A conversation with Oerlikon Executive Chairman Michael Suess (Suess) and Oerlikon Chief Sustainable Officer (CSO) Georg Stausberg (Stausberg)
Interview with Executive Chairman and CSO
What is the Oerlikon sustainability strategy?
Suess: Sustainable innovation requires a holistic perspective. Net zero is not a standalone activity. All stakeholders – industry, governments, companies and end consumers – have a role to play, and the solution is sum of the parts that we play.
At Oerlikon, we empower customers through our innovation and technologies to achieve more with less: more efficiency, productivity and savings, all while using less energy and producing less waste and emissions. Our business is founded on sustainable innovation and supporting major industries such as energy, aerospace, automotive and industrial production in their moves to accelerate decarbonization. Today, we invest 73% of our R&D expenditure in sustainable products. We remain committed to investing 100% of our R&D in sustainable products.
Stausberg: Throughout 2022, we continued to develop and enhance materials, processes and equipment designed to extend tool life, reduce automotive and aerospace fuel consumption, improve textile machinery efficiency, increase fibers and materials recycling and pioneer technologies that enable future mobility. In this report, we have included case studies and examples of our sustainable solutions for customers in key markets. These innovations are an integral part of the cost-effective and climate-friendly solutions that customers need and use in their own operations and profit models.
For example, by reducing the coating thickness and increasing the tool life time, the new BALINIT MAYURA coating leads to material savings of up to 81% compared to the predecessor. Furthermore, the coating can be easily stripped, and the tool re-coated to give it a new life, allowing the customer to reuse it instead of getting a new tool. Another example is our award-winning HycuTec inline charging technology for producing meltblown micro/nano filters that requires significantly less water and energy than other hydro-charging solutions. Similarly, we apply these same principles and practices to our initiatives aimed at improving our own operational performance and realizing our 2030 targets.
What environmental sustainability milestones did Oerlikon achieve in 2022?
Stausberg: Most notable in 2022 was the implementation of our energy management systems at 25 sites, bringing the total number of sites to 55. These sites account for 71% of all energy consumed by our global operations. Another area of ongoing progress is our work on Scope 3. We now have a better understanding of the key elements in our Scope 3 ecosystem and the impact of their emissions. We have begun to evaluate this information in detail to identify where and how we can make the most meaningful and realistic contribution to reducing Scope 3 emissions.
We have also advanced in our partnership with EcoVadis and are using their assessment process to help us in engaging suppliers to increase their disclosures on sustainability concerns, ranging from environmental topics, such as emissions, to social matters, such as human rights and child labor.
Suess: As these examples demonstrate, operational excellence initiatives that increase productivity, save resources, reduce waste and so on also have a direct or indirect impact on cost savings. We reject the misconception that companies must choose either cost savings or sustainability advances, which we regard as complementary and not in competition or conflict with one another.
What were Oerlikon’s social achievements in 2022?
Stausberg: Diversity and inclusion were key themes throughout the year. Our annual Diversity Conference was dedicated to disability, with the goal of raising awareness around the topic, including understanding “invisible disabilities” that create unique challenges, which may go unnoticed by coworkers and managers. During 2022, we also celebrated Pride Month and International Women’s Day and expanded our employee resource groups to support the interests and needs of different communities within our organization. We are also a signatory to the Equal Voice United Charter 2025 to foster gender equality at the workplace.
Suess: We were pleased to see many employees actively participating both in these events and in the Diversity Conference. It is also inspiring to see how many Oerlikon employees share our company’s sense of investment in social causes. During 2022, we sponsored a two-month employee donation program to support UNICEF’s humanitarian action for Ukrainian children who were internally displaced or seeking refuge abroad. The global Oerlikon team donated CHF 62 000 to the program. Oerlikon, which had promised to double the total amount donated by employees, exceeded that commitment and ultimately increased the total donation to CHF 200 000. I take pride in our employees’ engagement and fully support the ongoing contributions of teams and individuals in their volunteering activities to promote environmental, social and public health initiatives at the local level.
How is Oerlikon looking at the new sustainability standards and regulations?
Stausberg: There are an increasing number of new laws and regulations requiring companies to disclose non-financial and corporate responsibility information. These laws and regulations seek to ensure that companies are more accountable and transparent in communicating the impact of their operations on the environment and society. It does mean more work and resources. However, there is a certain urgency to stop climate change, and we want to ensure that the world is a better place for future generations. At Oerlikon, we prepared our first 2020 Sustainability Report according to the internationally recognized GRI standards and have continued to do so for the following reports. This will help us to meet many of the new requirements. As we progress on our sustainability journey, we will continue to improve our reporting and provide more insights and details on our sustainability actions and achievements. For example, our 2022 report is compliant with the updated GRI standards 2021, which is an acceptable standard defined by the Swiss responsibility business initiative counterproposal. In addition, our 2022 report is aligned with the SASB standards.
Suess: From a governance perspective, I want to emphasize the level of priority we place on sustainability at Oerlikon. ESG topics are a regular part of the Board and the EC agenda, which reflects our leadership and commitment to sustainability. Since taking on the role of Executive Chairman in July 2022, I have undertaken new engagement initiatives with key stakeholders aimed at improving the understanding of strategically relevant governance and sustainability topics.
Taking their feedback into consideration, we have expanded our governance and sustainability disclosures so as to provide additional transparency and to promote a better understanding of the company’s policies and procedures. My personal ambition is to constantly work on improving disclosure and the level of communication with our key stakeholders.
Furthermore, we are looking into how we can integrate other meaningful sustainability metrics, in addition to the current safety metric, into our management and employee incentive programs.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Suess: In 2023, we continue to face challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, war, inflation and supply chain shortages. Despite these challenges, we remain whole-heartedly committed to achieving ongoing improvement regarding our impact on the environment, governance and people and society, both within Oerlikon and across our value chain. We are ready to do our part to reduce the global carbon footprint and to contribute to help society move forward in sustainability terms. These are formidable tasks, but for us, sustainability is a journey. We will continue to do our best to improve, one step at a time, as a company and as a partner to our customers, communities and the planet.
Both: On behalf of the Board and the Executive Committee and the entire Oerlikon team, we want to thank our stakeholders for joining us on this journey. We are grateful as always for your collaboration, interest and support.
