The importance of clean energy in Viveo's sustainable strategy

"Taking care of every life, it's that simple", Viveo's purpose is to bring care to its employees and patients, reaching all healthcare professionals, being and offering complete, efficient, and more sustainable solutions. For this to happen, the company has a strategic plan linked to sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Continue reading and understand the importance of clean energy for the company.

In an interview with Leandro Xavier, industrial director at Viveo, the energy issue is directly related to the company's strategic sustainability planning. The goal is to operate the company with 100% renewable energy, which is why the partnership between Viveo, a pioneer in sustainability in the healthcare sector, and Serena is so relevant.   

When did Viveo's partnership with Serena start?

Leandro Xavier: The partnership with Serena began in 2013, through one of the companies acquired by Viveo, Cremer, which concentrates the largest amount of factory operations in the ecosystem. At the time, the partnership came about through the search for a contract in the Free Energy Market. In 2018, Cremer was acquired by Viveo. Today, this contract we have with Serena has become part of Viveo. Since then, we have been expanding this partnership in terms of contracted volume. The most recent update took place in 2020, when 100% of the contract started coming from renewable sources.

From what moment was there a need to contract clean energy?

Leandro Xavier: Since we already had a contract with Serena since 2013, we knew that a large part of our energy came from clean sources. But, ever since we put together our strategic sustainability plan in 2019, we began to understand where we could delve deeper.  

In the energy pillar, we already had a benchmark partner in clean energy in the country. At the time, we transformed the contract to 100% clean energy supply.  

How does Viveo work on ESG practices?

Leandro Xavier: Over the last three years, we have worked heavily on ESG here at the company. In addition to having expanded the energy contract in 2020, we established this issue of supply through renewable sources.  

ESG is strategic for Viveo. Because of this, this partnership with Serena is very important because it gives us the guarantee of the sustainability of the energy used in our day-to-day operations.

What are Viveo's main projects and achievements related to sustainability and ESG?

Leandro Xavier: We have a water project aimed at reducing consumption in our operations. Another project is the responsible product project to reduce the impact of our portfolio, whether in raw materials or packaging, with the goal of using less aggressive materials, whether recyclable or from other origins. 

We already have some products in our portfolio that are 100% sustainable. In addition, we have an inclusion project, the Idem Program, with four affinity groups: NaRaça; EmpoderAEla; SerQuemSou; SuperAção, with members called "allies" to promote internal diversity and inclusion actions within the company.  

On the logistics side, where we have a market differential, we started making replacements by purchasing an electric fleet of trucks, which deliver our products to hospitals. Cleaner logistics within our market operations. These deliveries are made throughout Brazil, with 70% carried out within 24h, and 98% within up to 48h for all our clients.  

A large part of these deliveries are made in returnable boxes; we replaced styrofoam boxes with returnable boxes, polluting less and generating less waste.

We invested in a biomass thermal effect heater, replacing natural gas with a biomass source from forestry (heat source from clean energy). In our plants, in the adhesive section, we have a machine called Hotmelt that decreases the use of solvent, reducing CO₂ emissions.

All these projects and actions are based on a deep study that the company developed into an ESG action plan, forecasting an investment of more than 65 million over the coming years. They are based on the following pillars: integrity management, human development, eco-efficiency, and sustainability solutions. These actions were reported in our first Sustainability Report released this year.  

Currently, why is it important for sustainability practices to be in companies' strategic planning?

Leandro Xavier: For us, ever since we started treating the topic of sustainability in a more strategic way, it has become part of our actions and their developments.  

The ESG subject is not just a marketing issue; we understand that it is the sustainability of the business, all our actions are linked to our purpose within the healthcare market, and it also has an impact on our stakeholders.

And how do you see the company's impact on society?

Leandro Xavier: Our operations have a strong impact on society, even because of the market we operate in; in the healthcare market, this is something very latent in people's lives.  

So, there is an impact in every way, whether through our clients, patients, or the communities where we operate. Thinking about this equation, all our actions aim to try to balance this relationship of the company and increasingly reinforce our purpose of Taking Care of Every Life. And we work on this both through internal programs and through the external channel.  

What would you say to a company that is not yet in the Free Energy Market?

Leandro Xavier: We have guided all our Free Energy Market negotiations over time. It is a sum of many components, the first being the company's reputation in terms of market performance and the importance of know-how.  

In addition, there is an issue in the Free Energy Market that we have always followed: negotiating with those who are a generating source. We always choose to participate in energy auctions from those who are generating sources for security reasons.  

The other criterion is the clean energy source because we know our responsibility to the environment. Today, there are energy sources that are much cleaner and more efficient from an economic point of view.

Be like Viveo, choose 100% clean energy from Serena and be part of this community that prospers together.  

Read also:

• Everything about the Free Energy Market

• What is a Sustainability Report and what is its importance?