VEA Group has published its 2025 Sustainability Report in English and Italian. In 2025 our solar plant at Chignolo d'Isola cut the electricity we draw from the grid by 36%, our Scope 1 and 2 emissions fell 17% and our water withdrawals almost halved. You can download both versions, and the 2024 report, from our sustainability page.

This is our third report. We prepared it with reference to the GRI Standards, and it covers the three entities of the group: VEA Group S.p.A. in Italy, VEA Group Asia in Suzhou, China, and Carimali Services, which runs the Carimali Children kindergarten at our Chignolo d'Isola site.

In his letter to stakeholders, our CEO Umberto Doglioni Majer describes 2025 as a year that asked more of the company than any other recent one, and explains the choice we made: "we did not set sustainability aside. We made it part of the solution."

Energy, emissions and water

Indicator 2025 Change from 2024
Solar electricity produced at Chignolo d'Isola 146 MWh first full year of operation
Electricity drawn from the grid minus 36%
Total energy use minus 15%
Scope 1 and 2 emissions 425 tCO2e minus 17% (509 tCO2e in 2024)
Water withdrawals 2,521 m³ minus 49% (4,902 m³ in 2024)

We installed a 160 kWp photovoltaic plant on the roof of the Chignolo d'Isola factory in 2024, and it reached full operation in July of that year. 2025 is the first full year we can measure: the plant produced 146 MWh, and we used about 78% of it on site.

Most of the water saving comes from leak repairs on the Italian supply network. We draw mains water only for domestic and sanitary use and for testing the machines we build, so it goes back to the sewer system much as it would from a home.

Materials, packaging and waste

  • Metals make up 54% of the materials we buy, and the steel, aluminium, brass and copper we use come from supply chains with high recycling rates.
  • Some plastic parts of our machines now use recycled polymers, and we are testing cellulose-based packaging to replace the polyurethane foam we produce at Chignolo d'Isola.
  • About 90% of our packaging is wood, paper or cardboard. In Italy the share is almost 100%.
  • All the waste our Italian plants produced in 2025 went to recovery: 57% to material recovery, 31% to energy recovery and 12% to other recovery operations.

People

  • Safety: 2025 was our eighth consecutive year without a workplace injury.
  • Stable jobs: 92% of our employees hold a permanent contract.
  • Pay equity: the gender pay gap narrowed from 25% to 21.6%. The report set UNI/PdR 125:2022 gender-equality certification as the next step for 2026. Bureau Veritas certified us in June 2026, for Chignolo d'Isola and our Lainate branch (our certifications).
  • Carimali Children: our kindergarten welcomed 54 children in 2025, children of our employees and families from the surrounding area.

Ratings since the report

In August 2025 our first EcoVadis assessment gave us a bronze medal with 67/100. The August 2026 assessment raised that to a silver medal with 75/100. You can check the current rating on EcoVadis.

Where we still need to do more

The report also lists the numbers that went the wrong way. Training hours fell in 2025, and we have committed to reverse that in 2026, starting with sustainability training and a stronger group ESG team. Emissions per machine produced rose slightly, because we built fewer machines. And coffee itself is a crop exposed to deforestation and fragile working conditions, so we are introducing a new Supplier Code of Conduct.

Download the report

For questions about the report, write to marketing@veagroup.com.