Environmental Management
Clear guidelines and standards determine our environmental management
As early as 1971, Siemens established a company-wide environmental protection office. Since then, we have consistently and rigorously built up our environmental management system and adapted it to new demands.
ISO 14001 und EMAS
The Managing Board of Siemens has set the goal to introduce and maintain environmental management systems (EMS) based on the international standard ISO 14001 in environmentally relevant organizational units. The criteria for "environmental relevance" determining this are resource consumption (for example, energy), waste generation, and/or the existence of equipment that is subject to authorization.
Criteria for establishing environmental management systems
If any one of the following threshold values is exceeded, an environmental management system must be introduced in the relevant organizational unit:
- Primary energy consumption: 5,000 gigajoules per year
- Secondary energy consumption: 10,000 gigajoules per year
- Waste water production: 5,000 cubic meters per year
- Waste production: 250 metric tons per year
- Special and hazardous waste: 10 metric tons per year
Each Division decides for itself whether to seek external certification of its environmental management under ISO 14001 or to participate in EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme). However, assessment of the EMS by internal experts is mandatory. The aim is to develop the EMS to such an extent that it could achieve external certification. New organizational units have a maximum of three years to fully meet the Siemens environmental management requirements.
Product responsibility: The Siemens standard SN 36 350
Environmental compatibility is a cornerstone of product design at Siemens. More than fifteen years ago, we published an in-house standard, SN 36 350, to advance environmentally friendly product design throughout the company. The standard has since been expanded to provide product development engineers with a comprehensive toolbox.
Guidelines for product development engineers
SN 36 350 defines standards for
- environmentally compatible product and system design
- critical substances
- packaging
- declaration of substances in products
- environmental product declarations
These requirements and regulations are accompanied by a guideline giving examples of how to implement the standard’s requirements; a semi-quantitative tool for evaluating a product’s environmental footprint is also available.
The standard describes how to address the needs of environmentally compatible product and system design in management systems, and is fully compliant with the requirements specified in the International Standard IEC 62430 “Environmentally conscious design for electrical and electronic products.”
| Part 1: Guidelines for the design of products and systems Contents: |
| - 20 rules for all phases of the product life cycle |
| - 12 system-related rules |
| - Integration into the product life cycle |
| - Management aspects |
| In addition: |
| - Solutions and examples for implementation of the rules |
| - Evaluation checklist |
Part 2: Declarable substances, substance restrictions Part 5: Ecological requirements for packaging Part 6: Declaration of materials in products Part 7: Environmental product declaration |
Outstanding examples of environmentally compatible product design are honored in the annual competition for the Siemens Environmental Award
A precise guide for product developers
Part 1 of the Siemens standard SN 36 350 contains 20 rules for environmentally compatible product design spanning the entire product life cycle as well as 12 system-related rules that are to be taken into account during project planning. These rules help to improve our products’ and systems’ environmental footprints.
In addition, the standard and its solutions guide cover the following strategies for:
- economic use of resources (materials, power and water consumption, overall energy efficiency)
- environmentally compatible technologies
- avoidance of hazardous substances
- design recommendations
- information for customers
- recycling
With the help of the evaluation tool, our engineers can easily measure and assess improvements introduced by new product and system designs.
Part 2 of the SN 36 350 standard lists substances that are to be avoided or declared. All new products that we develop are required to comply with this list. All substances on the list fulfill the criteria of IEC Guide 113 (material declaration). We also provide our suppliers with a catalog of substances that are widely prohibited in Europe.
Information and recommendations on the use of recyclable plastics and recommendations for metals are included in the solutions guide. We will continue to develop and refine the toolbox. Our next step will be to prepare a standardized set of rules to ensure environmental excellence in our products.
Life-cycle assessments
Collecting, documenting and communicating environmental data on products has steadily gained importance in the past several years. A meaningful, scientifically recognized method for collecting and presenting environmental data along a product's entire life cycle is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance with DIN ISO 14040 et seq.
Siemens uses this method to derive statements about the environmental impact of representative products and product groups. The environmental assessment enables Siemens to identify potential for continually improving its products and their environmental impact.
Risk management
Our risk policy reflects our pursuit of sustainable growth and our goal of creating economic value while avoiding and managing inappropriate risks. Because risk management is an integral part of how we plan and execute our business strategies, our risk management policy is set by the Managing Board. Siemens’ organizational and accountability structure requires the Sectors and Divisions to execute risk management programs that are tailored to their specific industries, yet are consistent with the overall policy established by the Managing Board.
We have implemented and coordinated a set of risk management and control systems which support us in the early recognition of developments endangering the future existence of the company. The most important of these systems include our company-wide processes for strategic planning and management reporting. Strategic planning is intended to support us in evaluating potential risks well before key business decisions are made, while our management reporting is intended to enable us to monitor such risks more closely as our business progresses.
Internal auditing of the risk management system
In addition, internal revision regularly reviews the adequacy and effectiveness of our risk management system. In this process, deficits are detected and appropriate measures for their elimination are adopted and initiated. This coordination of processes and procedures is intended to ensure that the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board are fully and timely informed about significant risks. In order to enhance its existing risk management system, Siemens decided to implement a comprehensive and integrated approach for identifying, evaluating and responding to those risks that could materially affect the achievement of Siemens’ strategic, operational, financial, and compliance objectives.
The Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system covers the entire spectrum of risks and further improves strategies for enhancing risk response decisions. The system is embedded in the corporate culture, and promotes company-wide risk awareness.
Risk analysis through the in-house disaster prevention organization
The company’s in-house disaster prevention organization (DPO) is an important system for analyzing and handling operational risks to protect our employees, our property and assets, as well as our ability to deliver to our customers. The organization is binding for each Siemens location worldwide and is described in mandatory company-wide guidelines.
The DPO enables us to continually identify risks for our business locations (risk analysis) and to prepare and implement the necessary strategies and measures for protection. Risks can arise, for example, in the following categories:
- Fires
- Explosions
- Dangers from neighboring operations (chemical factories, mines, etc.)
- Natural disasters (floods, storms, earthquakes, etc.)
- Infrastructure failure (I&C networks, transportation, power, water, etc.)
We ensure that the DPO is effective and up-to-date through exercises, awareness-building measures, and regular audits of the processes and documents. In a binding, company-wide reporting system (SESIS), the status of the DPO is examined annually, evaluated by the Corporate departments, and reported to the responsible management.