ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The emission of greenhouse gases by HB Grandi increased by 6% between 2017 and 2018 once account had been taken of coolants, which first entered the equation used for settlement in 2018. The largest share of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the company’s oil use. The reason for the increase is, for the most part, due to increased fishing by wetfish and pelagic trawlers, with the total catch increasing from 152,868 tonnes in 2017 to 168,233 tonnes in 2018.

There are many indications that conditions in the ocean are changing rapidly for the worse and that the acidification of the sea, global warming and other environmental factors will threaten the ecosystems of the sea and the earth in the near future. Last autumn, the Icelandic government issued an action plan for climate issues that has the goal of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan is an ambitious one and intended to make it possible for Iceland to fulfil its obligations with respect to the Paris Convention until 2030.

Although oil use in Iceland is at an historical high, this is not the case in the fisheries sector. HB Grandi’s use of oil has been reduced by 46% since 2005. The oil use of vessels has been reduced by 37% and that of fish meal plants about 87%, as can be seen in the following graph.

OIL USE BY VESSELS AND FISH MEAL PLANTS OF HB GRANDI FELL BY AROUND 46% FROM 2005 TO 2018

The reason can be traced to a number of factors. Less oil use results not least from the strong fisheries management system that has had the result of building up strong fish stocks. Fewer and more efficient vessels now utilise fuel better than before; with the renewal of the fleet, HB Grandi has completely discontinued the use of heavy fuel oil and at the same time increased the use of more eco-friendly energy sources such as connecting vessels to land-based electricity and heating utilities when they dock. The same applies to the company’s fish meal plants, which were previously run on fossil fuels but are now for the most part run on electricity. This is also true of other processing plants on land, which have long been run on electricity and have been developed to fully utilise all raw materials, minimise waste and create increased value at the same time.

HB Grandi has systematically mapped the company’s environmental impact in recent years and has continued to develop an environmental dashboard that digitally shows all the main aspects of the company’s environmental impact, making it possible to support its goal for an improved emission footprint and the measures taken from time to time.

In order to ensure the reliability and frequency of the environmental results of HB Grandi, the collection of environmental information is based on automated data collection from the main operations and suppliers of the company. Thus, it is possible to monitor the benefits of individual actions in environmental issues.

The pollution of the sea is a direct threat to the results of the fisheries sector in Iceland. HB Grandi will seek any means to reduce pollution from its own operations and continue to develop its operation toward sustainable fishing and processing.

HB GRANDI WILL SEEK ANY MEANS TO REDUCE POLLUTION FROM ITS OWN OPERATIONS AND CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ITS OPERATION TOWARD SUSTAINABLE FISHING AND PROCESSING

SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES

The fisheries resources in the waters around Iceland are renewable provided that they are harvested in a sustainable manner. The excellent success of the Icelandic fisheries sector in environmental matters is, therefore, not least due to its sustainable use of fish stocks. The scientific precautionary approach of determining catch rules for each species of fish is the basis of the catch quota. Fish stocks are in better shape after the current fishing management system was adopted. It is easier to plan fishing operations, catches per day spent at sea have increased significantly and fishing trips are shorter. Sustainable fishing has encouraged innovation, as more attention has been paid to the better utilisation of the catch and solutions sought to create greater value and reduce costs.

HB Grandi takes an active part in collaboration involving the sustainable use of fish stocks, quality and responsibility with respect to the environment and society. The goal of HB Grandi’s participation is to support the continued strengthening of fish stocks, progress in the company and the sector, increased collaboration and to secure market access.

