Climate change and environmental impact

For Geberit, sustainability means acting responsibly on a long-term basis. Dealing with climate change and climate change mitigation is an integral part of the sustainability strategy of the Geberit Group. For years, the Group has been committed to energy-efficient and resource-saving production and provides incentives for developing innovative, high-quality products that save water and energy. New products or product developments are tested and optimised throughout the entire product life cycle in line with the eco-design principle. With water-saving sanitary solutions, the company makes a significant contribution to saving increasingly scarce drinking water resources. In addition, water saving goes hand in hand with energy savings and thus also contributes indirectly to reducing CO₂ emissions.

Climate transition plan

The revised Swiss CO₂ Act has specified the goal of reducing Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Net zero means that, by 2050, Switzerland will only emit as many greenhouse gases as can be removed from the atmosphere or compensated for. The net zero target is a central element of Swiss climate policy. In accordance with the Paris Agreement of 2015, the Swiss net zero target should contribute to limiting global warming to considerably under 2 °C, ideally 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial values.

The CO₂ Act requires companies operating in Switzerland to support the Swiss net zero target and take measures to reduce GHG emissions to net zero by 2050.

The Geberit Group supports the Swiss net zero target for 2050 and the corresponding Swiss climate strategy. The company has been committed to reducing CO₂ emissions for many years. A core element of the Group-wide climate transition plan is the comprehensive CO₂ strategy. The aim is to reduce CO₂ intensity (CO₂ emissions in relation to currency-adjusted net sales) by an average of 5% per year. This would result in a long-term reduction in CO₂ intensity (Scopes 1 and 2) in comparison to the reference year 2015 by 75% by 2030 and by 80% by 2035. In the same period of time, the absolute CO₂ emissions are to decrease by 54% by 2030 and by 57% to 104,000 tonnes by 2035.

A further core element of the climate transition plan is the strategic approach to minimise climate-related risks and to take advantage of the opportunities. These are described in detail in the chapter Risk management. The approach ensures a balance is struck between economic, environmental and social aspects in all decision-making processes. With the consistent integration of the sustainability strategy and CO₂ strategy into the core business, Geberit is working specifically on minimising climate-change-related risks and taking advantage of the opportunities that result from the development of water-saving, energy-efficient and resource-saving products.

Comprehensive CO₂ strategy

The Geberit Group stands for an ambitious and implementation-oriented approach in its activities. This also applies to the CO₂ strategy, which was revised in 2022. The central element is the integration of the CO₂ strategy in all relevant and existing business processes as well as the handling of CO₂ emissions as external costs by means of internal CO₂ pricing. In this way, Geberit wants to ensure that the procedure of reducing the company’s carbon footprint is widely supported within the company, incorporated in daily business activities, and that the measures taken have a long-term, sustainable effect.

Transparency

The annual preparation of a comprehensive corporate eco-balance is an established part of environmental management. It covers all production plants worldwide, the logistics centre in Pfullendorf (DE), other smaller logistics units as well as larger sales companies. Geberit has been calculating its carbon footprint along the value chain since 2012, see Energy and CO₂; Tables of key figures > Environmental matters.

As part of the revised CO₂ strategy, internal reporting has been further expanded: key figures on CO₂ emissions were included in the regular monthly reporting and forecasting processes. Additionally, the calculation of CO₂ emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) has also been audited externally every year since 2022 as part of a limited assurance engagement, see Audit Report Greenhouse Gas Balance.

In addition to focusing on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, work continues on the transparency of Scope 3 emissions. This takes place on a product level as part of environmental product declarations (EPDs) and also for Scope 3 emissions from purchased (production) materials from the supply chain, which are being gradually refined. For further information on Scopes 1 to 3, see Energy and CO₂ > CO₂ and other emissions.

Accountability

Since 2022, the annual achievement of targets in reducing CO₂ intensity has been integrated as one of five equally weighted criteria in the calculation of the Group bonus. The annual reduction goals are thus bonus-related with a weighting of 20% for the Group management (around 220 managers worldwide) as well as for the employees in Switzerland (a total of around 1,350 employees).

