Resource efficiency is one of the material topics in the corporate responsibility of HUBER+SUHNER. It has monetary and ecological aspects. As part of the company's environmental management, the production sites have targets to improve their material efficiency. The implementation of ideas, for example in injection moulding, to feed waste material directly back into the production process usually fails because of the quality requirements placed on the end product by customers.
Copper consumption decreased by 6 % compared to the previous year. Plastic consumption has decreased by 11 % in the same period. On the one hand, these figures show that the new data collection method (use of centralised data) provides realistic values. On the other hand, these figures also show that the previous decentralised collection already had a sufficiently high data quality.
The effectiveness of various measures to improve resource efficiency is also reflected in the decrease in water withdrawal (–5 % y-o-y) and waste generation (–16 % y-o-y). (See the success story "Reducing waste and saving tap water")
During 2022, we introduced three new global targets to monitor resource efficiency as part of our environmental management. We chose the added value as described in the Management Report (How we generate and distribute value) as the intensity denominator.
|
Key performance indicator (KPI) |
|
Target |
|
To be reached by |
|
Intensity of total energy consumption |
|
15 % reduction from 2021 base year |
|
2030 |
|
Intensity of waste sent to landfill or incineration |
|
25 % reduction from 2021 base year |
|
2030 |
|
Intensity of total water withdrawal |
|
20 % reduction from 2021 base year |
|
2030 |
|
KPI |
|
2021 |
|
2022 |
|
Δ % |
|
Intensity of energy consumption [kWh/million CHF] |
|
131 |
|
137 |
|
+5 |
|
Intensity of waste sent to landfill or incineration [kg/million CHF] |
|
3 632 |
|
3 346 |
|
(8) |
|
Intensity of total water withdrawal [m3/million CHF] |
|
2 349 |
|
2 203 |
|
(5) |
Between 2016 (base year) and 2021 HUBER+SUHNER reduced the intensity of its total energy consumption by 12 % and now aims to reduce it by another 15 % between 2021 and 2030. Energy management, including a close monitoring of the electricity and the fossil fuel consumption and initiatives to save energy, is a fundamental component of environmental management at HUBER+SUHNER. For this reason, HUBER+SUHNER has decided against seeking energy management certification at all production sites. In countries where such certification is incentivised by the government (i.e. Germany), sites are free to become certified.
The intensity of total energy consumption increased by 4 % year-on-year despite several energy saving initiatives. This increase is mainly due to the wider geographical scope and the expansion of the production capacity for radar antennas to be used in advanced driver assistance systems. The share of purchased electricity from renewable sources was just under 40 %. The share of consumed electricity from renewable sources was 42 % due to the expansion of self-produced electricity with photovoltaic systems. We plan to increase the overall share from renewable sources to at least 70 % in 2025. See detailed data on our energy consumption in the environmental performance indicators table.
Between 2016 and 2021, HUBER+SUHNER was able to reduce the intensity of waste not sent for recycling by 10 %. The company has now set for itself the goal of reducing this figure by a further 25 % between 2021 and 2030. The focus on waste that is not sent for recycling is justified by the fact that these materials are diverted from a circular economy. In 2022, we succeeded to already reduce the intensity of this waste category by 8 % compared with the base year 2021.
Hazardous waste is another focus area. The goal here is to generate as little as possible. Compared to the previous year, the amount of hazardous waste was reduced by 10 %. HUBER+SUHNER works exclusively with licensed waste handlers to ensure that hazardous waste is treated with state-of-the-art technology and that recyclable material is directed into the right channels. See detailed data on the generated waste types in the environmental performance indicators table.
At HUBER+SUHNER, water is mainly used for cooling purposes in the production facilities. The cooling water is kept in closed circuits at all locations. The plating facility in Herisau, Switzerland is the only one using process water in higher quantities. The resulting wastewater is treated with state-of-the-art technology before it is routed to the municipal water treatment plant. At all sites, uncontaminated wastewater is directed into rivers or lakes, while contaminated wastewater is fed into treatment plants. With the exception of evaporation, HUBER+SUHNER only consumes negligible amounts of water.
Between 2016 and 2021 the company reduced the intensity of its water withdrawal by 24 %. It aims to reduce this figure by another 30 % by 2030 compared with the 2021 base year. 2022 saw an encouraging 6 % reduction of the water withdrawal intensity (y-o-y). See detailed data on our water withdrawal in the environmental performance indicators table.