Corporate responsibility at Zeiss

ZEISS has committed to becoming globally carbon neutral by 2025.

Corporate responsibility is of paramount importance and has a tradition at ZEISS that spans over 130 years. As a company owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, responsible action is a top priority, and a contributing factor to ZEISS’ long-term success.

ZEISS aims to operate in a carbon-neutral way in all its own global activities by 2025. This supplements the company’s existing goal of switching to green power at its main sites worldwide by 2022. ZEISS is therefore making a contribution to the global targets set in the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to below 2°C.

The Green, Safe, Responsible project, which combines over 250 individual initiatives worldwide into a single global programme for ZEISS Vision Care, is designed to enable ZEISS to fulfil its responsibility each and every day.

ZEISS Vision Care has worked to ensure that less water, energy and plastic goes into the production of lenses globally and that less CO2 is emitted across the entire value chain – from the manufacture of semi-finished lenses all the way to final delivery.

ZEISS Vision Care now saves enough water to meet the drinking water needs of 180,000 people for one year. Not only that, it saves enough energy to provide 3,100 households with electricity for one year.

The yearly waste reduction is now equal to the weight of 2.5 million plastic bags and lens packaging has been reduced to save 68 tonnes of paper each year.

ZEISS has achieved a 31% reduction in relative waste volume in FY 2019/20, compared to 2009/10.

Not only that, ZEISS has also achieved a 48% reduction in relative water consumption in FY 2019/20, compared to 2009/10.

When it comes to energy and emissions, ZEISS has achieved a 51% reduction in relative energy consumption in FY2019/20 as compared to 2009/10, and a 50% reduction in relative carbon emissions for the same period.

Sustainable improvements made by ZEISS Vision Care in the UK

ZEISS Vision Care UK has taken its own steps to support ZEISS’ global drive to achieving carbon neutrality.

In the UK, ZEISS Vision Care does not use water for lens cutting. Less than 5 litres of water are used per day for machine functioning. Not only that, all lens cuttings are recycled, meaning no lens waste is sent to landfill.

ZEISS Vision Care UK has also changed its packaging to plain, brown recyclable packaging.

The laboratory machines used at ZEISS Vision Care UK are powered by one industrial air compressor, significantly reducing energy consumption.

And ZEISS Vision Care UK hasn’t stopped there. All of its paper and card is FSC accredited and it has changed the printing ink on many of its printed materials to a vegetable oil based alternative. The vision care experts have also removed the single use plastic from their guarantee tags and changed the paper coating to a compostable alternative.

Effective environmental and climate protection and the responsible use of resources are key concerns of the ZEISS Group. ZEISS believes that adhering to the highest standards holds potential for both greater competitiveness and innovations that reconcile environmental protection and economic efficiency.

To find out more about ZEISS’ commitment to responsible action, visit zeiss.com/responsibility.