Siemens has collected its relevant environmental data since the mid-90s. We use a company-wide environmental information system to meet the growing demands for environmental reporting and to collect data from several hundred locations and organizational units worldwide.
With the help of this worldwide environmental information system, we monitor the environmental impact and performance of Siemens. Based on the environmental data reported, we determine relevant KPIs for the Company and identify the product-related and industrial environmental protection requirements that need to be met.
In industrial environmental protection, all locations are required to report data if they exceed the thresholds shown in the table below for resource consumption, waste volume, or emissions:
| Parameter | Threshold for environmental reporting in SESIS |
| Primary energy | >1,000 gigajoules |
| Secondary energy | >1,000 gigajoules |
| Waste water (from manufacturing and employee facilities) | >1,500 cubic meters |
| Hazardous waste | >1 ton |
| (Nonhazardous) waste | >50 tons |
| Refrigerants (e.g. R22) | >50 kilograms |
| Direct greenhouse emissions (equivalent) | >1,000 tons |
This requirement applies to R&D and office locations just as much as to manufacturing facilities.
The objective is to collect environmental data that helps monitor environmental performance, rate the degree of environmental goal achievement, and perform environmental reporting. Complete data sets must be submitted once a year. In fiscal 2011, we additionally introduced quarterly reporting at all locations.
In addition to collecting environmental data, we also use our environmental information system to rate the current level of maturity of an environmental management system in an additional report. This process is conducted once a year at all environmentally relevant locations. If desired, implementation of the elements contained in OHSAS 18001 (safety management system) can also be evaluated parallel to those in ISO 14001.
Reporting on the subject of "product-related environmental protection", introduced in 2007, has also proven its worth. Broken down by Business Units, we use our environmental information system to report on topics such as the handling of hazardous materials, the recording and communication of our products' ecological footprint, the implementation of our management approach, and packaging.
We refine the SESIS reporting system annually based on experience gained. This not only simplifies and improves the process of generating and evaluating the reports, but at the same time also integrates current topics in the form of new questions.
Methodology for monitoring environmental goals
In industrial environmental protection, we measure the environmental impact and results of our environmental program at all environmentally relevant office and production locations. The base year for comparisons is fiscal 2010.
To measure and monitor our environmental impact we use absolute values such as energy consumption in gigajoules. The data is not portfolio-adjusted but represents real consumption during the respective fiscal year. An exception here is CO2 emissions, which undergo a portfolio adjustment in accordance with the specifications of the World Resource Institute's Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
We calculate environmental performance (here: waste and energy efficiency) on a portfolio-adjusted basis. In addition, we scale the environmental data of production sites using the local plant revenues (e.g. production manufacturing costs) and of office sites using the net floor space. This puts the environmental impact in relation to the generated value or size of the site. This approach enables us to survey and compare our environmental performance over time, regardless of acquisitions and disposals.
We have recently refined the methodology employed to determine our energy efficiency. We now use a single KPI which incorporates weighted calculations of the primary energy input for all the energy sources used at our sites. This KPI takes into account the amount of energy used to extract, convert and distribute the fuels consumed. Fossil energy sources receive a higher primary energy factor than renewable energy sources. Siemens sites can accordingly increase their energy efficiency and reduce the impact on natural resources of their energy demands by strategically adjusting their choice of energy source.
Siemens models its greenhouse gas emissions reporting on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (World Resource Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development). We follow this system when making calculations:
2011-Mar-22 | Author