Laborschmelze Mainz Worker checking Furnace

Environmental Responsibility

Environmental protection has been one of SCHOTT's key corporate goals for decades. Time and again, we have set new sustainability standards in the glass industry, and we want to do the same when it comes to protecting the climate. As a globally operating group, we want to actively contribute and decarbonize our production as far as possible.

CO2 Reduction
Environmental protection
Responsible use of valuable resources
EHS management system

Transformation of the glass industry

As a global specialty glass manufacturer, we are part of an energy-intensive industry with a large CO₂ footprint. SCHOTT has set out to meet the challenges that the sustainable transformation of our company entails. We have already reached the first milestones.

Infografik zu grüner Energie mit Nachhaltigkeitszielen.

CO2 Reduction

"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

"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

"We are working hard to adapt our melting technologies to use green electricity and hydrogen."

Michael Hahn

Head of Hot Processes

Our action plan

Our climate strategy follows a clear hierarchy: On the path to reducing emissions, we prioritize preventing and reducing emissions.

Technological Change

Reducing our emissions requires a massive upheaval in glass production. The biggest challenge is technological change – especially in terms of time constraints. In the long term, we want to eliminate the use of fossil fuels altogether wherever technologically feasible. In developing new technologies, we are primarily focusing on the most energy-intensive step in the process: glass melting. Here, we are relying on electrification and hydrogen technology. In both approaches, electricity from renewable sources plays a crucial role.

Using digitalization and artificial intelligence to improve melting processes

Improving energy efficiency

The continuous improvement of energy efficiency, and the associated reduction in energy consumption, has been a long-standing priority for us over several decades. As part of our proven energy management system, we are constantly working to identify and harness potential efficiency gains.

New momentum is being generated by the digitalization of the melting process and the use of artificial intelligence. With advanced sensors and technologies from the field of big data, we are able to better structure the vast amounts of data collected at our glass melting tanks, analyze it automatically, and use it to optimize our processes.

Renewable energies

A central lever for reducing emissions is our use of renewable energy sources – including green electricity, hydrogen, and biogas. We rely on both the physical use of renewables and high-quality guarantees of origin. Since the end of 2021, we have been covering our global electricity demand entirely with electricity backed by renewable energy certificates. This marks an important first step.

We also utilize power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are contracts linked to specific renewable energy plants. For biogas (produced from biogenic waste) and low-carbon hydrogen, we are developing a comparable strategy for future applications. However, this approach depends on factors such as availability, infrastructure, and cost.

Logistics team at inland port with containers

Value chain (Scope 3)

The majority of our emissions occur outside our own operations. They are primarily generated during the production of the materials we purchase and the downstream processing of our products (Scope 3). As a result, Scope 3 emissions represent a key opportunity for further reductions. To address them, we follow a structured approach across our value chain.

Our initiatives focus on knowledge transfer, increasing the use of renewable energy among our suppliers, and improving process efficiency. In this way, we support our suppliers in implementing effective emissions reduction measures step by step.

Corporate Carbon Footprint

Glass production is energy intensive

In the base year 2019, our direct and indirect emissions (Scope 1 and 2) amounted to around 1 million tonnes of CO₂e. The exact (location-based) footprint was 641,081 tonnes of CO₂e.

Upstream and downstream emissions (Scope 3) amounted to around 1.3 million tonnes of CO₂e.

In the 2024 fiscal year, we offset our business flights as part of our compensation efforts.

Our carbon footprint is audited annually by independent experts in accordance with the internationally recognized Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG). Since 2019, our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been externally verified. As of 2024, the audit includes our entire carbon footprint, including Scope 3 emissions. We record all greenhouse gases and express them in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e) for better comparability. We calculate our Scope 1 and 2 emissions using both the market-based and location-based methods and disclose both perspectives. We track our Scope 3 emissions using a hybrid approach based on both primary and secondary data.

Science based targets

As a research-driven technology company, we pursue a science-based climate strategy. That is why we have joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and set ourselves ambitious CO₂ reduction targets across all three emission scopes (Scope 1–3).

The independent validation by the SBTi confirms that our climate strategy is in line with the latest climate science – and supports the global 1.5°C target.

Product carbon footprint: Reliable CO₂ balances according to international standards

More and more customers are looking for products with the lowest possible climate impact. The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) – the CO₂ footprint of a product – provides transparency when it is calculated in a traceable and standardized way.

As part of our sustainability strategy, we are preparing PCF declarations for selected initial products along the system boundary from cradle to gate. This is based on a company-wide guideline aligned with ISO 14067, which has been validated by independent auditors.

It also takes into account the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the PCF Guideline of the industry initiative “Together for Sustainability” (TfS). In doing so, we support the establishment of internationally compatible standards for transparent CO₂ accounting.

Tubing Produktion Pharma_Qualitätsprüfung Glasrohr

Everything at a glance

Our Executive Summary gives you a concise overview of the criteria, data quality, and standards behind our Product Carbon Footprint Guideline.

Download summary

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 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.

Continuous process improvements to reduce emissions and energy and water consumption

Dust

Using filter technologies, we reduce dust emissions in the exhaust air from the glass melting process by over 99 %.

Nitrogen oxides

By introducing catalytic and non-catalytic processes, we have been able to reduce specific nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 75 %.

Energy

Specific energy consumption has been reduced by over 30% by converting the melting tank heating fuel to oxy-fuel technology.

Energy management

Energy management systems according to ISO 50001 and our energy efficiency network ensure that energy consumption is reduced.

Water

With closed-loop and water treatment systems, we significantly reduce fresh water consumption.

Responsible use of valuable resources

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.