  • The Iceland Responsible Fisheries Foundation (Ábyrgar fiskveiðar ses.) owns and operates the brand Iceland Responsible Fisheries. The Foundation provides certification for the responsible fisheries of Iceland and the source of its marine products. The marketing of the label is in the hands of Promote Iceland (Íslandsstofa), and HB Grandi has a representative on the Board of Iceland Responsible Fisheries and the Fisheries Advisory Board at Promote Iceland.
  • HB Grandi, moreover, has a shareholding in Icelandic Sustainable Fisheries ehf., which has the role of obtaining certification with respect to the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Participation in the association provides access to MSC certification of the fish stocks in Icelandic waters.
  • HB Grandi is also a sponsor of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI). The object of the operation of GSSI is to increase transparency in the certification of sustainability in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Companies who are members of GSSI have undertaken to recognise certification projects that pass GSSI audits when the sale of marine products are involved.
IT IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE FOR HB GRANDI, AS WELL AS FOR THE ICELANDIC FISHERIES SECTOR IN GENERAL AND THE NATION AS A WHOLE, THAT THE CONDITION OF THE FISH STOCKS IS HEALTHY AND THAT INFORMATION ON CATCHES AND CONDUCT WITH REGARD TO THE MARINE ECOSYSTEM IS RELIABLE, TRACEABLE AND TRANSPARENT

CLEANER VALUE CHAIN IN FISHERIES

By systematically recording the environmental aspects of HB Grandi’s operation, the company gains a better view of the status in real time and maintains an accurate overview of the development of the issues so that it is clear where improvements can be made. HB Grandi has initiated an extensive environmental project under the title Cleaner Value Chain in Fisheries.

All environmental information relating to the operation of the company is digitally streamed from its place of origin, whether at sea or on land, into an environmental database. The database makes the information accessible to the company’s responsible parties for the purpose of using the information systematically for actions that have the purpose of reducing the environmental impact. A proportion of the software ensures that HB Grandi can fulfil environmental legislation as current and can also provide the authorities with access for digital monitoring. Although the software was brought into use in June 2016, it will continue to be developed, and its adoption within the company is presently in full swing.

The project includes the following main aspects:

  • ensuring knowledge development of all the aspects of environmental impact from the operation of the company throughout the value chain (from fishing to the market).
  • systematically reducing the negative environmental impact of the operation of the company.
  • reducing the formation of waste and ensuring better sorting of waste.
  • ensuring quantification and goal setting in environmental matters.
  • improving operations and responsibility with respect to the environment.
  • supporting Iceland’s national goals as regards climate issues.

This involves the use of technological knowledge to develop at HB Grandi new and improved processes that will revolutionise the ability of the company to manage its operations in tune with goals in the field of environmental and energy management.

VESSEL ENERGY MANAGEMENT

The Cleaner Value Chain project includes analysing the company’s oil use. In 2018, the focus was placed on improving the fuel use of the vessels. In this connection, the idea was to develop a model that could be used to manage the oil use of vessels and provide vessel operators, captains and other responsible parties within HB Grandi with a software tool to analyse in detail all oil use during fishing. The project was to draw up a clear and accessible image of the energy used for each fishing trip, with the goal of identifying opportunities for energy savings and thus reduce the carbon footprint of harvested catches.

Certain key factors of the fishing process were defined in energy management, such as oil use for trips to and from the fishing grounds, oil use during fishing and per haul. As a result, a good overview of the fishing trips of all the company’s vessels is gained. You can monitor:

  • analyses of fuel use every 15 minutes,
  • oil use per caught tonne,
  • goal setting on key performance indicators,
  • travel report intended for captains at the end of a fishing trip.

This development project has been prepared in partnership with the consultancy firm Klappir Green Solutions.

FUEL USE

Fuel use by the vessels of HB Grandi has been significantly reduced following mergers with a number of fisheries companies since 1985. The restructuring has meant that well over 10 vessels have been removed from operation. HB Grandi operated eight vessels in 2018, one less than in 1985, despite all the mergers with other companies after the merger of BÚR and Ísbjörninn. These mergers have meant that the company’s quota has almost tripled even though the number of vessels has not increased. There have been comparable developments among other fisheries companies throughout Iceland.

Extensive technological advancements have been made over recent years, and considerable new knowledge and expertise has been gained in the fisheries industry. In addition, there has been considerable progress in fish-finding technology, developments of fishing gear, fishing techniques and the handling of catches on board vessels. For these reasons and the improved condition of fish stocks and larger vessels, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) has almost tripled during the period.

The proportion of marine gas oil increased from 1.9% in 2016 to 42% in 2018. Since the use of heavy fuel oil was discontinued, the discharge of pollutants due to the burning of fossil fuels, such as sulphur, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter (PM), has become an insignificant proportion of the company’s emissions.

The following figure shows the fuel use of HB Grandi over the past three years.

