Siemens has collected environmental data since the mid-90s. In fiscal 2000 we began building an intranet-supported environmental database to meet the growing demands for environmental reporting and monitoring. We use it to collect data from several hundred locations and organizational units worldwide. By integrating fire and radiation protection, the database was further developed into a reporting platform as the Siemens Environmental and Technical Safety Information System (SESIS).
In industrial environmental protection, all locations are required to report data if they exceed any of 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.
One objective is to collect the environmental data that help to monitor environmental performance, rate the degree of environmental goal achievement, and perform environmental reporting. Complete data sets must be submitted once a year. As a pilot project in 2010, we introduced quarterly data collection at 12 percent of the locations. Data used for goal monitoring is included in these reports. The result was that all locations will provide quarterly reports starting in fiscal 2011.
In addition to collecting environmental data, we also use SESIS 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.
SESIS reporting on the subject of "product-related environmental protection," introduced in 2007, has also proven its worth. Since that time we have covered the following topics, broken down by business unit and relevant business areas:
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.
The data collected in SESIS are also used in greenhouse gas reporting and to monitor the degree of goal achievement. We have developed a method for this:
2011-Mar-22 | Author