Sustainability (ESG) has always been a cornerstone of Oerlikon’s R&D, business and strategy. We drive growth and profitability by leveraging our core competencies, including market leadership, innovations and talents, as well as our relentless focus on sustainability.
What Sustainability Stands for at Oerlikon
Our overarching purpose is to leverage our technology leadership and expand/diversify into new applications and new markets. By taking advantage of our knowledge and capabilities across additional industries, Oerlikon is able not only to drive growth in its business portfolio but also to increase its contribution to sustainability.
Moreover, at Oerlikon, sustainability stands for a relentless focus on minimizing our own environmental impact, ensuring a strong health, safety and employee culture, engaging regularly with stakeholders and upholding good governance.
Prioritizing sustainability in R&D and delivering sustainable solutions for customers will always take precedence. At the same time, we recognize the need to apply the same standards of excellence to our own operational processes and systems and to reduce the impact of our business on the environment.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
At Oerlikon, we affirm both the ideals and the necessities of each of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the nature of our business, processes and operations, we have a greater impact on certain SDGs compared to others. Based on where we can make the greatest difference, both in our practices and in our impact on the planet and its people, whether globally or in the communities in which we work, we have identified eight SDGs that we are working towards every day. These are Goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 5 Gender Equality, Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13 Climate Action and Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals.
Our Material Topics and Focus
In 2020, we sought input from internal experts and external stakeholders with thourough benchmarking, which paved the way for our materiality analysis. We examined what has or could have an impact on Oerlikon and where, conversely, we make or could make a positive impact. This materiality analysis resulted in eight material topics:
- Innovation
- Climate & energy
- Circular economy
- Health & safety
- Employment practices & education
- Responsible sourcing & human rights
- Governance
- Community engagement
Recognizing the importance of these material topics to stakeholders, six of them have been captured in our 2030 sustainability targets - to be found below. We conduct materiality assessments at reasonable intervals so that we can evaluate if there is a need for us to make any adjustments to our material topics.
In 2024, we started to perform our double materiality assessment (DMA) and have the initial results following comprehensive interviews and workshops with internal and external stakeholders. The final results of the DMA, including the disclosure on the material topics and any new/ adjusted targets will be published in the Sustainability Report 2025.
Our 2030 Sustainability Targets
At Oerlikon, we are on a journey towards a better future, embracing sustainability in all we do. Together, we aim to create a lasting and positive impact on the world with these targets as the way forward. Based on the materiality assessment, we have set 2030 sustainability targets for six of the identified material topics and have been reporting on the progress on these targets since 2020.
Environmental (Own Operations)
| Priority Topics | Objectives | 2019 | 20218 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2030 Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate & Energy1 | Implementing energy management system at all relevant sites2 | 12%B | 19% | 33% | 52% | 74% | 100% |
| Increasing the share of electrical energy from renewable sources | n.a. |
22%B |
30% | 35% | 37% | 100% | |
| Reducing emissions in relevant operations to become climate neutral3 | 60.9B | 60.8 | 50.6 | 53.8 | 60.8 | 0 | |
| Circular Economy1 |
Reducing the share of disposed waste |
42%B | 31% | 28% | 27% | 31% | 21% |
| Innovation | Increasing the share of R&D investment in products that must cover ESG criteria | n.a. | 72%B | 73%4 | 78%5 | 81% | 100% |
Social
| Priority Topics | Objectives | 2019 | 20218 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2030 Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Practices | Increasing % of women in management and leadership roles | 12%B | 12% | 13% | 14% | 14% | 20% |
|
Increasing % of women in high potential talent programs |
24%B | 23% | 19% | 22% | 26% | 30% | |
| Health & Safety | Ensure Zero Harm to People – Decreasing the rate of recordable work-related injuries (TAFR)6 | 0.88B | 0.72 | 0.75 | 0.72 | 0.50 | <0.50 |
Governance
| Priority Topics | Objective | 2019 | 20218 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2030 Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethics & Compliance | Increasing completion of CoC training including on human rights and anti-corruption, both electronically and in person7 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | >95% |
| – % of employees who completed e-training | 91% | 97% | 95% | 96% | 94% |
B Baseline.
1 Relevant sites are production and large office sites and exclude small offices (<50 employees). Operational sites include small offices if they reported the data In 2024, data from 167 operational sites were consolidated, including 1 small office
2 Energy management systems include both ISO-50001-certified and Oerlikon-defined Energy Management Systems.
3 The climate neutrality target for Scope 1 & 2 emissions in all our relevant operations was defined in 2020. In 2022, we elected to use the GHG emissions intensity level, which is measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per million Swiss francs of sales (tCO2 e/million CHF), as the key performance metric.
4 R&D investment 2021 excludes provisions.
5 R&D investment 2023 excludes the 2023 acquisition and reversal of accruals.
6 Health and safety data includes data from 180 operational sites, including 1 small site that have provided environmental data and 13 additional small offices that have also provided health and safety data.
7 Oerlikon plans to ensure that all employees are trained, both electronically and in person. Face-to-face training was piloted in 2022, and rollout started at Surfac Solutions in 2023. The 2030 target remains unchanged.
8 Excluding 2021 acquisitions.
Download our 2024 Sustainability Report to learn more about our commitments to sustainability and our targets.