Sustainable competitiveness

Building a better world

For years sustainability has been one of the three fundamental pillars of the future strategy for the Group (alongside Brand and Technology) and it drives us and makes us commit to working towards contributing to building a better and more sustainable world. Because we understand the future will be sustainable, or there won’t be a future.

At Irizar S.Coop. we’ve been firmly committed to the United Nations Global Compact since 2013. The UNGC is the largest voluntary business sustainability initiative in the world and we identify deeply with it. We use it as a frame of reference for all our strategic advancement in sustainability and it strengthens our deep commitment to transparency through our annual sustainability report. Every year we reaffirm our commitment to make progress in implementing the Ten Principles regarding human rights, labour, the environment and the fight against corruption. And every year we increase our ambition to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.

See the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact

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We’re making progress incorporating fulfilment of the SDGs, which are the roadmap for driving prosperity for people and the planet, into our strategy and management. Even though we can directly or indirectly contribute to reaching all 17 SDGs, after evaluating our strategy for generating value for our interest groups, we believe that, due to the nature of our activities and value chain, Irizar can have a greater capacity to influence 5 high priority SDGs and 2 transversal SDGs.

Along those lines, we collaborate with our interest groups on generating long term shared and sustainable value, integrating the three dimensions of sustainability: economic (and governance), social and environmental.

Customers, Passengers and Citizens,
People (workers and cooperative members),
External partners, Supply Chain, and alliances
Environment
Society in general

We want Irizar to become a global actor in sustainable mobility for urban, medium and long distance transport. That’s why we continue to integrate sustainability into our strategy and operations. We seek solutions with high technological content that lets our clients, who doubtlessly guide the goals we set, operate their services more efficiently and sustainably. We don’t have the slightest doubt that the future will include collective public transport as a fundamental solution for the sustainability of the planet.

Sustainability Reports

View and download the report 2021
View and download the report 2020
View and download the report 2019
View and download the report 2018 View and download the report 2017
View and download the report 2016
View and download the report 2015
View and download the report 2013-2014

Our commitment

To Our Customers, Passengers and Citizens

Open

Always by your side

We’re a consolidated industrial project with enormous challenges ahead. The project is based in ethics, transparency and integrity. It’s made up of people deeply committed to the clients and innovation is our badge of identity. Out of conviction that the future will include providing sustainable solutions and our faith in personal talent, we’re putting all our effort into becoming the perfect partner to work alongside transport operators in the future.

Our main strategy is customer satisfaction and loyalty. Consequently, Irizar means, above all, closeness. We work alongside our clients from defining the product and service they need until the product end of life, providing the guarantee of a robust project they can trust. The flexibility to adapt to their needs and personalisation without limit are factors that set us apart to obtain loyalty.

Lowering the impact of our vehicles, eliminating GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and noise pollution, improving information for our users, and improving passenger safety are our priorities. We judge these to be the foundations on which to build all our sustainability actions that society demands of us. And that is where we want to be. We keep innovating because innovation is part of our DNA, as is being close to our clients and adapting to new realities. Accordingly, we’re focusing on the entire life cycle of our vehicles, from their development, starting with extracting the raw materials, to production and use, up to the end of their life.

+ Collective public mobility

Public road transport is and will be key to guaranteeing mobility services and meeting sustainability goals. Because of that, we keep advocating public collective mobility, reducing pollution and noise levels, enabling connectivity for better fleet management, improving information for users and incorporating new technological developments to improve passenger safety.

+ Passenger transport

We’re positioned in all segments of passenger transport, including occasional transport and urban, medium and long distance inter-urban and premium transport. And we’re leaders in the sustainable mobility sector. Our commitment to customer, passenger and citizen service is clear in paramount aspects like design, personalisation, safety, operating costs, technology and sustainability.

+ Personalised solutions

We provide personalised solutions that are designed and created to provide the best service, including financing, repair and maintenance contracts, used vehicle pick-up and more. We have help desks in every European country plus a central one with 24h service 365 days a year. Our clients can thus enjoy devoted support and advising. Our integral electronic management solutions, Irizar connectivity, fleet management and remote diagnostics lead to a considerable reduction in consumption and pollution.

+ Close to our clients

We keep having close direct contact with our clients through the repair-maintenance and original spares programmes that contribute to improving vehicle efficiency, reducing stoppages, lowering TCO and lengthening vehicle life cycles.

