Environment

ZEISS Energy Management is tasked with keeping energy-related KPIs stable or improving them, even if production quantities increase. All of the ZEISS Group’s sites within the European Union have been certified as per ISO 50001, the internationally valid standard for energy management. Each of these units has appointed an Energy Manager who is responsible for continuously improving energy-related performance. The focus here is on all of the company’s (production) processes, machines, systems and equipment along with its buildings and infrastructure.

The Executive Board resolved that ZEISS’ energy consumption will be carbon-neutral by 2022. In the future, this will be done by purchasing verifiably green energy and by offsetting emissions that cannot be prevented. Moreover, travel regulations were revised in favor of climate-friendly means of transportation and to offset flights taken as of fiscal year 2019/20. The reduction targets agreed in March 2018 with the Executive Board of the ZEISS Group – a 50 percent reduction in CO2 emissions and a 50 percent reduction in energy consumption relative to the company’s own value added (as sum of EBITDA and personnel expenses) by fiscal year 2019/20 – shall remain valid. The reference year for all targets is fiscal year 2009/10.

Since 2018, the ZEISS production facility in Brazil has been using energy from renewable sources to produce lenses. A total of approximately 10,600 MWh of renewable energies were used. This equated to the annual energy consumption of around 3,400 families in Europe. Heat exchangers have been installed at various sites in order to make it possible to reuse the exhaust heat from production, e.g. for heating processes. Moreover, a 3D printing process for producing operating equipment was launched at one site and has achieved considerable energy savings compared to the lathing process formerly in place.

* Relative change over reference year 2009/10

The performance indicators for energy and CO2 emissions are recorded and consolidated globally at ZEISS. They include all of the ZEISS Group’s major production sites (61 sites varying in size and activities). The CO2 emissions are recorded as per ISO 14064-1, which takes the Greenhouse Gas Protocol into account.

The following charts show the respective values from the past fiscal years in relation to value added* and the percentage change since fiscal year 2009/10.

* At ZEISS, value added is defined as the sum of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) and personnel expenses.

** Starting in fiscal year 2017/18, separate statements are published for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. The emissions were calculated with current emissions factors as per the VDA list (updated Jan. 2018).

Environmental Officers for the various sites are responsible for ensuring compliance with laws, stipulations for government approval and other rules related to the environment. They make sure that the particular regulations and guidelines are stored in the management system. If action is required, the Environmental Officers must make the necessary arrangements, such as issuing procedural and work instructions for their specific site.

Regular internal and external audits and compliance checks are carried out to determine if all legal requirements are being met. If the audit reveals that there is room for improvement, ZEISS will respond to this by defining concrete measures. It is often a challenge to ensure the timely implementation of these measures, one which the company faces by defining clear responsibilities and deadlines. The implementation of all other actions is checked through regular sequential audits. The results also feature in the annual management review. ZEISS also expects business partners who, as suppliers or service providers, have a direct business relationship with the company and its production facilities to fully comply with environmental laws and regulations as well as internal guidelines. The company monitors whether such contractual agreements are being put into practice by conducting on-site audits, both planned and as a result of specific incidents.

Through effective chemical management, ZEISS ensures that hazardous substances and materials are handled safely throughout the entire process chain and, in doing so, protects employees and the environment. The respective system operators are responsible for handling chemicals safely. These employees are supported by the sites’ occupational safety specialists and Environmental Protection Officers. A substance database and a list of hazardous materials form the basis of the Group-wide information system for hazardous substances used at the company. This is also how ZEISS ensures that only those chemicals are used that are registered for the EU in accordance with REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) and are authorized for use.In addition, considerable care is taken to only use substances that have not been identified as Substances of Very High Concern whenever possible.

Material safety data sheets provide users with information on how to safely handle chemical products, thereby helping to ensure that chemicals are employed in a manner that is both safe and environmentally sound. ZEISS obligates its suppliers to make the most up-to-date material safety data sheets available. Before introducing new hazardous substances, ZEISS takes care to ensure that suppliers observe the list of prohibited and declarable substances included in a factory standard and requests the corresponding certificates of conformity.

To implement the EU directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), ZEISS introduced the legal regulations in 2005 with the help of a software application to monitor the relevant chemicals. This is now in use by all strategic divisions at the company. Suppliers must confirm that the supplied materials, substances and mixtures are compliant with the applicable directives, laws and regulations. The suppliers are asked to submit certificates of conformity for verification. These are a requirement for product approvals as part of the CE conformity assessment process. With the CE marking, the manufacturer or distributor declares that the product meets the applicable requirements. Conformity requires that certificates of conformity be available for all items in the parts list for a product. In case of doubt, ZEISS conducts its own chemical analysis of the supplied parts.

Modern technologies consist of complex mixtures of materials and components. When not disposed of properly, these can cause major environmental and health issues. In accordance with the European Union’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which governs the collection, recycling and recovery of electric and electronic devices, ZEISS has entered into an EU-wide agreement with a disposal contractor to ensure legally compliant disposal. The company is registered as a commercial distributor of electrical and electronic devices in all EU countries.

For the company, the legally compliant operation of its facilities is a primary goal. This is associated with the objectives of preventive emergency management as well as preventive maintenance, which saves retrofitting costs.