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Yokoy’s Actions for the Environment

Yokoy's Actions for the Environment

Picture of Claudio Berther
Claudio Berther

Legal and Data Protection Officer

Yokoy is convinced of the necessity to protect the environment and answers the call for increased sustainability with a wide range of measures. This document should help you understand what kind of measures have been taken to actively reduce our carbon footprint considering increasing requirements for supply chain sustainability in various places of business of Yokoy.

1. Green cloud infrastructure

Yokoy is aware of the impact of data centers on the environment. We partner with Google Cloud Platform using three different data centers in Zürich, Switzerland, Frankfurt, Germany and St. Ghislaine, Belgium. While they run on 100% renewable electricity (without any compensation measures) the energy comes from between 80% and 96% renewable sources.

2. Travel

  • A generous home office policy further positively impacts our carbon footprint in a positive way and allows Yokoy to recruit people also in various locations. Our expense policy encourages the use of public transport wherever possible.
  • By using video conferencing, we reduce the need for in-person travel with clients in our daily business.
  • Reduction of flights: As a direct measure the office visits to Munich are only possible by train. Yokoy foresees financial support for train passes to reduce costs.
  • A large part of the interview process takes place online and thereby reduces the impact on the environment caused by the necessity to show up on-site multiple times before getting the job offer or contract.
  • Since travel is not completely avoidable given our office locations across Europe, we are offsetting all CO2 of our business travel booked on our business-travel Platform TravelPerk in cooperation with Patch, Inc., which fosters de-carbonization through a reforestation project. The criteria for acceptance can be found in this in-depth whitepaper Patch trust and safety whitepaper,
  • Our offices outside of Switzerland are shared offices and thereby contribute to reducing the physical footprint oof Yokoy.

3. Heating and electricity

  • Yokoy’s headquarters office building is connected to a district heating system that uses 69% of renewable energy by producing heat from the left-over waste of a local waste incineration plant (50%) and local wood (17%). District heating city of Zurich.
  • The electricity is 100% renewable energy sources containing a mix of wind, solar and hydropower sources.

4. Waste reduction

  • Our Software: The Yokoy software itself, by digitizing the entire spend management process without the need for paper receipts, contributes massively to the reduction of waste.
  • By striving for a paperless office and having one single office printer (if our clients require physical letters to be sent) we reduce our own production of waste.
  • Recycling: At the Yokoy headquarter we work together with the company Recycling Services AG Neugutstrass 66, 8600 Dübendorf in Switzerland. They offer a subscription service with a weekly schedule separating and recycling the following materials in accordance with local laws and regulations exclusively within Switzerland. Ink, batteries, e-waste, Pet, Glass, Aluminum, cans, PE Bottles (e.g., for detergent), old glass, coffee capsules. A detailed report of the amount and type of waste produced is compiled by the third party for every year documenting it exactly by source of waste.
  • DocuSign: By using electronic signatures, we reduce the usage of ink and paper in executing our contracts. A distinct report on the positive impact of this measure is available on the DocuSign website regarding DocuSign but also regarding Yokoy as DocuSign’s customer.

5. Partner

Yokoy works together with Partners who have made strong commitments to sustainability and environmental protection as can be seen in their environmental reports. Their environmental commitments are documented. Our Code of Conduct that also includes environmental obligations is applicable to subprocessors and partners alike, ensuring a sustainable supply chain.

6. What can we do for you?

Always trying to innovate and mindful of the importance of environmental metrics for businesses we started a strategic partnership with Squake (www.squake.earth) in June 2024. With SQUAKE you can calculate your Scope 3 travel emissions (business travel emissions caused by third parties) using certified methodologies to understand and mitigate their carbon emissions.

Clients can also compensate unavoidable emissions through SQUAKE by supporting trusted climate projects. These curated projects are vetted through due diligence following the Core Carbon Principles to ensure highest quality and standards.

7. Do not take our word for it

We have established an Environmental Management System that fulfills all the criteria of ISO 14001 and get checked yearly by an independent third party Attesta Schweizerische Zertifizierungsgesellschaft AG a Switzerland based certification company. The relevant certificate can be downloaded here.