FUEL USE

VESSELS

Vessel fuel use rose by 1.5 million litres between years. Fuel use per tonne of caught fish decreased in freezer vessels and wetfish trawlers. On the other hand, fuel use by vessels fishing for pelagic species increased based on use per tonne of catch. More effort was spent on fishing for pelagic species in 2018, mostly attributable to the fact that mackerel fishing took place further from Vopnafjörður than often before and there were pressures in play to keep the processing as a going concern. In addition, requirements made by the authorities as regards where blue whiting could be fished meant longer journeys for smaller catches. The increased fuel use in 2018 as compared to 2017 can also in part be attributed to the seamen’s strike that halted all fishing for seven weeks in 2017.

If the fuel use is compared to the use in 2016, one can see that its use has fallen by 0.5 million litres. The goal of the company is to further reduce the fuel use of the fleet through the purchase of new vessels and the adoption of powerful information technology that ensures a comprehensive real-time overview of the fuel use of the fleet. The decision was made in 2017 to completely discontinue the use of heavy fuel oil in HB Grandi vessels, and none was used in 2018.

Overall, fuel use per tonne of caught fish has decreased, falling from 129 litres per tonne to 127 litres per tonne between 2017 and 2018.

TOTAL ENERGY INTENSITY OF FISHING VESSELS

FISH MEAL PLANTS AND PROCESSING UNITS

The company’s fish meal plants, previously run on fossil fuel, are now for the most part electrified, and every effort is made to use electricity instead of fuel when availability allows. The fuel use of the fish meal plants decreased by 7.5% between 2017 and 2018. Fuel use per produced tonne of fish meal from the company’s plants decreased as well and is at present 8.4 litres/tonne. No heavy fuel oil was used in 2018. Instead of heavy fuel oil, MDO (marine diesel oil) is now used in Akranes and MGO (marine gas oil) is used in Vopnafjörður. Both have significantly less environmental impact than heavy fuel oil.

The company’s goal is to switch to even further environmentally friendly fuel types over the next few years. Through agreements for competitive electricity prices to fish meal plants, we can expect the share of electricity use to increase further at the expense of oil use in the future.

TOTAL ENERGY INTENSITY OF FISH MEAL PLANTS

VEHICLES AND MACHINERY

The fuel use of vehicles and machinery is minimal when compared to the size of the vessel fleet and decreased, moreover, by 28% between 2017 and 2018. The use amounts to 41,298 litres, which is equivalent to the average use of 1,652 litres per car owned by HB Grandi.

HB Grandi plans to increase the use of electric vehicles and hybrid cars over the next few years. At the same time, the company has installed charging stations for the vehicles of the company, its employees and guests.

ELECTRICITY USE

In 2018, the electricity use of HB Grandi was 63,720,385 kWh, which is comparable to 2017, as opposed to a considerable increase from 2016, when electricity use was 48,690,008 kWh. Electricity use increased, therefore, over the course of these two years by almost 30%. This must be seen as a positive development in the use of renewable energy and has made it possible for the company to considerably reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Electricity in Iceland is green, and it is therefore important to use electricity instead of fossil fuels whenever possible. The main opportunity that HB Grandi has in this respect is to use electricity instead of fossil fuels in the production of fish meal. In addition, there is the possibility of connecting the company’s fishing vessels to land-based electricity when they are tied up in port.

ELECTRICITY USE OF OPERATING UNITS

THE GOAL OF HB GRANDI IS TO INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ENERGY SOURCES EVEN FURTHER

NEW QUAY AT NORÐURGARÐUR WITH ELECTRICITY AND HEATING UTILITIES CONNECTIONS TO VESSELS

Work on the renewal of the quay at the fish processing plant at Norðurgarður was completed last spring. The quay is a 120 m long and 20 m wide steel quay with a concrete surface containing a snow-melting system that uses the runoff water from the fish processing plant of HB Grandi.

This change greatly improves all the port facilities that the company wetfish vessels need. The quay that preceded it was an old wooden pier that had seen better days. The new and larger quay ensures access to new and powerful land connections to electricity and hot water. Now all the wetfish trawlers of the company can connect to environmentally friendly energy when the vessels are in port at Norðurgarður.

