Philips' carbon footprint declined almost 9 percent year-on-year, according to the company's latest combined annual and sustainability report.
The electronics company cut its emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent from 1,771 kilotons in 2011 to 1,614 kilotons in 2012. Its sales increased 9.7 percent over that time period.
This emissions metric has declined consistently since at least 2008, which is the earliest year measured in the report. According to Philips the metric has declined 25 percent since 2007, meeting the company's "EcoVision4" target. The reductions since 2007 were achieved through an ongoing energy efficiency improvement program, a green logistics drive, the company's changing industrial footprint and the increase in purchased electricity from renewable sources, the report says.
The company's scope 1 emissions increased 2.7 percent year-on-year, from 431 kilotons in 2011 to 443 kilotons in 2012. This is partly down to what Philips calls a "significant increase" in reporting sites due to a number of acquisitions that started to report in 2012.
Philips' scope 2 emissions dropped 4.2 percent year-on-year, from 427 kilotons of CO2e in 2011 to 409 in 2012.
Its scope 3 emissions fell 16.5 percent year-on-year, from 913 kilotons of CO2e in 2011 to 762 kilotons in 2012. Due to what Philips describes as "a stringent travel policy," the company's total emissions from business travel decreased 15 percent in 2012. Philips says it continues to promote video conferencing as an alternative to travel; as a result air travel is down 24 percent, saving a total of 38,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2012.
In 2012, logistics CO2 emissions decreased 17 percent, partly due the exclusion of logistic movements related to the company's Television business. The TV business signed a joint venture agreement with TP Vision in April 2012, and Philips therefore reported the business's results under the "discontinued operations" sections of the report. It also lowered logistics emissions through a continued focus on efficient container utilization, reduced mileage in road freight, and a shift from air to sea freight, the report says.
Philips' operational energy efficiency improved 7 percent in 2012, from 1.24 terajoules per million euro sales in 2011 to 1.15 terajoules per million euro sales in 2012, the report says.
Philips' sales from green products increased from €8.8 billion ($11.5 billion) in 2011 to €11.3 billion, or 45 percent of sales, in 2012. This puts the company on track to reach its target of 50 percent in 2015, the report says.
All sectors contributed to the growth in green product sales. Philips's healthcare sector achieved the highest green product nominal sales growth at 36 percent, followed by lighting (26 percent) and consumer lifestyle (20 percent).
During 2012, the healthcare division expanded its green product portfolio with 16 new products including ultrasound and CT systems with lower weight and energy usage, the report says.
The company's total water intake in 2012 was 4.9 million m3, about 12 percent higher than in 2011. This increase was mainly due to new acquisitions that started to report in 2012, accounting for 11 percent of group water consumption as well as increased water use at Philips' Lighting Lumileds sites. At its consumer lifestyle sites the total water consumption went down by 10 percent, partially due to the divestment of television activities, the report says.
Philips' lighting sector represents around 85 percent of the company's total water usage. In this sector, water is used in manufacturing as well as for domestic purpose. The other sectors use water mainly for domestic purposes.
Philips total waste decreased 7 percent to 88,000 metric tons in 2012, from 94,000 in 2011. The company's lighting divisions (74 percent) and consumer lifestyle divisions (14 percent) account for 88 percent of its total waste. The reduction was due to the divestment of television activities and organizational changes in all sectors, the report says. Materials delivered for recycling via an external contractor comprised 68,000 metric tons, or 77 percent, of total waste as improved recycling rates at the company's established sites were offset by lower recycling rates at its new acquisitions.
Click through to read Environmental Leader's coverage of Philips' sustainability reports from 2010 and 2011.
