Disclosure 103-1: Explanation of the material topic and its Boundary
Sika’s energy consumption is to a large extent based on fossil, non-renewable sources of energy, exposing Sika to price volatilities, supply and production uncertainties, and increasing regulatory interventions related to climate change.

Although Sika’s production itself is less energy-intensive than the supplier industry, specifically the chemical industry, Sika sees it as its responsibility to minimize its impact with regard to climate change by reducing its energy consumption. Sika believes that energy efficiency and mitigation of emissions are major drivers of its overall efficiency effort and additionally contribute to cost reductions.

Apart from its own operations, Sika also contributes to the reduction of energy consumption through its products and systems, by providing sustainable solutions for the construction and transportation industries, i.e. to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and to build lighter cars. Energy is a relevant factor throughout the value chains of both industries. Especially in the cement industry, energy consumption and secondary fuels play a large role in production processes.

Sika products, like grinding aides in cement production and admixtures in concrete preparation and application, can contribute considerably to savings. Sika’s sustainable solutions contribute to the reduction of energy use in these sectors.  
 
Disclosure 103-2: The management approach and its components
On the one hand, Sika’s management approach is aiming at reducing energy consumption and resulting CO2 emissions from Sika’s own operations, for both direct and indirect energy. On the other hand, Sika is constantly improving its products and systems to reduce energy consumption and resulting CO2 emissions in their application and use phase, and in the production processes of its customers.

COMMITMENT
Sika manages limited resources and reduces energy consumption. The company is committed to increasing the energy efficiency of its own operations and contributing to the reduction of energy use in its customers' production processes, as well as to energy savings during the installation and use phase of its products and systems.

GOALS AND TARGETS
Sika’s 5-year target plan for 2014-2018 includes the following target for energy consumption:

  • 3% less energy consumption per ton and year.

RESPONSIBILITIES
Energy efficiency of Sika’s operations is the responsibility of line management reporting to the CEO. At local level, operations are responsible for helping to reach Sika’s targets with regard to energy efficiency, and for setting and achieving local targets accordingly.

SPECIFIC ACTIONS

  • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Sika sets out to carry out objective, transparent, and comparative assessments of the sustainability of its products – not only in manufacturing, but throughout their life cycle in accordance with internationally recognized standards. These analyses may pinpoint potential improvements for existing products. They may also deliver important insights into resource management (raw materials, energy, water, and waste), production processes, or application efficiency and thereby promote innovation and optimize the development of new products and systems.
  • Energy management system according to ISO 50001: Some Sika entities are in the process of building energy management systems according to ISO 50001, which allow for continuous improvements in energy efficiency. Seven locations of Sika Germany are certified to ISO 50001.
  •  Evaluation of results from environmental management system ISO 14001: Two thirds of Sika production facilities are certified to ISO 14001 and perform impact assessments, target setting, and management reviews of the effectiveness of the management system regarding energy use.
  • Sustainable solutions: Sika seeks to enhance the outstanding and widely appreciated usefulness of its products by optimizing their sustainability profile, and thus to create added value for customers.

 
Disclosure 103-3: Evaluation of the management approach
Sika evaluates its management approach through:

  • Monitoring: Sika measures its energy use on a regular basis. Energy use is reported quarterly to the internal Sustainability and Operations Technology team where results are followed up and management approaches adapted accordingly.
  • Evaluation of results from LCA: Sika carries out life-cycle assessments (LCA) during the product development process. These serve to quantify energy demand, resource efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, or water demand during each phase of a product’s life cycle and measure the associated possible impacts on the environment.
  • Evaluation of Results from energy management system ISO 50001: The entities have implemented energy management systems according to ISO 50001, allowing for continuous efficiency improvement by evaluating and acting upon the outcome from the certifications. Sika reviews all audit results to improve the management approach and integrates improvements.
  • Evaluation of results from environmental management system ISO 14001: Two thirds of Sika production facilities are certified to ISO 14001 and perform impact assessments, target setting, and management reviews of the effectiveness of the management system regarding energy use.
  • Benchmarking: Sika compares energy consumption per product unit internally through factory reporting and to benchmark with other similar companies.

Furthermore, Sika monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of its management approach according to target achievement.

RESULTS OF EVALUATION

  • Energy consumption within the organization: 
  • Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope 1)  
  • Energy indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope 2)  

By reducing relative energy consumption per production unit (ton) over the past four years, Sika has slightly increased the carbon footprint of Sika’s operations. However, the footprint strongly depends on the energy mix and local companies are forced to choose, given the local supply options. Electricity usually increases the overall footprint due to conversion and grid losses.

Sika uses the official conversion factors according to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which are national mean values. In some cases, e.g. in Germany, Sika sources electricity based on hydropower contracts resulting in a much lower carbon footprint compared to national mean values. The renewable portions are deducted before calculating the scope of the CO2 footprint from purchased electricity.