Reporting Practice
GRI 102-46; 102-54
The Oerlikon Sustainability Report 2021 is our second report on our material economic, environmental and social impacts and how we manage them.
The report provides an in-depth look at the way we address sustainability and implement our sustainability strategy. It also gives an overview of relevant policies, guidelines and targets established for continued improvement in sustainability performance metrics. Furthermore, the report contains a review of notable achievements in 2021. Oerlikon intends to continue reporting on sustainability on an annual basis.
Reporting Scope
The report covers all Oerlikon Group companies worldwide, including wholly owned subsidiaries and majority-owned joint ventures, but excludes 2021 acquisitions. In the Oerlikon Annual Report 2021, the list of legal entities that are consolidated as part of the Group can be found on page 118.
In total, Oerlikon operates 207 sites in 38 countries in 2021 (including acquisitions). For the environmental and health & safety metrics, only data from operational sites were included in the calculation. Operational sites refer to all relevant sites, that is all production sites and office sites with more than 50 employees, plus a few small offices (<50 employees) that have provided data in the year under review.
Reporting Standards
To define the contents of this report, we have referred to the GRI Standards and to the results of the materiality assessment and the material topics identified in this process. We have also taken into account stakeholder feedback on reporting, best practices in sustainability reporting and the applicable United Nations SDGs.
The GRI Standards are the most widely adopted global standards for sustainability reporting. These standards help businesses and governments understand and communicate their impact on a variety of sustainability issues in a common format.
We have mapped our material topics to the GRI Standards and included relevant disclosure topics in the GRI content index, which can be found at the end of the report. This report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option. Omission from the material issues addressed in our report does not mean an issue is not managed.
Sections marked with the United Nations SDGs symbols provide more information on how we implement strategies and practices that contribute toward supporting these SDGs.
Changes in 2021
The entities acquired in 2021 – such as INglass and Couerdor – are not reflected in the environmental, social and governance reporting for the year. All these acquired entities will be reflected in the 2022 report. The new relevant sites opened by Oerlikon in 2021 are included in the report.
Data Collection Process
We measure energy consumption at all our operational sites, and the data is consolidated in our SAP Business Warehouse. For energy and emissions, the total operational sites consolidated in 2021 are 157 (out of 160). The difference is attributed to an in-house site at a customer location and two office sites with negligible energy consumption.
Our energy consumption includes all types of energy, including purchased electricity, solar power generated by us, purchased heat and cooling, natural gas, fuel oil, propane, diesel, gasoline, hydrogen and kerosene.
To calculate emissions, each of our sites is required to provide the actual CO2 factors for electricity from their respective utility. For fossil fuel, we use average CO2 factors from various governmental sources. Sites are required to cross-check locally with respect to the details provided by their energy suppliers.
The sources for emissions include electricity and steam generated offsite and all fuels used in boilers and other combustion equipment, including purchased electricity, purchased heat and cooling, natural gas, fuel oil, propane, diesel, gasoline and kerosene.
The share of disposed waste is calculated as the total weight of waste directed to disposal as a percentage of the total weight of waste generated by Oerlikon. In 2021, a total of 154 (out of 160) operational sites were consolidated for waste. The difference is attributed to two sites being closed and four office sites with negligible waste generation.
For our HR data, we use the SAP SuccessFactors software to manage our people processes, perform analytics and improve visibility and efficiency. Since SuccessFactors is cloud based, the software enables us to have real-time updated data about our employees and their development, and helps us to manage the entire employee life cycle.
Our Total Accident Frequency Rate (TAFR) data for health and safety is collected through a monthly reporting process using SAP Business Warehouse and Cognos TM1. Health and safety data excludes small offices. The total FTEs at these small sites account for less than 1% of total Oerlikon global FTEs.
Our compliance data is collected by our Head of Compliance and Internal Audit teams. The majority of Oerlikon’s compliance cases are reported through its whistleblowing hotline. Complainants can report anonymously, although we encourage transparency in order to better handle cases and to reach a substantiated outcome.
All reported cases are investigated to the full extent of the facts that have been provided. Cases lacking in pertinent facts or substantiated evidence are closed. At the end of each calendar year, Group Compliance reviews the cases with the Compliance Review Board (of which the Head of Group Compliance is the Chair), and the cases are also reviewed by the Audit and Finance Committee, a committee of the Board of Directors. In the review and assessment of cases, Group Compliance and Internal Audit make recommendations for modifications to internal controls and policies and/or procedures that may have led to the wrongdoing or any undesirable behavior.
Reporting Period
This report covers the period between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021.
Independent Assurance Summary
We have expanded the scope of the assurance by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG to include more of our 2030 environmental and diversity targets. The assurance was performed with a limited level of assurance. It included one physical and two virtual site visits at three of the most significant operative sites. The assurance report can be found here.
