According to the principles of a sustainable development Roche is striving for a continuous improvement also in the area of safety, security, health and environmental protection. This can be achieved by changing behaviour, by adapting equipment to the most recent standards or developing new innovative processes. However, a sustainable effect can only be obtained within a longer time frame.
Roche wants to further promote this trend of continuous improvement in the various areas of SHE and achieve progress where ever it is possible and economically viable. In a series of workshops, aimed at the Roche Group, as well as discussions with internal and external experts, mid-term targets have been set for the period 2020–2025.
The 2020 value was heavily influenced by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and therefore the data from 2019 is used as the baseline.
Sites covering 85% of the Roche Group scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions
Ro = Roche Legacy Sites
GV = Genentech/Ventana
SVHC = Substances of Very High Concern
5-year average (2021–2025)
The baseline was determined by taking the 3-year average over 2016–2018.
The self-assessment tool for K1 Annex 5 consists of three parts with the following maximum scores:
• Commitment = 10 (=100%)
• Approach = 75 (=100%)
• Culture = 15 (=100%)
Due to the way nitrogen and phosphorus are used in biomanufacturing the goal is expected to be achieved via material substitution and thus the goal is expected to be accomplished in a single event. Annual reduction targets cannot be set.
Health & Wellbeing scores were created in GEOS that can be monitored and acted upon until 2025.
In addition to the 5-year goals for 2015 - 2020, which are still ongoing, we have established the next set of 5-year goals for the years 2020 - 2025, including a 10-year ambition (2029) for a 50% reduction of our total environmental impact (eco-balance for operations and product stewardship score for products) and a goal to achieve real zero greenhouse gas emissions from scope 1 & 2 (own operations and purchased energies) by 2050. For the detailed goals please see:
Roche is committed to sustainable development. Our goals reflect that commitment as we strive for continuous improvement wherever possible and economically viable. Careful use of resources with minimal environmental impact is an important element in sustainable development. Reflecting its commitment to sustainability, Roche is continuously endeavouring to reduce its consumption of materials and energy and to cut the quantities of waste and emissions it generates. We are making steady progress toward our goals, however, sustainable benefits can only be realised over a longer time frame.
We evaluate environmental performance by annually collecting, aggregating and reporting relevant data from individual Roche sites. We aim for 95% coverage of each performance indicator. Our key performance indicators include:
energy consumption and use of sustainable energy
total eco-balance and toxicity of our wastewater
emissions into water and air and waste disposal
training and education of employees
audit findings
We are committed to benchmarking our performance against the industry and best practice; this includes transparent reporting.
We conduct regular internal audits at all our sites e.g. chemical, bio-tech, pharmaceutical and diagnostics manufacturing. The audit frequency for facilities is determined by risk potential, strategic importance, past performance and other site-specific circumstances. Plant management and local SHE officers conduct more frequent spot checks and inspections to assess compliance with SHE standards.
We expect contract manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to meet the same SHE standards as we do. To ensure compliance with these standards, we, or third-party auditors retained by us, periodically inspect the operations of our most critical suppliers, such as manufacturers of chemical intermediates, finished products or exclusive equipment parts and waste vendors.
We analyse all audit findings to identify areas requiring improvement. Specific findings may also lead to the development of new standards or guidelines. In the event of unsatisfactory performance by a supplier, we issue recommendations for improvement, or we may terminate a contract or refuse to award a new contract to that supplier.
When determining environmental key performance indicators, we consider material internal factors, Group strategies and goals, and external factors, such as regulations and laws, reporting conventions and stakeholder expectations. We also select those indicators that best reflect our impacts on the environment.
Roche follows the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) for the selection of indicators data collection and reporting. To ensure the reliability of our sustainability reporting, our SHE performance figures have undergone an external verification since 1998.
In Group SHE, we are constantly aware of SHE material issues. We regularly gather information concerning SHE related risks and opportunities from Roche affiliates as well as consult with and listen to our stakeholder groups. In a further step, we match the stakeholder issues with our internal strategic priorities and risks framework to produce our materiality matrix.
Using this method we have been able to identify the material topics which stand out as areas of interest to Group SHE and its stakeholders. With a clear and defined process, Roche creates progress through target setting. By knowing our material issues and what we want to achieve we are able to set targets and initiate action plans. The new goals are feasible but challenging and are in the areas of people, environment and business.
Within the field of social development, we focus on people’s health, integrity and wellbeing. Human rights and education / development form an important part of this material sustainable issue and are part of corporate responsibility.
The following key performance indicators are monitored and reported:
occupational accidents;
occupational illnesses;
SHE education of our employees.
Environmental protection and the conservation of resources are very material to a sustainable future and form an important part of Roche policies.
The following key performance indicators are monitored and reported:
energy consumption and use of sustainable energy;
use of resources
emissions into air (including greenhouse gases), water and soil
waste generation and disposal
total eco-balance (a summary parameter for the above elements).
Economic development and governance encompass material issues such as company assets and functional efficiency as well as business continuity and the cost of safety, security, health, and environmental protection. Compliance with external and internal regulations is equally important within this area of company sustainability.
The following key performance indicators are monitored and reported:
compliance with all SHE laws and regulations;
reduction of the total SHE risk load;
the closing of gaps identified during our internal SHE audits;
improvement of the SHE performance of our suppliers and service providers;
investments in and cost of SHE facilities and processes.
A company's SHE-performance is assessed by means of indicators which are defined by international organisations, professional and industry associations and other interest groups. For the environmental dimension these indicators are referring to impacts on living and non living natural systems, land, air and water. Safety and health indicators describe occupational impacts on our employees such as accidents and diseases.
Performance information is provided in terms of both absolute figures and normalised measures. Absolute figures provide a sense of scale or magnitude of impacts which allows the user to consider performance in the context of larger systems. Normalised figures illustrate the organisation’s efficiency and support comparison between organisations of different sizes.
Amendments of reporting guidelines and the constant state of flux in Roche's business environment (purchases or sales of business areas, changes of product ranges, etc.) mean that the values for individual parameters are not exactly comparable year on year. We nevertheless demonstrate continuous improvement in our SHE performance over longer times.