Sustainability Report 2023
Ambitious sustainability targets
Sustainability is deeply rooted in our purpose and a key pillar for the business strategies of both divisions. To underline our commitment, we have defined eight key sustainability targets for 2027, one for each material topic. Acknowledging the scale and urgency of combatting climate change, we have also developed a long-term commitment and roadmap to achieve operational net-zero for our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035.
Dear Stakeholders,
Sustainability is a transformative journey. At Burckhardt Compression, we are fully engaged in this transformation as an organization and we are supporting it with our products and services, creating value for all stakeholders. With sustainability at the core of our strategy and purpose, we aim to make a significant contribution toward a sustainable energy future.
This requires a commitment to transparency and accountability. By openly sharing our targets, activities, successes and failures, we demonstrate our integrity and willingness to learn and improve. With this report, we want to further build trust with you as our stakeholders and have therefore made the significant step to have key figures audited externally, for the first time. The report covers the requirements under Article 964a-c and 964j-l of the Swiss Code of Obligations.
In fiscal year 2023, we made tangible progress on our sustainability targets for 2027.
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, we succeeded in decoupling our growth from our emissions. For the first time, we were able to reduce CO₂ emissions by 5% in absolute terms and by 12% in relative terms, per hour worked. Energy-saving measures, particularly in China, were complemented by solar installations at our service center in Spain and by the complete switch to renewable electricity at Prognost in Germany. With our new detailed climate roadmap for each local unit, we are confident that we will reach our net-zero operational CO₂ emissions ambition by 2035 (Scope 1 and Scope 2).
In the area of working conditions, we successfully launched a new employee survey with an impressive participation rate of 93%. Our Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) further improved and remained below our Mid-Range Plan target. We further strengthened our commitment to respect human rights in our value chain with our new human rights policy and third-party risk management policy. In addition, there were no deviations from our zero-incident targets for product safety and business conduct.
Fabrice Billard | Ton Büchner Chair of the Board of Directors |
“We deliver leading compression solutions for a sustainable energy future with sustainability at the core of our company purpose and strategy.”
On the business side, we could prove again that sustainability represents a substantial growth opportunity for Burckhardt Compression. In the fiscal year 2023, 33% of our order intake supported the energy transition. To drive further growth, we launched new products and a new service, BC ACTIVATE to support customers in their sustainability efforts.
Going forward, we are determined to further accelerate our journey to meet our commitment to the Paris Agreement. I look forward to the coming fiscal year 2024, when we will significantly expand our solar capacity for renewable electricity generation in China and Switzerland. We also strive to make our contributions to energy savings through services more visible and to furter expand our portfolio of compression solutions for a sustainable energy future. All our successes and ambitions are only possible with a highly motivated team and reliable partners. I would like to sincerely thank all our employees for making this transformation happen and would also like to extend my gratitude to our customers, suppliers and other partners. We will succeed together in our transformative journey.
Yours sincerely
 |  | |
Ton Büchner Chair of the Board of Directors | Fabrice Billard CEO |
Material topics
Extended key figures
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental metrics 1 | ||||
| Energy | ||||
| Energy use | MWh | 56’173 | 59’107 | 49’928 |
| Electricity | 29’445 | 30’658 | 27’779 | |
| Fuels and combustibles 2 | 17’754 | 18’585 | 16’608 | |
| District heating | 8’974 | 9’864 | 5’541 | |
| Share of renewable electricity | % | 22 | 21 | 15 |
| Energy intensity | kWh/working hour | 8.8 | 10.1 | 9.4 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions | ||||
| Greenhouse gas emissions Scope 1 3 | tCO2e | 4’917 | 4’674 | 4’221 |
| Combustibles | 1’436 | 1’551 | 1’485 | |
| Fuels | 2’833 | 2’914 | 2’508 | |
| Others | 648 | 209 | 228 | |
| Greenhouse gas emissions Scope 2 4, 5 | tCO2e | 14’120 | 15’396 | 13’198 |
| Electricity | 12’588 | 13’712 | 12’252 | |
| District heating | 1’532 | 1’684 | 946 | |
| Greenhouse gas emission intensity by working hours (Scope 1 and 2) | kgCO2e/working hour | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| Greenhouse gas emission intensity by working hours without foundry (Scope 1 + 2) | kgCO2e/working hour | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Greenhouse gas emission intensity by sales volume (Scope 1 + 2) | tCO2e/mCHF | 19.4 | 24.2 | 26.8 |
| Greenhouse gas emissions business travel (Scope 3) | tCO2e | 3’931 | 2’663 | 1’405 |
| Water and waste | ||||
| Water 6 | m3 | 74’991 | 78’687 | 83’810 |
| Waste 6 | t | 2’790 | 3’530 | 2’805 |
1With the exception of the figures for water consumption and waste, the data relate to all sites of the Burckhardt Compression Group. The data collection for environmental data is performed by calendar year. The denominators sales volume and working hours are collected per fiscal year. The greenhouse gas inventory was calculated according to the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol Standard. “Operational control” was selected as the consolidation approach. Business travel (Scope 3) emissions data for 2019–2022 have been recalculated due to a more precise data availability. The updated values are almost identical for the years 2021-2022 and higher for the years 2019–2020.
