Indicators: Environment

These figures include both investments in as well as internal and external spending on waste and wastewater management, water, occupational safety, fire protection, noise reduction, air pollution prevention, decontamination, preservation of nature and the landscape, climate impact mitigation, and energy efficiency.

The increase in biogenic carbon emissions was caused by the biomass powerplants that were commissioned in Goa, India, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire (USA) at the end of 2014.

Our response to the Carbon Disclosure Project contains a detailed description of our calculation methods. We have included the following gases in our calculation of direct and indirect CO₂eq emissions:

• Direct CO₂ emissions: CO₂, HFCs, PFCs; CH₄/N₂O negligible; SF₆/NF₃ not available.
• Indirect CO₂ emissions: CO₂.

In 2015, we emitted 0,040 kg of CO₂eq per euro of net sales.

No data is available for Scope 3 categories not listed above. Their relevance to the company is assessed in the Scope 3 document.

Biogenic emissions (Scope 3), if present, are not being recorded.

Substances included: R-12, R-22, R-141b, R-402a, R-409a, R-401a.

Source for the emission factors: Montreal Protocol.

The increase in dust and sulfur dioxide emissions was caused by the biomass power plant that was commissioned in Goa, India at the end of 2014.

The VOC, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and dust emissions reported here are attributable to production activities as well as energy generation. These figures do not include emissions from vehicles. Emissions are determined partially based on measurements and partially based on calculations or estimates. Only some sites are required to measure individual parameters.

In shipping finished goods from our production sites to the local warehouses of our subsidiaries, we have been working to reduce the use of air shipping in favor of sea shipping. This change aims to both reduce costs as well as lower transport-related CO₂ emissions.

At our sites in Billerica, Massachusetts (USA), Bedford, Massachusetts (USA), Molsheim (France), Tel Aviv (Israel), Rome (Italy), Ciudad de Guatemala (Guatemala), and Shanghai (China), we use photovoltaics to produce power. The increase in biomass and self-generated renewable energy consumption is attributable to the biomass power plants that were commissioned in Goa, India, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire (USA) in 2014.

We currently only record purchased secondary energy – this is primarily electricity and, to a lesser extent, heat/steam/cold. Details on the local energy mix, including the respective percentage of primary energy, renewable energy, etc. are not available. Data on local energy efficiency in electricity or heat generation are not available either. Our production sites are located in countries with a widely varying energy mix.

Our Darmstadt and Gernsheim sites in Germany consume the most energy, representing 37% of our Group-wide total. At these sites, fossil energy (coal, gas, etc.) accounts for approx. 55%, nuclear energy approx. 17% and renewable energies approx. 28% of the energy mix.

Renewable energies account for a higher share of electricity generation at production sites in Switzerland, with nuclear energy taking the lead in France. Based on an estimated global energy efficiency of 37% for the conversion and distribution of generated electricity, this results in a primary energy consumption of 1,260 GWh for 2015. Based on an estimated global energy efficiency of 85% for heat/steam/cold, this results in a primary energy consumption of 98 GWh for 2015. This yields a total primary energy consumption of 1,358 GWh for 2015. The calculation is based on factors stated in the "Handbuch für betriebliches Energiemanagement - Systematisch Energiekosten senken" ("Manual for energy management in practice - Systematically reducing energy costs") published by DENA, 12/2012.

In 2015, our energy intensity relative to net sales totaled 0,134 kWh/€.

These figures do not include the ground water that we use for safety measures at the Gernsheim site in Germany. Here, the water is fed back directly into natural circulation.

The increase in reused water in 2015 is attributable to the recirculating cooling system that went on line at our facility in Darmstadt, Germany. This system provides recirculating cooling water to both our new co-generation unit as well as our new cold and compressed air generator.

The wastewater volume includes indirect discharge into both public and our own wastewater treatment plants, as well as direct discharge (such as rainwater and cooling water).

Wastewater from the neighboring municipality of Biebesheim is also treated at the wastewater treatment plant at our Gernsheim site in Germany. The communal wastewater from Biebesheim is included in the wastewater volume as well as in the emissions stated in the table.

Emissions are determined partially based on measurements and partially based on calculations or estimates. Only some sites are required to measure individual parameters.

The amount of "non-hazardous waste disposed" decreased in 2015 because there was less landfill needing disposal.

The increase in "non-hazardous waste recycled" can be attributed to the sharp rise in landfill, construction waste, and demolition waste. Landfill, construction waste, and demolition waste accounted for 47% of total waste in 2014, and 53% of total waste in 2015.

Our waste output rose to 295,000 metric tons in 2015. Waste from construction and renovation projects accounted for the majority of the waste (2014: 47%; 2015: 53%), stemming in particular from the remodeling of our Global headquarters in Darmstadt. In 2014, roughly 50 metric kilotons of this waste was recycled, with approximately 124 metric kilotons recycled in 2015.