Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) claimed the quantity of carbon emissions it reduced in 2023 is equivalent to the emissions generated by the annual energy use of close to 15,000 UK homes, putting it on track to hit a net-zero target by the end of 2040. 

The operator explained the reduction fell under Scope 1 and Scope 2 categories, which are emissions produced directly by the organisation and those associated with its energy purchases. 

In 2023, VMO2 cut Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 23 per cent, the company claimed. This is the equivalent to emissions produced by the combined energy usage of 14,883 households in UK each year. VMO2 also stated it had cut such emissions “by 45 per cent against its 2020 baseline”. 

The company expects this will help it reach its sustainability goal by 2040, a decade ahead of the UK’s net-zero target.  

VMO2 credited deployments of emerging technologies including smart meters and EVs for preventing “almost 60 million tonnes of carbon entering the Earth’s atmosphere”, and the company today has 280 electric vehicles. It aims to transition to a fully EV fleet by 2030. 

Meanwhile, its recycling scheme in 2023 handled almost 250,000 unused electronic devices, which were either repaired, refurbished, resold or recycled “with zero parts going to landfill”. The scheme, open to customers across all mobile networks, now includes consoles and MacBooks.  

It has refurbished and reused 11 million routers and set-top boxes in the past decade. 

VMO2 also has big ambitions to meet a zero-waste operation goal by next year, citing it had removed 65 tonnes of single-use plastic since 2021.