ESRS E5 Circular economy

Material topics: Energy resources, Waste

E5-1 – Policies related to resource use and circular economy

The Enea Group has not adopted a separate policy for the acquisition and utilization of resources or waste management. The reason for not adopting such a policy was the high uncertainty associated with the unstable geopolitical situation affecting energy commodity prices and the need to maintain the ability to react quickly to the rapidly changing market situation. Moreover, issues related to the use of raw materials and their acquisition were partially addressed in the Enea Group’s Climate Policy adopted in 2023. The scope of the Policy includes objectives related to the shift away from primary raw materials and a transition to RES and improving the efficiency of electricity generation. The issue of waste management is addressed in the waste management instructions adopted in specific Group companies, in particular those with a manufacturing and logistics profile. The Group intends to adopt comprehensive policies on the management of natural resources, biodiversity, occupational health and safety by the end of 2025.

E5-2 – Actions and resources related to resource use and circular economy

The activities taken in 2024 by the Enea Group in the area of raw material acquisition and utilization and waste management were carried out without a separate policy in this area defined at the Group level.

The key activities related to the acquisition and use of raw materials and waste management taken by the Enea Group in 2024 are as follows:

  • optimization of hard coal mining processes to improve the coal yield rate of a mining unit,
  • utilization of combustion by-products (ashes, slag, synthetic gypsum from flue gas desulfurization systems),
  • cooperation with suppliers to reduce packaging waste by replacing plastic packaging with paper and glass packaging, e.g. biodegradable paper cups and water in glass bottles,
  • launching an educational program for employees aimed at raising awareness of energy saving and waste reduction in the workplace,
  • cooperation with a waste paper recycling company,
  • one-off orders placed with companies that provide selective collection of furniture and electronics,
  • education of customers and employees, including a series of seminars on low-carbon energy sources at partner schools, during which RES and SMR were discussed, and webinars for Enea S.A. Sales Department employees on nuclear energy and the potential for the development of low- and zero-carbon sources,
  • initiatives related to recycling products after their use, e.g. Enea S.A., in cooperation with catering companies, has started to work on introducing a food packaging return system (project in the development phase).

The expected outcome of the activities carried out by the Group is to achieve business benefits and exert a positive impact on the environment and society. The business benefits include a reduction in waste management costs and an improvement in the Group’s image and reputation compared to its competitors. The environmental benefits include a reduction in plastic consumption, an increase in recycling levels and a reduction in the carbon footprint. The social and educational benefits relate to the promotion of more sustainable habits and choices among the Group’s employees and customers.

The measures taken relate to both the Group’s own operations and the upper and lower levels of the value chain. Measures related to the upstream level of the value chain include working with suppliers to reduce packaging waste. The activities relating to the lower level of the value chain are educating customers, cooperating with waste collection and processing companies, and initiatives related to waste recycling. Other activities are related to the company’s own operations. The activities were carried out in Poland. The activities exerted a positive impact on the Group’s contractors and customers.

In the coming years, the Group intends to continue the activities described above. There are no specific timeframes for these activities, with the exception of the employee education program, which is planned for 2024-2025.

Enea S.A. intends to create a methodology for ensuring waste-related corrective and compensatory measures by the end of 2025. Key points of the methodology will include:

  • application for reporting damages and complaints,
  • damage identification,
  • damage assessment,
  • implementation of procedures for handling reported complaints and damages,
  • remedial actions, including environmental compensation, support for educational, health and training programs in the area subject to reports,
  • monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed remedial solutions,
  • case analysis and implementation of improvements.

In the area of materials and water, Enea S.A. does not use any biological or critical materials or rare earth metals in its operations. The company strives for effective water management, optimization of its consumption and protection of water resources. In 2024, the focus was on educational campaigns about the significance of saving water, targeted at employees.

In its business activities, Enea S.A. attempts to use recycled materials, e.g.:

  • buys recycled disposable drinking cups,
  • takes into consideration the origin of purchased office materials, such as recycled PET used for the production of fibers in textiles, e.g. technical clothing, carpets and conveyor belts,
  • uses recyclable building materials in its own properties,
  • buys recycled paper,
  • sends materials containing precious metals recovered from electronic devices (e.g. gold, silver, copper) for recycling so that they may be reused in new devices,
  • uses only environmentally friendly materials to create promotional materials.

