surrounding areas.

A comprehensive overview of the ESG-related initiatives undertaken by the company is presented in the Sustainability Report. This document, summing up the year 2020, was awarded a prize for the best debut at the 2021 Sustainability Reports competition. The next edition of the report will be published at the beginning of the third quarter of 2022.

Solaris Bus & Coach is Europe’s largest manufacturer of zero-emission buses. Our electric vehicles, which do not release any exhaust emissions, serve residents of numerous European towns and cities on a daily basis and are changing the image of public transport for the better, thus actively contributing to the protection of the natural environment.

In the first photo, from the left: Jerzy Baczyński, editor-in-chief of "Polityka" weekly, Weronika Krzywicka-Styzińska, ESG Project Coordinator, Solaris Bus & Coach, Professor Szymon Malinowski, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.

Photos: Organizer's materials.