CO₂ pricing

The internal CO₂ pricing is of central importance. Once a year, the Group Executive Board suggests a CO₂ reference price as part of the budget, which is then approved by the Board of Directors – this was EUR 80 per tonne of CO₂ for 2024. This figure is based on the price of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) for CO₂. The internal CO₂ reference price embodies the reference costs for saving one tonne of CO₂. An implicit CO₂ project price is calculated for each project using an economic efficiency calculation. This serves as a basis for deciding on investments in measures to reduce energy or CO₂.

Energy

Pivotal in the CO₂ strategy are measures for saving energy, increasing efficiency, heat recovery and procuring energy from renewable sources in the plants. The corresponding measures are drawn up and implemented as part of an energy master plan and a rolling CO₂ forecasting of the significant plants. The proportion of renewable energies is being further increased throughout the company, always taking the internal CO₂ reference price and the economic efficiency of the planned projects into consideration. There are various ways of doing this: purchasing green electricity with proof of origin, long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with selected operators, or the installation of photovoltaic systems on the roofs of the production plants to generate electricity to be used within the company, see Energy and CO₂.

Structural reduction

The area of ceramics, which accounts for around two-thirds of the company’s CO₂ emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), has the largest savings potential. This includes a special focus on the reduction of scrap rates and refiring rates. The firing process and the use of the resulting waste heat will be continually optimised. This can be used for other process steps, such as drying the plaster moulds or ceramic blanks. Furthermore, projects were launched to investigate the possibilities of switching to alternative energy sources – for example, biogas or green hydrogen – in the long term as well as the systematic reuse of ceramic waste, see Resources and circular economy.

Geberit also contributes to reducing Scope 3 emissions as part of purchasing and product development. Since 2007, all new products have been optimised in terms of sustainability as part of eco-design workshops. Seen across the entire life cycle, each new product or product development should be better than its predecessor from an ecological perspective – and all without sacrificing on quality, functionality or durability. With regard to the individual areas in the upstream and downstream value chain, the planned measures are aiming for the following improvements:

• Ensuring high quality, durability and repairability
• Reduction of water and energy consumption in the product use phase
• Reduction of the quantities of material used and avoidance of hazardous substances
• Increasing the share of recycled materials as well as materials with a reduced carbon footprint
• Simplification of dismantling and recycling products and their components
• Reduction of packaging material
• Optimisation of transport routes and maximising shipping container utilisation

The durable and ecologically optimised design of products makes a significant impact on the company’s Scope 3 emissions. Through the continuous development of products, the company can secure competitive advantages at environmentally aware customers, gain technological advantages and reduce risks resulting from future regulations.

An environmentally responsible supply chain also contributes to the reduction of Geberit’s carbon footprint. In principle, production entails a high in-house production depth, i.e. it largely purchases raw materials and semi-finished products with a high share of raw materials. Suppliers are obligated to maintain comprehensive environmental and social standards. The selection of suitable product materials with minimal CO₂ emissions plays an increasingly important role, and is addressed in discussions with suppliers and included in decision-making processes. For this purpose, a dedicated function was created in Corporate Purchasing, see Procurement .

Environmental impact

The annual preparation of a corporate life cycle assessment has been an established part of Geberit’s environmental management since 1991. It covers all production plants worldwide, the logistics centre in Pfullendorf (DE), other smaller logistics units and the larger sales and management companies. The applied Swiss Ecological Scarcity Method takes into consideration a wide range of environmental impact factors (emissions, resources, waste) and summarises them as a key figure known as eco-points (version 2021). In the case of electricity, the effectively purchased local electricity mix (market-based) of the respective supplier is considered.

In the reporting year, the absolute environmental impact increased by 2.4%. This increase is due to higher production volumes. The relative environmental impact (in relation to currency-adjusted net sales (eco-efficiency)) remained at the previous year’s level.

Since the integration of the energy-intensive ceramic production business in 2015, the absolute environmental impact has decreased by 47.8%. Eco-efficiency improved by 62.6% in the same period, corresponding to an average annual improvement of eco-efficiency of 10.3%. The company therefore remains on course to achieve its long-term target of an average improvement of 5% per year.

Detailed key figures on the environmental impact are provided at Tables of key figures > Environmental matters.