Enea S.A. does not design products, services or installations, but supports design and construction companies in promoting:

  •  resource use optimization,
  • increasing reuse, repair and recovery rates, e.g. through easier disassembly and more efficient replacement of primary and secondary circuit components in substations,
  • logistical processes to ensure the availability of key equipment components during a failure.

Some of Enea S.A.’s business practices are circular. These include partnerships between entities that share resources, platforms for sharing goods (including car-sharing and tool rental), and end-of-life activities.

The Company takes measures to minimize waste generation upstream and downstream in its value chain. It cooperates with suppliers to reduce packaging waste, chooses more sustainable materials and runs circular economy programs at the product design stage.

When planning and implementing waste management activities, Enea S.A. and its subsidiaries apply the waste management hierarchy defined in Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC.

In the reporting period, the Enea Group did not incur any considerable operating expenses (OpEx) or capital expenditures (CapEx) on circular economy-related measures. In this context, “considerable” should be construed as expenses or expenditures above PLN 50 million.

E5-3 – Targets related to resource use and circular economy

The Enea Group has not adopted any targets related to resource use and circular economy. Such targets will be defined by the end of 2025 in the Group’s new ESG Strategy. The Development Strategy adopted in November 2024 includes the development of a circular economy as one of its goals. The effectiveness of some of the measures described in section E5-2 is monitored by the Group through an annual analysis of the weight of waste generated and the weight of waste sent for recycling and the weight of raw materials used. Some companies also have waste management instructions in place. The measures taken do not have a defined level of ambition. The indicator used to assess progress is the year-on-year comparison of the weight of waste generated.

E5-4 – Resources inflows

The resources introduced by Enea Wytwarzanie and Enea Elektrownia Połaniec in 2024 accounted for 97.34% of the resources introduced by the Enea Group. The resources introduced by Enea Ciepło, Białystok CHP Plant Branch, accounted for another 1.94%. The resources introduced by other companies accounted for 0.72% of the resources introduced by the Group in 2024.

  • hard coal used to fire steam boilers,
  • biomass used in the co-firing of hard coal with biomass and for combustion in the fluidized bed of the power unit,
  • heavy fuel oil (mazut) – used to ignite the power boilers and to maintain the flame in the pulverized boilers of the power units,
  • light heating oil (Ekoterm plus) – used to ignite and maintain the flame of the power unit’s fluidized bed boiler,
  • hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide used to regenerate ion exchange resins in the water demineralization system,
  • hydrogen necessary for cooling the generators,
  • Kaolinite is fed into the fluidized bed boiler to remove the alkalis contained in the fuel (phosphorus, potassium, sodium), which negatively impact the boiler operation.
  • Quartz sand is used as a combustion bed for the fluidized bed boiler.
  • limestone used for the desulfurization of power unit exhaust gases,
  • ammonia water with a concentration of less than 25% used to reduce nitrogen oxides in the air in the SCR system of power units,
  • urea with a concentration of approx. 41% used to reduce nitrogen oxides in the air in the SNCR system of the power unit,
  • hydrated lime – used to decarbonize water in the decarbonization system of the water demineralization station and in the flue gas desulfurization system and in the sewage treatment plant in the flue gas desulfurization system to prepare calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)₂ to increase the pH value of raw sewage in the reaction tank,
  • iron sulphate – used to remove iron from fire water and particles that are impossible to be removed by filtration,
  • biocide – used to prevent the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms in fire water,
  • hydrochloric acid – used in the mains water system as a corrosion inhibitor,
  • cotamine – used in the boiler water system as a corrosion inhibitor,
  • coagulant (PIX113) – ferrous sulphate to support the coagulation process of decarbonization sludge in the accelerator,
  • iron chloride – used to remove dispersed particles from wastewater by combining them in a wastewater treatment plant on a flue gas desulfurization system,
  • sodium sulfide – used to precipitate the remaining amount of heavy metals in the form of sulfides from wastewater in a wastewater treatment plant on a flue gas desulfurization system,
  • sodium hypochlorite – used to disinfect drinking water,
  • Flocor 1.2 – used as a coagulant in the treatment of rainwater and snowmelt from biomass areas.

¹ Using the resources used by Enea Elektrownia Połaniec as an example. Due to the same fuel used for energy production, the resources used by Enea Wytwarzanie are very similar. 

  • biomass,
  • bituminous coal,
  •  fuel oil,
  • diesel oil,
  • raw materials for water treatment and raw materials used in flue gas treatment equipment:
    • urea (40.7% concentration),
    • ammonia water,
    • hydrated lime,
    •  hydramine OX50,
    • catamine C50,
    • coagulant (PIX113).