2From fossil sources.
3Scope 1 includes all directly caused emissions (e.g. combustion of fuels, loss of refrigerants).
4Scope 2 includes emissions caused with purchased energy (electricity, district heating).
5Reported according to the market-based approach under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 standard. The location-based approach results in emissions of 14’444 tCO₂e in 2023 (2022: 15’801 tCO₂e, 2021: 13’653 tCO₂e).
6Data refer to the production and assembly sites of the Burckhardt Compression Group, including headquarter (Switzerland, India, China, South Korea, United States).
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee structure | ||||
| Number of employees | FTE | 3’243 | 2’973 | 2’732 |
| Permanent | 2’980 | 2’724 | 2’508 | |
| Male | 2’536 | 2’320 | 2’145 | |
| Female | 444 | 404 | 363 | |
| EMEA | 1’378 | 1’264 | 1’152 | |
| APAC | 1’298 | 1’155 | 1’066 | |
| Americas | 304 | 305 | 290 | |
| Temporary | 263 | 249 | 224 | |
| Male | 194 | 188 | 171 | |
| Female | 69 | 61 | 53 | |
| EMEA | 13 | 19 | 16 | |
| APAC | 250 | 229 | 207 | |
| Americas | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Full-time | 3’104 | 2’856 | 2’628 | |
| Male | 2’646 | 2’442 | 2’256 | |
| Female | 458 | 414 | 372 | |
| EMEA | 1’253 | 1’167 | 1’065 | |
| APAC | 1’574 | 1’384 | 1’273 | |
| Americas | 304 | 305 | 290 | |
| Part-time | 139 | 117 | 104 | |
| Male | 84 | 66 | 60 | |
| Female | 55 | 51 | 44 | |
| EMEA | 138 | 116 | 103 | |
| APAC | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Americas | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Number of external workers | 329 | 305 | 298 | |
| Number trainees & apprentices | 145 | 178 | 153 |
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTE | % yearly average | FTE | % yearly average | FTE | % yearly average | |
| New employee hires (% of yearly average) | 590 | 18.7% | 510 | 17.7% | 451 | 17.1% |
| FTE | % end of year | FTE | % end of year | FTE | % end of year | |
| New employee hires (% of yearly average) | 590 | 18.2% | 510 | 17.2% | 451 | 16.5% |
| Male | 489 | 17.9% | 427 | 17.0% | 382 | 16.5% |
| Female | 101 | 19.7% | 83 | 17.9% | 69 | 16.6% |
| < 25 years | 52 | 36.9% | 55 | 43.6% | 45 | 50.2% |
| 25–34 years | 251 | 29.1% | 210 | 26.9% | 171 | 22.2% |
| 35–44 years | 163 | 14.2% | 145 | 13.8% | 121 | 13.7% |
| 45–54 years | 87 | 13.0% | 63 | 10.3% | 69 | 11.6% |
| > 54 years | 37 | 8.7% | 37 | 9.2% | 45 | 11.4% |
| FTE | % yearly average | FTE | % yearly average | Headcount | % yearly average | |
| Employee turnover (% of yearly average) | 328 | 10.4% | 308 | 10.7% | 266 | 10.1% |
| FTE | % end of year | FTE | % end of year | Headcount | % end of year | |
| Employee turnover (% of end of year) | 328 | 10.1% | 308 | 10.4% | 266 | 9.7% |
| Male | 275 | 10.1% | 264 | 10.5% | 230 | 9.9% |
| Female | 53 | 10.3% | 44 | 9.4% | 36 | 8.7% |
| < 25 years | 19 | 13.3% | 17 | 13.4% | 17 | 19.1% |
| 25–34 years | 106 | 12.3% | 100 | 12.8% | 82 | 10.6% |
| 35–44 years | 86 | 7.5% | 80 | 7.6% | 87 | 9.9% |
| 45–54 years | 45 | 6.7% | 43 | 7.0% | 36 | 6.0% |
| > 54 years | 72 | 17.0% | 68 | 16.9% | 44 | 11.1% |
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Safety 1 | |||
| Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) 2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Severity Rate (IR) 3 | 14.2 | 24.6 | 25.0 |
| Lost Time Workday Rate (LTWR) 4 | 7.7 | 15.6 | 27.8 |
1The data collection for occupational health and safety data is performed by calendar year.
2Rate per 200’000 working hours for number of recordable incidents with lost time > 1 working day.
3Number of lost days/incidents subject to registration with loss > 1 working day.
4Rate per 200’000 working hours for total of lost workdays.
Sustainability Report 2023
(PDF)