HS Orka is committed to reducing the environmental impact from its operations and has set long-term goals as well as annual short-term goals. The main environmental impact of the operation is carbon dioxide emissions and the company has worked systematically to reduce CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour. In 2015, HS Orka set the goal of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030 (when compared to emission in 2014). Emissions decreased by 13% from the previous year and decreased by 24% since 2014 as a direct result of increased efficiency in utilisation methods.
HS Orka, along with other energy and utilities companies, submitted a statement of intent to Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, stating their intention to be carbon neutral by the year 2040.
Total emissions in 2018 were 74,600 tonnes of CO2-eq (99.7% were directly traced to the resource itself). Emissions from waste treatment, air transport and fuel consumption amounted to 240 tonnes or 0.3% of total emissions. A total of 1,915 trees were planted to offset these emissions.
HS Orka classifies and recycles waste generated by its operations. The company intends to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste (waste that ends up in landfill areas or incineration) to 5% by 2030. Non-recyclable waste has increased by 11% since 2017 and has increased steadily in the past years.
Efforts have been made to increase the number of eco-friendly cars in the company fleet and to set-up charging stations at the workplace. This goal could be called a high-jump, as the proportion of environmentally friendly vehicles has increased by 58% since 2017. Twenty two vehicles can now be charges simultaneously and the number of charging stations will increase this year.
Tollstjóri flokkar vélknúin ökutæki eftir skráðri losun koltvísýrings í flokka A til J, þar sem bílar í flokki A losa minnst af koltvísýringi, eða 0-80 g á hvern kílómetra. Á árinu 2017 voru 17% bifreiða fyrirtækisins í tollflokki A. Það er 10% hækkun frá árinu áður. Á Íslandi er hlutfall endurnýjanlegra orkugjafa hvað hæst og því er það náttúruleg þróun að hlutur endurnýjanlegra orkugjafa í samgöngum aukist með framþróun á tvinn- og rafmagnsbílum.