² Based on the example of resources used by Enea Ciepło (Białystok CHP Plant Division)

The Enea Group also uses water in its operations. The issue of water use is discussed in section E3 Water and marine resources. The Group also uses fixed assets in its operations, such as high-voltage lines, electrical substations, switching stations, power units with boilers and auxiliary equipment, excavations, machinery and lighting equipment. Upstream in the Group’s value chain, significant inputs include casings used to harden mine workings, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, transformers, power lines, power poles, measuring devices, specialized mining equipment and pumps.

Weight of products used and technical and biological materials used by Enea Group in 2024.

Weight [in tons] Enea Group
Total weight of products and technical and biological materials used in the reporting period 21,586,289,99
Total weight of products used in the reporting period 17,146,756.30
Total weight of technical materials used in the reporting period 2,625,606, 02
Total weight of biological materials used in the reporting period 1,813,927.66
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 84.38%
Weight of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 1,530,580.85
Weight of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to render services (including packaging) 0
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products (including packaging) 84.38%
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to provide the undertaking’s services (including packaging) 0.00%
Total weight of secondary reused or recycled components, secondary intermediary products and secondary materials used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 12,956.51
Weight in absolute terms of reused or recycled components used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging) 12,029.19
Absolute weight of reused or recycled components used to provide services by the entity (including packaging) 0
Absolute weight of reused or recycled products used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging) 0
Absolute weight of reused or recycled products used to provide services by the entity (including packaging). 0
Absolute weight of secondary materials used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging). 927.32
Absolute weight of secondary materials used to provide services by the entity (including packaging). 0
Indicator of secondary reused or recycled components, secondary intermediary products and secondary materials used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 0.06%
Weight [in tons] Enea Group
Total weight of products and technical and biological materials used in the reporting period 21,586,289,99
Total weight of products used in the reporting period 17,146,756.30
Total weight of technical materials used in the reporting period 2,625,606, 02
Total weight of biological materials used in the reporting period 1,813,927.66
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 84.38%
Weight of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 1,530,580.85
Weight of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to render services (including packaging) 0
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to manufacture the undertaking’s products (including packaging) 84.38%
Percentage of sustainably sourced biological materials (and biofuels used for non-energy purposes) used to provide the undertaking’s services (including packaging) 0.00%
Total weight of secondary reused or recycled components, secondary intermediary products and secondary materials used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 12,956.51
Weight in absolute terms of reused or recycled components used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging) 12,029.19
Absolute weight of reused or recycled components used to provide services by the entity (including packaging) 0
Absolute weight of reused or recycled products used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging) 0
Absolute weight of reused or recycled products used to provide services by the entity (including packaging). 0
Absolute weight of secondary materials used to manufacture products by the entity (including packaging). 927.32
Absolute weight of secondary materials used to provide services by the entity (including packaging). 0
Indicator of secondary reused or recycled components, secondary intermediary products and secondary materials used to manufacture the undertaking’s products and services (including packaging) 0.06%

Enea Elektrownia Połaniec and Enea Nowa Energia obtained all (Połaniec) or some (Nowa Energia) of their biological materials in a sustainable manner. Biological materials sustainably obtained by Enea Elektrownia Połaniec in 2024 accounted for 99.09% of the materials obtained by the Group in this manner. The company used biomass with an SDC (sustainable development criterion) certificate in the combustion plant. Moreover, the company uses the INiG SDC biomass origin certification system. Enea Nowa Energia does not use any certification system. None of the Group companies apply the principle of cascading use when sourcing biological materials.

The stated weights are mostly derived from direct measurements taken by truck scales, company scales, conveyor belt scales and measuring meters. The companies responsible for the input of 99.28% of the resources provided data from direct measurements. In the remaining companies, estimates were used in the absence of actual data. Data available on purchase documents were also used to determine the weights. Some of the equipment used to weigh products and materials has been certified. In the case of reused or recycled components, products and secondary materials used to manufacture products and provide services by the Group, the reuse and recycling categories do not overlap with each other. Accordingly, double counting has been avoided in the presented data. As regards the weight of reused or recycled components used to manufacture products, the total weight comes from LWB and pertains to paving, shackles and struts. The weight refers to all these components and has been accounted for once without additionally counting the recycled parts of these components. As for the weight of secondary materials used to manufacture products, the entire weight comes from Enea Nowa Energia. As in the case of LWB, the total weight of these materials is provided without additionally accounting for the proportion of these materials that come from recycling. The measurement of this metric has not been validated by an external body other than the assurance provider.

