River running through forest

Environmental Responsibility

Long-term thinking and responsible action are two of SCHOTT’s guiding principles, which is why we are committed to environmental and climate protection. With our “Zero Carbon” strategy program, we are entering a new era of sustainable management.

Towards an ambitious goal

With our goal being climate neutral, we have embarked on a long and challenging journey. But we have already completed the first milestones.
Climate neutral by 2030

Our clear goal: Climate neutral by 2030

As a global specialty glass manufacturer, we are part of an energy-intensive industry with a large CO2 footprint. We want to meet this challenge.
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"Reducing our carbon footprint is not only good for the environment and the climate. It also makes us an even more sustainable partner for our customers."
Anja Schlosser
Manager Sustainability, Coordinator of the "Zero Carbon" strategy program
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"We need big and bold changes. We need to do it for our kids and our grandkids. I know we can do it."
Tania Meese
TCS Specialist
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"I think it’s great that we’re encouraged to think more about environmental protection concerns. You know you are doing something good."
Markus Langer
Mechanical Services
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"As part of our strategy to become climate neutral by 2030, we are working hard to adapt our melting technologies to use green electricity and hydrogen."
Michael Hahn
Head of Hot Processes

Our action plan

On our way toward climate neutrality, we act according to the principle "Avoid - Reduce – Compensate”. Our action plan comprises four fields of action.
Man looking into glass melting tank

Technology change

The goal of climate neutrality requires a massive upheaval in glass production. The greatest challenge is technology change, along with the time factor. In the long term, we want to completely abandon the use of fossil fuels as far as technologically possible. In developing new technologies, we are focusing on the most energy-intensive process step of glass melting. Here we are pursuing two main transformation paths: electrification and hydrogen technology. In both approaches, electricity from renewable energies plays a decisive role.

Using digitalization and artificial intelligence to improve melting processes

Improvement of energy efficiency

The continuous improvement of energy efficiency and the associated reduction of energy consumption has been an ongoing task for us for decades. As part of our proven energy management system, we are constantly working to identify and utilize energy efficiency potential. New impetus is coming from the digitalization of the melting process and artificial intelligence. With new types of sensors and technology in the field of big data, we can improve the structure of the mass data we collect at the glass melting tanks, analyze it automatically, and use it for process improvements.

Windmills standing in nature

100 percent green electricity

It is our goal to use electricity from renewable sources only. Since the end of 2021, we have been covering 100 percent of our electricity requirements worldwide with renewable energies with corresponding certificates of origin. In this context, we attach great importance to high-quality green power certificates that confirm a strong contribution to the energy transition. We have also been using the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) instrument since 2022, by which we purchase power directly with operators of renewable energy plants such as onshore wind farms or marketers of electricity from such plants.

River in forest

Compensation for remaining emissions

We offset any remaining climate-damaging emissions by investing in climate protection projects that are certified to strict standards. We started with this in 2020 and are now gradually expanding our offset portfolio. We are focusing mainly on nature-based solutions such as afforestation and reforestation, but also on peatland projects. In 2030, we want to fully offset the emissions that we cannot avoid by then through technological change, further improvements in energy efficiency and the use of green electricity. As a result, we will be a climate-neutral company by 2030.

Corporate Carbon Footprint

Glass production is energy intensive

As a specialty glass manufacturer, SCHOTT is an energy-intensive company. Specialty glasses and glass-ceramics are melted in large melting tanks at temperatures of up to 1,700 ºC. Until now, we have been heating the melting tanks with the fossil fuels natural gas and heating oil, and in some cases with electricity. Glass processing also requires a lot of energy. Due to this total energy demand, our climate-relevant footprint in 2019 was around one million tons of CO2e.

Our calculations are based on the market-based method of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG). The exact location-based footprint was 641,081.0 tons of CO2e. To calculate our Corporate Carbon Footprint, we consider the emissions of all greenhouse gases. We currently include emissions from our own production (Scope 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) and from purchased energy (Scope 2) in the calculation. For Scope 3, we also take into account business travel and employee commuting. In the medium term, we want to include the other Scope 3 emissions, which consider emissions in the supply chain. In order to establish comparability in terms of their climate impact, we report greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalents (CO2e).

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Exterior shot of the SCHOTT plant in Mainz in the countryside

Good to know

You can find a concise overview of our climate-neutral activities in our two-pager.

Download two-pager
Close-up of the chimney of the SCHOTT plant in Mainz in the landscape

Good to know

Our White Paper “Climate Neutral by 2030” provides a deeper insight into our motivation and objectives as well as the challenges and solutions on our way to achieving climate-neutral production.

Download whitepaper
Environmental protection

Since 1987, environmental protection has been an important corporate goal for SCHOTT

Setting standards

Through the use of state-of-the-art technology and continuous process improvements, we repeatedly set standards in the glass industry when it comes to environmental protection.

Dr. Andrea Frenzel, Member of the Management Board
Dr. Andrea Frenzel, Member of the Management Board SCHOTT
Environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources are high-priority company goals for us. We therefore work continuously to improve – both to make a contribution to society and to our company’s sustainable success.
Responsible use of valuable resources

Responsible use of valuable resources

Natural resources are finite. We must use them responsibly and conscientiously. We have been reducing our water consumption, waste and emissions for decades.  

Our internal recyclables loop is already well developed. We are now driving forward with additional solutions in the circular economy. Together with our customers and processing companies, we are developing the first innovative processes in pilot projects.

We want to make greater use of renewable and recycled materials and close material cycles. Furthermore, we want to reduce our water consumption and waste generation relative to value added. 

Our long-term vision is to reprocess products in such a way that they can be reintegrated into the production process in an ecologically and economically sensible way. 

SCHOTT shards warehouse
EHS management system
Integrated EHS management system

Since 1995, we have been using an integrated EHS management system to ensure that high standards of environmental protection and health and safety are maintained at all our sites worldwide. It is based on the international ISO standards 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) and 45001 (Occupational Health And Safety).

In the meantime, the EHS standard for material compliance has also been added. These group-wide standards supplement national laws and regulations where it is important to SCHOTT to uniformly regulate relevant compliance topics and define a worldwide minimum standard.

Icon EHS Management System

Other key areas of responsibility

Want to know more? Let's talk

If you need more information about our commitment to environmental and climate protection, please contact us.

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