Wacker’s new SDGs revealed

Wacker Chemie has presented its new sustainable development goals (SDGs) at its latest online capital market day. These are based on the ‘Science-Based Targets’, in line with the goal of keeping the global rise in temperature below 1.5°C as per the UN ‘Race to Zero’, which Wacker has joined.

“We have spent the last few months scrutinising our product portfolio and production processes. Our goals take us to the limit of what we consider to be technically feasible and achievable,” said CEO Christian Hartel.

The SDGs include cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2020 to 2030, a target that was previously 33% from 2012. In addition, the Munich-based company now aims that its entire product portfolio meets defined sustainability criteria by 2030 where before the target was 90%. It expects the same of suppliers.

In addition, Wacker expects a 25% drop in emissions relating to the upstream products it uses. A new goal refers to specific water withdrawal, which it aims to reduce by 15% by 2030.

The company is adopting defined projects and measures to meet its new goals. One example is its move to replace coal with charcoal and other biomass obtained by sustainable means to produce silicon metal at the site in Holla, Norway, which accounts for about one third of its silicon metal production.

Other projects focus on using CO₂ as a raw material, such as at the 20-MW electrolysis plant it is building in its Bavarian home base. This will combine CO₂ from existing production processes and hydrogen from renewable electricity into methanol, with a consequent reduction of the plant’s carbon footprint.