E5-5 – Resource outflows

Weight of waste produced by the Enea Group in 2024.

Waste: weights in tons Enea Group
Total amount of waste generated 5,839,662.47
Total amount of waste generated – hazardous waste 821.65
Total amount of waste produced – non-hazardous waste 5,838,840.81
Total amount of waste for which disposal was avoided 3,427,623.37
Total amount of waste for which disposal was avoided – hazardous waste 580.99
Amount of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – preparation for reuse 9.16
Amount of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – recycling 224.00
Quantity of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – other recovery processes 347.83
Total quantity of waste for which disposal was avoided – non-hazardous waste 3,427,042.38
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – preparing for reuse 4,674.74
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – recycling 0.00
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – other recovery processes 3,422,367.64
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal 2,412,039.10
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal – hazardous waste 240.66
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – incineration 0.00
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – landfill 239.19
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – other disposal processes 1.47
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal – non-hazardous waste 2,411,798.44
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – incineration 0.00
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – landfill 2,411,362.18
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – other disposal processes 436.25
Total amount of waste not recycled 5,839,438.47
Percentage of waste not recycled 99.99%
Total amount of hazardous waste generated 821.65
Total amount of radioactive waste generated 0.00
Waste: weights in tons Enea Group
Total amount of waste generated 5,839,662.47
Total amount of waste generated – hazardous waste 821.65
Total amount of waste produced – non-hazardous waste 5,838,840.81
Total amount of waste for which disposal was avoided 3,427,623.37
Total amount of waste for which disposal was avoided – hazardous waste 580.99
Amount of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – preparation for reuse 9.16
Amount of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – recycling 224.00
Quantity of hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – other recovery processes 347.83
Total quantity of waste for which disposal was avoided – non-hazardous waste 3,427,042.38
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – preparing for reuse 4,674.74
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – recycling 0.00
Quantity of non-hazardous waste for which disposal was avoided – other recovery processes 3,422,367.64
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal 2,412,039.10
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal – hazardous waste 240.66
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – incineration 0.00
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – landfill 239.19
Quantity of hazardous waste sent for disposal – other disposal processes 1.47
Total quantity of waste sent for disposal – non-hazardous waste 2,411,798.44
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – incineration 0.00
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – landfill 2,411,362.18
Non-hazardous waste sent for disposal – other disposal processes 436.25
Total amount of waste not recycled 5,839,438.47
Percentage of waste not recycled 99.99%
Total amount of hazardous waste generated 821.65
Total amount of radioactive waste generated 0.00

The largest part of waste generated by the Enea Group is waste generated by the rinsing and purification of minerals (code 04 01 12; 83.44% of the Enea Group’s waste). This is waste from the mining of hard coal deposits by Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. Another significant stream is waste from the generation of electricity and heat by Enea Wytwarzanie, Enea Elektrownia Połaniec and Enea Ciepło (Białystok CHP Plant Branch), which accounts for 10.66% of the Group’s waste. These are mainly ashes, ash-slag mixtures and gypsum. In terms of material content, they mainly contain dialuminium trioxide (AI2O3), silicon oxides (SiO) and calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4 • 2H2O). The last significant stream is waste generated by Enea Bioenergia (5.57% of the Enea Group’s waste). These are mainly ash and slag mixtures from wet discharge of furnace waste (code 10 01 80) and microspheres from fly ash (10 01 81). Aluminosilicates are the main component of this type of waste. This waste is generated during the processing of waste received from Enea Elektrownia Połaniec.

The data on the waste generated have been obtained mainly from direct measurements taken by the companies and from data entered into the Database on Products and Packaging and Waste Management (BDO) based on these measurements. The devices used by the largest companies in terms of waste generation to measure the weight of the waste generated are certified. The data on the amount of waste generated refer to the weight of the waste measured at the time it is transferred for recovery or disposal. In the absence of data on the recovery or disposal processes to which the waste generated by specific companies has been subjected, it has been assumed that the entire waste stream generated and subsequently sent by the company for recovery or disposal was subjected to the least desirable process from the point of view of the waste management hierarchy. As regards recovery processes, these are processes other than recycling and preparation for reuse; for disposal processes, it is landfilling. The measurement of this metric has not been validated by an external body other than the assurance provider.

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