Environmental performance
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Overview The sustainability report relates to all employees working in premises owned or leased by ABB. It does not cover our clients’ sites. For the second successive year we have covered all employees in the scope of the report, including employees in our non-manufacturing organizations in countries that do not presently have a network of sustainability controllers. By nature, these non-manufacturing sites have only limited environmental impact, and we have estimated the levels of their main environmental indicators such as the use of electricity, district heating and water consumption per person. These estimates are based on data from comparable premises and relate to about 19 percent of employees. When we have used an estimate, it is stated in the text. The remaining 81 percent is based on data collected year-on-year from more than 400 sites, mainly manufacturing and service organizations, consolidated from 349 separate reports. Some of the GRI indicators, such as the amount of materials used, are virtually impossible to answer for a global company manufacturing a wide range of products in many different sites and sourcing millions of different materials and components globally and locally. Nevertheless, over the last three years we have steadily expanded our data collection system to cover more of the GRI indicators. This year, for example, we have expanded the biodiversity section to cover such matters more fully. Materials EN1 Total materials consumption The main materials used in ABB’s products by weight are steel, sheet metal, copper, aluminum, mineral oil and various plastics. ABB’s diverse range of standard products and the fact that many products are made to customer specifications means that aggregate reporting of materials consumption is not meaningful. ABB’s corporate objective is to minimize the materials and substances used per product, especially those included in the group’s list of materials which are restricted or under observation. In the following tables, we list some monitored materials and substances used by ABB to make products, or by suppliers working to ABB’s specifications.
** Increase due to raised production volumes.
Use of hazardous material ABB follows or, in some countries, exceeds the standard definitions of hazardous materials and substances set by international agreements. One of ABB’s corporate objectives is to phase out the use of hazardous substances. Priorities for replacement depend upon the environmental safety and technical acceptability of alternatives; the risk of the substance escaping into the environment; how hazardous the substance is; and whether ABB or its customers can still use the substance under strict control.
** Reduction due to ongoing decommissioning program. Typical substances and materials which ABB is phasing out Chloroparaffin <C14 - C17 - as a cutting fluid Chloroparaffin <C14 - as a softener/flame retardant Insecticides - for control of insects Nonylphenoletoxylate - as a degreasing agent Volatile Organic Compound Chlorinated (VOC-Cl) - in degreasing processes Cadmium - Cadmium oxide (CdO) for plating on contactors Cadmium (Cd) - in non-industrial rechargeable batteries Lead (Pb)- in counterweights for robots and in soldering wire Organic lead as a stabilizer - in plastics Lead - in paints Mercury - in analytic instruments Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) - in transformers and capacitors (i.e. those still in operation) EN2 Percentage of waste materials used from external sources The lead used as counterweights for robots, 222 tons, and the 40 tons of cadmium used in industrial batteries in 2002, are recycled by external sources. Energy
** The absolute values for all types of energy consumed have been reduced, due to improvement projects targeted at the use of energy, as well as divestments of some businesses. But, owing to the reduction in total employees in 2003, the consumption per employee remains the same as last year. Due to a heterogeneous product mix and the fact that most of our products are made to customer specifications, we do not report energy consumption per unit of production. Instead, we monitor the use of energy per employee.
*Includes an estimation covering 19 percent of employees (see under energy use). Indirect energy use is defined in this table as the energy losses incurred by the utilities in supplying ABB with the energy we consume. For example, to supply ABB with 238 GWh of useable district heating, the utilities consume 274 GWh of energy, incurring losses of 36 GWh. This provides a measure of the utilities’ efficiency in providing ABB with useable energy -13 percent lost for district heating, and 58 percent lost for the supply of useful electricity. EN17 Initiatives to use renewable energy Most ABB facilities are bound to the energy mix supplied by local utilities. In countries where utilities offer "green energy", ABB’s objective is to increase the amount of renewable energy it buys. EN18 Energy consumption footprint of major products ABB publishes environmental product declarations (EPDs) for a growing number of core products. An EPD is a standardized tool, meeting the requirements of ISO/TR 14025, to communicate the environmental performance of a product or system over its life cycle, and is a recognized worldwide reference for all interested parties. To date, almost 50 EPDs have been published. They can be found on the sustainability pages of ABB’s Web site: www.abb.com/sustainability An EPD is based on a formal life cycle assessment (LCA), providing information on the environmental impacts such as raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and substances, emissions and waste generation. It also includes product and company information. For an ABB product that needs energy to operate, by far the greatest environmental impacts are caused during its operating life rather than during its manufacture, as a result of the energy it consumes. These impacts are presented in the EPD as measures of contributions that the product makes to known environmental phenomena, such as global warming, ozone depletion, etc., as shown in the table below for a typical low-voltage AC drive.