The facilities at Ísbjörninn are connected to environmentally friendly power sources which the freezer trawlers use, but not hot water. In Akranes, there is both electricity and hot water for vessel land connections. No land connection for electricity or hot water is available in Vopnafjörður.

WITH THE NEW PORT FACILITIES IN REYKJAVÍK, ALL THE WETFISH TRAWLERS OF THE COMPANY CAN CONNECT TO ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ENERGY WHEN THE VESSELS ARE IN PORT

WASTE

HB Grandi has three fully equipped sorting stations for, on the one hand, general waste and, on the other hand, for recyclable raw materials. These three sorting stations, one in Vopnafjörður, Kistan in Akranes and Svanurinn in Reykjavík, are fully equipped sorting stations where digital solutions are used as regards the recording of both general waste and recyclable material.

We sort waste, whether from at sea or on land and recycle to the extent possible. HB Grandi has, in recent years, organised extensive sorting and environmental operations with the goal of minimising the volume of the company’s waste sent to landfills. The waste sorting project began nine years ago in Vopnafjörður on the initiative of the employees, and at present, waste sorting stations are operated in all the company’s operating units. These accept waste from both the vessels and from land-based operations. The proportion of sorted waste in 2018 was 76%.

PROPORTION OF SORTED WASTE FROM OPERATIONS

SORTED WASTE FOR RECYCLING WAS 76% IN 2018

TOTAL VOLUME OF WASTE

WASTE INFORMATION STREAMS ELECTRONICALLY INTO THE ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM

Information on waste disposal continued to be streamed electronically into the environmental records of the company during the year. In 2018, we focused on executing all daily waste disposal electronically by means of a smart scale and smart container. Electronic registration for general waste was established in Vopnafjörður at the local port scales. A considerable volume of general waste was sent to landfills from there. New working arrangements have been implemented in Vopnafjörður in collaboration with the local authorities, where the information is streamed in real time into the environmental records as soon as waste is sent to a landfill.

SMART CONTAINERS – SMART SCALES

A “smart container” is used for general waste, which is sent for the most part to landfills. All waste put in the container is registered to the department responsible for that waste. The container is equipped with scales that return information on the volume of waste to the environmental database of the company. All recyclable raw materials are sorted in accordance with a defined sorting system. Each recyclable category is weighed by “smart scales” and labelled with its processing path in the environmental database of the company.

The environmental database of HB Grandi contains detailed information of all waste records, i.e. volume, type, processing path, disposal method and origin of general waste.

The first smart container became a reality in August 2017 in Kistan, HB Grandi’s sorting station in Akranes. Smart containers and smart scales had been installed in all HB Grandi sorting stations by the beginning of 2018. HB Grandi employs specially trained employees who work under the best conditions in the operating units of the company at specially equipped sorting stations.

SMART CONTAINERS AND SMART SCALES NOW IN ALL WASTE SORTING STATIONS OF HB GRANDI AND ELECTRONICALLY RECORD THE COMPANY’S WASTE SORTING

DISPOSAL OF FISHING GEAR WASTE

Hampiðjan accepts all fishing gear waste from HB Grandi. The crews of the company’s vessels or the employees of the sorting stations cut off various parts that can be reused. Hampiðjan cuts off the usable parts that remain. The unusable material sections are set apart and sent to landfills in Iceland. Hampiðjan sends all recyclable fishing gear waste overseas, where it is sold to foreign recycling stations.

The recycling stations wash the fishing gear waste and grind it into small particles that are then sorted automatically using the appropriate technology. The final product is raw material used to make plastics. Trawl wires are chopped into ground cables that HB Grandi reuses.

Hampiðjan works closely with Fisheries Iceland (Samtök fyrirtækja í sjávarútvegi, SFS) and submits to SFS figures on the exported volume of fishing gear waste from HB Grandi and other fisheries companies. SFS then forwards the information to the Recycling Fund according to an agreement with the Fund.

SFS has an agreement with the Recycling Fund under which the association is responsible for ensuring that waste fishing gear made of synthetic materials is recycled. At the same time, authorisations for exemptions from recycling fees levied on fishing gear made from synthetic materials are utilised. No return fees are collected. Instead, SFS undertakes responsibility for the project on behalf of the fisheries industry.

