People and Planet Sit at the Heart of Aritco’s 2025 Sustainability Report

Aritco has published its second annual sustainability report, covering progress across environment, people, and how the company works with its suppliers and partners. We spoke with Elin Åhrberg, Chief Human Resources Officer, about what this year’s report reflects and where the focus goes next.

Sustainability has always been part of how Aritco operates. But 30 years into the company’s journey, there has been a shift from values held to a more structured approach that can be measured, tracked, and built on year after year.

“Sustainability has always been part of who we are,” says Elin. “But we’re becoming more strategic about it, more measurable, and more connected to long-term business development.”

One of the standout results from 2025 is Aritco’s performance in the Great Place to Work survey – an international benchmark Aritco has participated in for eight years. This year, Aritco was also named one of Sweden’s best employers. Ninety-two percent of employees said Aritco is a great place to work, with a Trust Index of 88 percent.

“You have a great culture, you build on your leadership structure, you get your employee engagement, and then you can build more towards the external customers that drive sales,” “We have that culture at Aritco,” explained Elin.

“People still have the heart to develop Aritco. I think that’s the most beautiful part.”

In April and May 2025, all managers in Sweden completed a three-day Better Work Environment training – a structured programme focused on collaboration, clear expectations, and what it means to be a responsible leader day to day.

“The training gave everyone a shared foundation. Before, not all managers had a clear understanding of what their responsibility for the work environment actually looked like in practice. The training made our health and safety work more concrete and more connected to daily leadership. Employees could see that when they raised something, we took it seriously. That matters.”

In addition, HR and sustainability now sit within the same part of the organisation. Health and safety, environment, quality, and people now fall under one structure, a recognition that these areas are more connected than organisational charts usually suggest.

On the environmental side, 2025 brought several concrete steps forward. Switching the company’s truck to HVO100 renewable fuel cut Scope 1 emissions by 71 percent compared to 2024. Compared to the 2022 baseline, combined emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3 are down 21 percent – reaching the 2030 Scope 3 reduction target ahead of schedule.

Aritco also achieved both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification during the year. The ISO 14001 certification in particular gives the company a coherent structure for managing environmental impact, bringing together routines for waste, energy use, and materials, and making environmental considerations part of daily decisions rather than a separate exercise.

“We want to be credible, so we have to show real results. We’ve made good progress, and we’re also honest that some of the harder work is still ahead of us. The supply chain is where a lot of our impact sits, and that’s where we’re now focusing,” Elin said.

A new Supplier Code of Conduct was introduced in 2025, with 83 suppliers signed by the end of the year. It sets clear expectations on environmental responsibility, working conditions, and business ethics, extending Aritco’s standards into the wider value chain.

“Suppliers and partners are such an important part of how we operate. The code helps us set clear expectations, not just on cost and quality, but on how business is done. Working conditions, ethics, environmental responsibility. It’s a first step, and there’s more to come.”

A renewed focus on supply chain leadership is already planned for the year ahead, with a new head of purchasing and supply chain joining to drive this work further.

When asked what sustainability meant to Aritco, this was Elin’s response:

“It creates long-term value and takes responsibility for its people, its culture, its environment, and how it does business. Sustainability has to run through strategy, leadership, and daily operations. That’s why we’re working toward becoming more structured, more proactive, and building the data to know where we can have the most impact.”

The 2025 report is the second in what is now an annual series. Each edition builds on the last, adding data, refining targets, and making the company’s commitments more concrete.