Sustainability

Sustainability as a key driver for our success – Because human health matters

For us at SCHOTT Pharma, sustainability and the company’s success are closely linked. Soon after it was founded in 1889, the Carl Zeiss Foundation set a new standard for socially conscious corporations with the implementation of its foundation statute, which guaranteed historically unique social and labor rights to employees. This spirit of responsibility still pervades the operations of SCHOTT and all subsidiaries today, including SCHOTT Pharma. Responsible action is deeply rooted in our company. We have been committed to taking responsibility for our planet, our society, and our employees ever since.

Safe for the patient, sustainable for the planet

At SCHOTT Pharma, we are striving to make our business and industry more sustainable. Derived from our overarching sustainability strategy and building on the certified sustainable processes of SCHOTT AG, we are pursuing a specific and focused approach that enables us to implement our sustainability strategy more efficiently and impactfully.

This approach emphasizes the specifics of our products, business, and industry. We pay particular attention to sustainability initiatives within our product portfolio and our responsibility towards the employees of SCHOTT Pharma, e.g. by promoting product solutions that simultaneously enhance both patient safety and sustainability.

Our mission is guided by three overarching goals:

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“Striving to protect our planet and our commitment to the common good are part of our identity. However, we are aware that only together we can protect our planet for future generations. By joining forces with SCHOTT AG and the Carl Zeiss Foundation, we have great power to drive change within our organization. And as a founding member of ‘Alliance to Zero’, we drive progress in a shoulder-to-shoulder alliance of companies in the pharma sector to achieve compliance with net zero emissions in line with the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. In a health-relevant industry like ours, it has never been more important to collaborate and find solutions that improve every step along the value chain.”

Dr. Arne Kloke, Head of Service and Sustainability Management at SCHOTT Pharma

SCHOTT and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

As pioneers, it has always been our motivation to find solutions to complex problems to continuously improve our way of living. We are continuing on the path of sustainability that SCHOTT AG embarked on as early as 1896. SCHOTT’s efforts have continuously accelerated over the years, represented most recently by the launch of the group-wide strategic programs Climate Neutral 2030 and Best Teams Practice in 2020, the co-foundation of Alliance to Zero in 2021, and the installment of a group-wide Sustainability Board in 2022.

While we have been an independent company since 2022, we are still an integral part of the SCHOTT family and share the same values.

Together, we can make an even greater impact for the benefit of our planet, in areas, such as improving ethical business practices, human rights, green electricity sourcing, and sustainable procurement. That’s why we are building on the overarching sustainability strategy of the SCHOTT family and the established certified processes of SCHOTT AG, consciously taking advantage of synergies that arise within the organization. This is primarily the case for regulatory topics, such as compliance assurance, certification processes, and the implementation of new EU directives related to sustainability monitoring and reporting. SCHOTT also has the highest standards when it comes to human rights, environmental protection, ethical conduct, and the health and safety of our employees. This is a heritage we are all proud to continue.

Within the SCHOTT family, we have carefully assessed the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and have identified four that we are convinced we can positively influence and improve our society. All four are of particular relevance for the group and to us within SCHOTT Pharma. We are committed to:

Climate neutrality

In 2020, SCHOTT accelerated its sustainability agenda with the launch of its group-wide Zero Carbon strategy.

All our efforts follow the clear goal to achieve net climate neutrality by 2030 (Scope 1 & 2). We want to primarily achieve this through green electricity, energy efficiency, and technological change to fossil fuel-free and circular solutions.

In 2021, SCHOTT co-founded Alliance to Zero and was awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal for best-in-class sustainability management. This ranks us in the top 7 % of all assessed companies.

To drive these topics, we installed a Sustainability Board.

Today, we are already using green electricity to cover all our global electricity requirements and have reduced CO2 emissions by more than 60 % since 2019 (Scope 1 & 2).

Sustainable products

SCHOTT Pharma pioneers with its partners to create a sustainable product by maximizing resource efficiency and minimizing the impact of packaging waste.

The product’s carbon footprint is primarily defined by its design decisions, which are highly influenced by supply chain constraints. SCHOTT Pharma takes a holistic approach to its circular packaging program and conducts Ecodesign reviews during product development to consider ecological aspects throughout the entire life cycle.

In 2021, SCHOTT co-founded Alliance to Zero to design solutions across the value chain.

Great place to work

At SCHOTT Pharma, we aim to increase the share of female employees in leadership roles to 30 % by 2030.

As an international company, we promote a global culture of equal opportunity and diversity. With people from more than 90 different nations working at over 70 production sites and sales offices in over 30 countries, this is vital for our employees and vital for our business.

We are convinced that a diverse range of people with different cultural and social backgrounds, geographical origins, languages, talents, experiences, and ways of thinking is fertile ground for creative and innovative ideas. In fulfilling our responsibility to our employees, we not only help them but also their families, as we are committed to a family-oriented HR policy.

Ratings

Gold for sustainability

SCHOTT Group sustainability management has been recognized by the international rating agency EcoVadis with a Corporate Social Responsibility gold medal for 2022. With this sustainability assessment, SCHOTT seeks to reduce risks, drive innovation, and promote transparency and trust with business partners.

Scientifically based climate targets

As a research-driven technology group, a scientific approach to climate protection is vital to us. We have therefore joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The independent review confirmed that our targets align with the latest climate science.

Sustainability Report 2022/2023

PDF 15.64 MB

Sustainability

Sustainability as a key driver for our success – Because human health matters

Safe for the patient, sustainable for the planet

Dr. Arne Kloke, Head of Service and Sustainability Management at SCHOTT Pharma