To the Employees that Make up Irizar
Open

People: the key actors in sustainable competitiveness

The people are undoubtedly the key players in achieving sustainable medium and long-term results. Having high levels of satisfaction and motivation for ALL Irizar personnel (partners-workers and employees) is the way to achieve a culture of excellence, sustainable competitiveness and the future success of the Irizar Group.

In accordance with this firm conviction, we work resolutely so that the people of Irizar want to contribute their talent to realizing both our Mission and our strategic challenges, as well as our dream of contributing to the construction of a Better and more Sustainable World.

We uphold an open and transparent culture with the firm conviction that business activities with respect for total integrity are the only basis possible for achieving sustainable success. We’re convinced that the primary instrument for strengthening integrity is an organisational culture based in common ethical values shared by everyone at Irizar, Because that is the best prevention for bad practices and illegal or even criminal conduct.

To those ends, starting with the CEO and management team, it is VITAL to keep standing behind our commitment to all people.

External Partners
Open

Our entire value chain is focused on creating value for our clients and other interest groups and raising awareness and pushing them all to share our commitment to sustainability to increase the positive impact we can make together on both people and the planet.

Consistent with our business strategy, our alliances with different outside collaborators play an important role in sustainable competitiveness at Irizar.

In addition to our sustainability actions internally, with clients and with society in general, our goal is to raise the ambition of our commitment to guarantee a SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN that includes, firstly, suppliers, sales and distribution companies, and after-sales shops.

+ Sales, distribution and after-sales network

We have our own sales and after-sales teams. And we’re continuously expanding our sales, distribution and after-sales network around the world through collaborations and alliances with distributors and commercial partners who let us provide service and distribution close to clients in the more than 90 countries around the world where we have a presence.

+ Sustainable supply chain

We cultivate a high level of integration with suppliers when developing our products and processes. We create what could be called “per bus logistics management” with the main suppliers where the suppliers are integrated into day to day management at Irizar.

+ Purchasing committed to the social environment

We can highlight our high commitment to our environment, because our purchases of materials and services from companies in our province (Gipuzkoa) has kept increasing. In 2020, we were in close contact with our suppliers to work together and agree upon special collaboration conditions so we could tackle the situation caused by COVID-19.

To the Environment
Open

For a sustainable world

We are engaged in projects to improve energy efficiency, to optimise waste management in all our businesses and reduce the environmental impact of our business and our products and to help improve the health and quality of life of citizens.

As can be seen in our environmental policy where our goal to gradually reduce CO2 emission and pollution causing substances is described, we put emphasis on conserving natural resources and incorporating environmental criteria in the design of our products.

Clearly, electromobility for cities is our strategic goal and it has great importance in terms of innovation in sustainable mobility. It reflects our firm commitment for contributing to improving safety in transport and quality of life for citizens.

This fact goes back to 1998, when Irizar was the first manufacturer of coaches in obtaining ISO certification 14001 in 1998, when we decided to undertake the extension project of the plant at Ormaiztegi.

Irizar environmental policy

The Application of environmental criteria in the design of our products (Ecodesign).

The incorporation of Best Available Technologies (BAT) in our manufacturing processes which have led to the implementation of processes relating to waste separation, welding fume extraction and 100% recycling of the solvents used in the painting process, thereby reducing the annual consumption of natural gas and, consequently, the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. In the past 5 years we have reduced consumption by 50%.

The constant search for the best solutions for achieving the maximum reduction of CO2 emissions. We can also point to our strong commitment to incorporate water-based paint in all our paint processes.

Eco-efficiency – The implementation of measures to progressively reduce the generation of waste.

Electromobility as a new strategic decision with great significance in terms of innovation in sustainable mobility for the future of our cities.

Responsible energy consumption.

Encouraging the commitment of all our personnel regarding these aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Case Study IHOBE – i2e

Download the study case

Social Setting
Open

For a better world

Our relationship with society is based in respect. It is open and participative and we collaborate in creating wealth and employment and promoting education, culture and sport in our immediate surroundings, as well as engaging in social actions.

We are contributing 1.5 million euros per year to support our community.

We are currently involved in more than 40 projects across 20 NGOs on 5 continents, working to care for the most disadvantaged and elderly persons, in terms of their education and their health, as well as in the development of children with and without disabilities (physical or mental) or at risk of social exclusion. We also collaborate with 20 associations in Gipuzkoa with the goal of helping them achieve their goals.