There were no mishaps during the year where fishing gear was lost at sea.

SORTING PROPORTION OF FISHING GEAR WASTE

Disposal of fishing gear waste in 2018 Unit
Type of fishing gear kg Recycled and reused Sent to landfill Total
Trawls PE/PP/PEP 28.872 - 28.872
Purse seine PA Multifilament 24.675 31.380 56.055
Net material PA Multifilament 23.000 - 23.000
Net rods and cables PES/PE/PA - 21.760 21.760
Free floats - 2.460 2.460
Rockhoppers - 37.840 37.840
Scrap metals 35.000 - 35.000
Total kg 111.547 93.440 204.987

Work was carried out in 2018 on gaining an overall picture of the recycling of the company’s fishing gear. Before the fishing gear is sent to Hampiðjan for recycling and to Sorpa for landfill, metals are sorted from the fishing gear to the extent possible in the sorting stations of HB Grandi. These metals mix with other metals that are sent for recycling, and the company was unable to separate the volume from other metals that were sent for recycling in 2018. One may expect the table to lack a considerable amount of metals from fishing gear that is sent for recycling. These metals, however, are included in the environmental results of HB Grandi at the bottom of the page.

DISPOSAL OF WASTE OIL

All HB Grandi vessels regularly produce waste oil that is sent for recycling to Olíudreifing ehf. and Skeljungur hf. Olíudreifing and Skeljungur are contractors for the Recycling Fund for the collection and recycling of waste oil according to an agreement with the Recycling Fund, and the operation is funded through a recycling fee that is levied on imported lubricants according to law.

Waste oil results for the most part from lubricant renewals in the engines of the vessels, and also, to a lesser extent, from fuel oils and hydraulic fluids. It is recycled and sold as factory oil. This waste oil is collected by the vessels into a special tank located on board the vessels and is managed by the engineer. The tank is emptied as needed into a tanker that the recycling entity sends to the vessel when the tank needs to be emptied.

REFRIGERANTS

Hydrofluorocarbons have been used as refrigerants and replaced previously used materials that were harmful to ozone levels. It later became apparent that hydrofluorocarbons are powerful greenhouse gasses. These refrigerants are in use in a few of HB Grandi’s vessels. Annual use is measured based on the volume of the refrigerant in question added to the systems and is now reported for the first time in the 2018 environmental report.

EMPLOYEE TRANSPORT POLICY

The object of the transport policy of HB Grandi is to encourage its employees to use eco-friendly, economic and healthy modes of travel. In addition, the company wishes to be a role model by increasing employee awareness of eco-friendly transportation and at the same time, make a contribution toward improving the environment and the health of its employees and others.

The company, therefore, offers a transport agreement to employees who have been employed for three months or who are permanently employed and undertake to use eco-friendly transport methods to and from work, e.g. by walking, cycling, running or using public transport. The agreement is effective for twelve months as of its signing and may be terminated by either party with one month’s notice.

At the end of 2018, 172 HB Grandi employees (corresponding to 22% of the total number of FTEs and an increase of around 16 from the previous year) had entered into a transport agreement.

Transport agreements

RESULTS AND METHODOLOGY

The environmental results below contain an overview of the main aspects of environmental issues at HB Grandi. The data includes all the operations of HB Grandi with the exception of its subsidiaries, except in the cases where the subsidiaries share sorting stations with HB Grandi.

The methodology used to define its own value chain and its pollution factors is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a standardised methodology that numerous companies have adopted with good results.

In order to ensure the reliability and frequency of the environmental results of HB Grandi, the collection of environmental information is based on automated data collection from the main operations and suppliers of the company. This makes it possible to monitor the benefits of individual measures taken in environmental matters.

