The company also increased its fleet of electric vehicles (EV) to 281 as it moves towards its target to transition to a fully EV fleet by 2030 with around 4,300 vehicles.
The figures were released as part of VMO2's update to its sustainability strategy, which aims to achieve net zero carbon across their operations, products and supply chain by 2040.
VM02 has also helped consumers to carry out 4.7 million 'circular actions' (e.g. recycling old technology or buying refurbished smartphones), against its 10 million goal by the end of 2025. The 02 Recycle scheme also resulted in almost 250,000 devices being saved from landfill last year.
In addition, the company has removed 65 tonnes of single-use plastic since 2021. It has also refurbished and reused 11 million routers and set-top boxes since 2014.
Additionally, VM02 said that it helped to improve the digital skills of 2 million people in 2023 and is on track to reach 6 million by 2025. The National Databank has also provided 41,933 O2 SIM cards and 188,149 of O2 data (mobile broadband) vouchers since its launch. The company's workers have also supported more than 100,000 people across the country with their five annual paid volunteering days.
Lutz Schüler, CEO of VM02, said, "Our Better Connections Plan makes clear that we are a business that aims to deliver for our customers, for our communities and for our planet, and we made further strong progress across the board last year.
"We are on track to meet our targets to cut Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025 and deliver net zero carbon by 2040. We are supporting decarbonisation through the products and services we provide, encouraging circular actions among consumers, cutting our own use of plastic, and stepping up to support the communities we serve through initiatives designed to boost skills, tackle digital exclusion and provide free data and devices to those in need.
"As a major UK business, we're committed to reducing our environmental impact as we continue to provide fast and reliable connectivity to our millions of customers."