The company, founded in 2020, offers a wide range of HR services, such as recruitment, executive search, niche sourcing and workforce strategies, as well as consultancy and “green strategies” solutions. All their activities are deeply influenced by their main guiding principle, sustainability. Their goal is to shape the world of talent and recruitment together with their clients in the new green economy. As they put it: “We want our grandchildren to see snow; therefore, we must “Make the world greener through the power of people and organizations”. By “transforming organizations to becoming net-zero where humanity and nature flourish while respecting, abiding and promoting the 3ple bottom-line approach of People-Planet-Profit””. Our purpose is to “Create intrinsic, sustainable ESG changes for our clients by driving its potential”. We do this by “Mobilizing our client’s internal talent through collaboration and searching for external talent to create tangible change”.

They are also committed to sustainability in their own operations. As a micro company, they mainly have personal emissions due to their service offering and operating framework. They strive to minimize these by, for example, using shared offices, cycling to work and to the clients, limiting printing on paper, and supporting remote work and flexible working conditions.

They foster a diverse, inclusive, and supportive work environment where every individual is respected, valued, and given equal opportunities to thrive.

This year, they want to be certified as a “B Corporation” so that they can be among the companies that answer the question of how business can be instruments of positive social change.

This September, they will prepare their first report on green talent.

They joined BCSDH in order to become members of a community of like-minded people and businesses.

Sustainable gastronomy is one of the main topics of METRO’s CSR activities is. METRO Hungary launched the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy Award in 2022. The prize is awarded in three categories to a person, a restaurant and an organization doing their best in the field of sustainable gastronomy. The award is presented every year in June in honor of Sustainable Gastronomy Day (18th June). This year, on June 8 10:00-14:00 the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy forum and award ceremony will be held at the METRO Gastronomy Academy in Budaörs. The accompanying program of the conference and the award ceremony is a great initiative supported by METRO: the Séf the World environmental competition cooking show organized by the Hungarian Association of Conservationists and the National Association of Caterers and Food Managers. Alternative protein sources, the upcycling method, sustainable canteens and clean energies are discussed at the forum. The highlight of the program is the presentation of the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy Awards!

The participation on the event is free, but registration is required! The detailed program is available on METRO’s website. Registration for the event: kommunikacio@metro.co.hu

Once again, SPAR Hungary has taken a major step towards environmental awareness. The company uses digital solutions to reduce the paper-based administration required for the operation of its stores. This measure will save 14 tonnes of paper by 2023.

“Environmental awareness is an important principle for SPAR. With this aim, we strive to implement new solutions in almost all areas of our daily operations. One of these key areas is cutting paper use: we are also striving for digital solutions in our store network processes, and since 2019 we have been working continuously to minimise paper consumption in this area as well,” said Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

The company’s latest initiative focuses on online solutions for administration. For example, the paper records of cleaning logs and refrigeration control sheets have been eliminated and replaced by digital data. As a result, almost 14 tonnes less paper will be used annually in 2023.

Under the SPAR sustainability programme, the SPAR Online shop has also recently turned green: the former printed delivery notes are now replaced with digital ones. This contributes to saving more than 3 tonnes of paper every year.

ALTEO has launched a new control centre, modelled on its existing gas engine-based control centre, by integrating purely renewable power plants. The initiative, a pioneer in Hungary, will provide a control reserve for the entire Hungarian electricity system. 

After increasing the flexibility of its gas engine-based control centre by commissioning a new electric boiler in the spring, ALTEO is taking another major step towards a more efficient operation of the Hungarian electricity system: in May 2023, it became the first in the country to establish a control centre integrating purely renewable power plants.

In October 2022, it fulfilled the system operator’s requirements for secondary regulation based on purely weather-dependent power plants, and obtained the so-called aFRR (Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve) accreditation: a unit with this certification is able to implement the system operator’s regulation instructions in real time through tele-mechanical and process control systems, i.e. it can be regulated in real time.

“The new control centre is the best proof that solar power plants are also capable of real-time and continuous power control, of much more flexible operation than before, i.e. they can actively contribute to ensuring system balance,” said Péter Luczay, Deputy CEO for Asset-Backed Energy Trading & Business Development at ALTEO Group.

The integration of highly weather-dependent renewables into a predictable and stable system can be ensured by coordinating generation and consumption, and ALTEO and its peers play a major role in this by adjusting the imbalances in the system by boosting or curbing electricity generation according to the current demand.

While significantly expanding the company’s regulatory reserve market opportunities, the new regulatory hub will also provide the domestic electricity system with a significant amount of additional flexibility. This in turn could facilitate the deployment of additional weather-dependent renewable energy sources in the country, mainly solar and wind. The current renewable control centre of ~160 MW could be significantly expanded in the near future, adding significant additional flexibility to the electricity system.

ALTEO, with a portfolio of ~70 MW of solar and wind power plants, has been providing regulation reserve services for ten years, which until the establishment of the new regulation centre consisted of a system of nearly 100 MW of installed electrical capacity, typically natural gas-fired power plants and energy storage facilities. In addition, its commercial and generation management services are provided to over 1,500 MW of renewable generation, typically solar, representing almost half of the domestic solar market, excluding small domestic plants.

After the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, OPTEN switched to a well-developed hybrid work schedule, retaining flexible work from home, which increased employee satisfaction and productivity by reducing stress and helping to improve work-life balance, while also providing the positive effects of office community. The office’s energy consumption and waste production have also been greatly reduced, with switching to digital versions of brochures, postal letters, purchase orders, contracts, and other printed materials.

Starting from January 1, 2022, in response to the changes in the world, OPTEN was the first to provide an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) index that can be considered a market standard for all operating businesses in Hungary. The ESG index measures the Environmental, Social, and Governance performance of companies, taking into account various factors.

The OPTEN ESG index primarily helps Hungarian financial institutions, as it allows banks to access ESG information on even the smallest companies, providing an excellent basis for examining the ESG level of companies based on 75 carefully selected parameters.

The company has also created an ESG self-assessment platform through which even the smallest companies can express their intentions and performance in sustainable operation, thereby specifying their ESG index. The questionnaire also has an educational aspect, as it highlights the topics and areas that are worth focusing on and allocating resources to in the spirit of sustainability.

In addition to the index and platform, an ESG automated report has also been developed, which serves as an online report alternative based on the questions answered by the companies in the domestic reporting field. The process takes days instead of weeks, and the cost of the report is just a fraction of that of consulting reports, making the smaller companies able to request ESG reports that fit their resources.

OPTEN strives to draw attention to the importance of sustainability and encourage Hungarian companies, from the smallest to the largest, to focus more on these areas in the future. With the above developments, which they plan to progress in 2023 as well, OPTEN is trying to provide all possible assistance to companies, as sustainable future is in the interest of us all.