KEY FIGURES

Unit 2018 2017 2016
Carbon results
Scope 1 tCO2e 61.365 57.815 64.421
Scope 2 tCO2e 835 856 766
Scope 3 tCO2e 2.925 101 94
Carbon footprint, total tCO2e 65.125 58.772 65.281
Reduction in emissions between years -10% 10% 5%
Corrected reduction, corrected due to refrigerators that are new in the 2018 report -6%
Energy use
Energy due to the use of fossil fuels kWh 244.186.930 243.089.969 271.398.866
Electricity use kWh 63.720.385 62.904.866 48.690.008
Energy from hot water for building heating kWh 14.447.916 18.551.648 25.995.310
Total energy use kWh 322.355.231 324.546.483 346.084.184
Fuel use of vehicles and equipment Litres 41.298 57.231 45.925
Fuel use, fish meal plant Litres 973.444 1.052.625 1.431.892
Fleet fuel use Litres 21.301.288 19.792.119 21.858.285
Total fuel use lítr. 22.316.030 20.901.975 23.336.102
Proportion of renewable energy % 24% 25% 22%
Proportion of renewable electricity % 100% 100% 100%
MGO proportion of total % 42,6% 31,2% 1,7%
Use of potable water
Total use of potable water m3 1.006.704 966.316 1.078.779
Formation of waste and processing
Sorted waste kg 793.317 910.383 1.267.953
Unsorted waste kg 193.097 216.290 355.567
Total volume of waste kg 986.414 1.126.673 1.623.520
General waste from operations kg 802.346 835.667 852.470
    Whereof sorted waste - 609.249 652.603 496.903
    Whereof unsorted waste - 193.097 183.064 355.567
Construction waste kg 39.510 159.820 576.040
Organic waste from production processes kg 144.558 131.186 195.010
Proportion of sorted waste from operations % 76% 78% 58%
Operations waste to recycling kg 505.129 591.120 461.288
Operations waste to landfill kg 297.217 244.547 391.182
Proportion of recycled operations waste* % 63% 71% 54%
*This shows how well the recycling entities are able to utilise sorted waste from HB Grandi. If the recycling entity is able to utilise all sorted waste for recycling, this proportion should be as high as the proportion of sorted operating waste.
Office paper use
Total volume of printed paper Pages 173.656 184.275 172.665
     Whereof colour printed % 58% 71% 64%
     Whereof black/white printed % 42% 29% 36%
     Whereof printed on both sides % 29% 23% 25%
Catches
Wetfish trawler catches tonnes 29.302 24.548 25.277
Pelagic vessel catches tonnes 119.950 109.281 95.594
Freezer trawler catches tonnes 17.836 19.039 20.984
Total catches tonnes 167.233 152.868 141.855
Fleet fuel use
Wetfish trawler fuel use Litres 6.796.681 5.956.214 6.355.171
    Fuel use / caught tonnes (CT) L/CT 231 243 251
     GHG emissions of wetfish trawlers tCO2í 18.865 16.221 17.108
     GHG emissions / caught tonnes (CT) tCO2í/CT 0,64 0,66 0,68
Fuel use of pelagic vessels Litres 8.194.585 6.463.549 6.277.210
    Fuel use / caught tonnes (CT) L/CT 68,3 59,1 65,7
     GHG emissions of wetfish trawlers tCO2í 22.746 18.356 17.476
     GHG emissions / caught tonnes (CT) tCO2í/CT 0,19 0,17 0,18
Freezer trawler fuel use Litres 6.310.025 7.372.356 9.225.905
    Fuel use / caught tonnes (CT) L/CT 354 387 440
     GHG emissions of wetfish trawlers tCO2í 17.515 20.525 25.685
     GHG emissions / caught tonnes (CT) tCO2í/CT 0,98 1,08 1,22
Total fleet fuel use Litres 21.301.291 19.792.119 21.858.286
Key figures
Total turnover m€ 210,7 217,3 201
Number of man-years No. of man-years 773 839 859
Total carbon tax ISK million 206 128 138
Number of structures No. 22 26 26
    Size of structures m2 54.172 59.394 59.394
Number of vessels in operation on average during year No. 8 9 9
     Whereof wetfish trawlers - 4 4 4
    Whereof freezer trawlers - 2 2,9 3
    Whereof pelagic trawlers - 2 2 2
Number of vehicles No. 25 25 -
    Whereof electric cars - 3 3 -
    Whereof hybrid cars - 3 2 -
Violations of environmental laws yes/no no no no
Environmental management system yes/no yes yes yes
Contracts containing provisions on environmental issues No. 17 13 10