Pfäffikon - Nonwovens technology supplier Oerlikon has outlined a number of targets in its first ever Sustainability Report, Innovation for a Sustainable Future, including a pledge to be operationally climate neutral by 2030.
“Sustainability has been an integral part of our strategy that drives our innovations and operations to serve our customers’ needs for many years,” said Dr. Roland Fischer, CEO Oerlikon Group. “With the report, we now make a public commitment and join the ranks of people proactively engaging with sustainability and inspiring others to do the same.”
Fischer also highlighted how helping customers in key industries to achieve more with less was an integral part of Oerlikon’s value proposition, technologies and operations. Based on the materiality analysis, Oerlikon has now selected 8 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where the company can make the most difference for its stakeholders.
Amongst these are environmental, social and governance targets for 2030 that have been set by the Group in areas that align most closely with its operations, policies and capabilities. These targets include, which have been selected in areas where Oerlikon believes it can make the greatest impact, include, using only energy from renewable sources, reducing the share of disposed waste, ensuring that 100% of R&D investment in new products must cover ESG criteria, and increasing the number of women in leadership roles.
Further targets include implementing energy management systems at all sites, increasing the share of operations that are climate neutral, and increasing the percentage of employees who have completed the compliance and Code of Conduct training.
“Setting ambitious targets, such as achieving climate neutrality in our operations by 2030, clearly underlines our commitment,” added Dr. Fischer. “We also intend to have 100% of our R&D investment in new products to cover the ESG criteria. We have always seen innovation and sustainability as interdependent – for example, in 2019, our innovative technology solutions for jet engines helped our customers in the aerospace industry to save 25 million tons of CO2. At the same time, the CO2 impact of our own global operations was only 157 000 tons.”
Oerlikon said it also had many other tangible examples of how its engineering and processing of materials and surfaces contribute to sustainability in collaboration with its customers. The company's technologies, for example, lengthen the useful life of machinery and tools, improve automotive and aerospace fuel efficiency and pioneer advances in textile manufacturing and the future of mobility.
Oerlikon’s 2020 Sustainability Report is prepared according to the internationally recognized GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, which the company says underlines its commitment to transparently sharing its sustainability achievements and progress, and is accessible online at www.sustainabilityreport.oerlikon.com.