ABB is not yet in a position to obtain figures of the distances covered by business travel. In the meantime, we are reporting above on the estimated percentage of use by ABB of different available modes of transport. b) Use of energy-intensive materials For the reasons already given, ABB does not account for the total amount of materials used. The most energy intensive materials we use are: aluminum (284 megajoules per kilogram - MJ/kg), copper (128 MJ/kg) and steel (28 MJ/kg). c) Life cycle management manufacturing ABB’s objective is to recycle as much self-generated scrap as possible, and all major ABB products come with recycling instructions to facilitate their efficient disposal at the end of their useful life.
Water
EN20 Water sources significantly affected by use of water ABB’s manufacturing processes do not use significant amounts of water. Extracted ground and surface water is used mainly for cooling purposes. Almost all of the cooling water is discharged without any added contamination. EN21 Annual withdrawals of ground and surface water See EN5 and EN20. EN22 Recycling and reuse of water The amount of water in closed loop processes is approximately 60,000 tons. The water is mainly used in cooling systems and for surface treatment processes. Biodiversity EN6 Land owned, leased or managed in biodiversity-rich habitats ABB’s manufacturing units are not located in areas with biodiversity-rich habitats, as defined in IUCN Protected Areas Categories 1 - 4, world heritage sites or biosphere reserves.
Emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions calculations are based on in-house energy use for production, lighting, heating and air-conditioning, and include indirect emissions at utilities where ABB buys power. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions are estimated to be equivalent to three percent of all SF6 gas used by ABB. The CO2 equivalent for SF6 is 23,900.
** Reduced by the divestment of air-handling equipment business. All CFCs are handled according to procedures in each manufacturing site’s environmental management program.
ABB uses water-borne paint as much as possible to further reduce VOC emissions. As regards chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOC-Cl), our objective is to eliminate all emissions to air. The current reporting system does not distinguish between the various types of VOC and VOC-Cl. It is therefore not meaningful to convert the data into ethane equivalents. The major constituents of VOCs and VOC-Cls are xylene, thinner and perchloroethylene.
EN30 Other indirect greenhouse gas emissions Indirect emissions from traveling, transportation, manufacturing and emissions related to product use are not aggregated at group level. For core products however, the greenhouse gas emission throughout a product’s life cycle is shown in the environmental product declarations (published on www.abb.com/sustainability).
The main waste streams at ABB organizations are wood, plastic and paper. The figures above are local estimates. ABB’s objective is to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and to increase, reuse and recycle materials. However, in some countries proper waste recycling programs are unavailable.
The above figures indicate the percentage of ABB process plants that discharge water to public sewers or to local water sources such as lakes or rivers. The water discharge to local water sources comes mainly from surface treatment plants, cooling water and test plants, and is returned without additional contamination. EN31 Transport of hazardous waste ABB follows legal regulations to transport and dispose of hazardous waste only through officially authorized disposal agents. EN32 Water sources and related ecosystems significantly affected by discharges of water ABB sites do not significantly affect water sources and related ecosystems or ground water. EN13 Spills and other incidents ABB’s environmental management program includes mechanisms for reporting incidents with potential environmental impact. During 2003, seven such incidents were reported. Five related to oil spills, one to a filter malfunction, and one to a malfunction of an oil separator. Transportation
The figures above are local estimates. Most material from suppliers, as well as products from ABB to customers, are transported by road. Suppliers EN33 Performance of suppliers Major suppliers of materials and services, used directly in manufacturing ABB products, must undertake the following:
Products and services EN14 Significant environmental impacts of principal products and services The environmental performance and impact of core products are presented in environmental product declarations, EPDs. EPDs are produced in accordance with ISO/TR 14025, the international standard for product declarations. EN15 Percentage of ABB products reclaimable after use ABB products contain mostly steel, copper, aluminum, oil and plastics. Approximately 90 percent of the material is reclaimable after the end of the products’ useful life. ABB’s objective is to encourage recycling by designing the products to facilitate dismantling and to provide users with recycling instructions. Compliance EN16 Fines for non-compliance with applicable legislations No penalties for environmental infringements by ABB companies were reported during 2003. |
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