Climate protection
The production of our materials and products is complex and very energy intensive. The energy sources used are electricity, steam and gas. SGL Carbon is constantly striving to improve the energy efficiency of its processes and to reduce CO2 emissions. This is driven by both ecological responsibility and economic motivation, as energy costs represent a high proportion of our production costs.
We also aim to contribute to climate protection with our products. For example, we supply materials and components for electric vehicles, wind and solar energy and are one of the few European suppliers of graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries.
Our environmental targets:
Our CO2 targets are supported by concrete measures. By 2025, SGL Carbon will cover its global electricity requirements as far as possible from renewable sources. Electrical energy is already sourced exclusively from renewable sources at the Wackersdorf, Ort and Ried sites as well as Muir of Ord. In Ort im Innkreis (Austria), a photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of the production building and put into operation in fiscal 2021. This plant, which has a capacity of just under 450 kWp, will save around 30 tons of CO2 per year. The self-consumption rate is over 95 %.
For greenhouse gas reductions after 2025, SGL Carbon plans to electrify high-temperature processes that were previously gas-fired or to switch to hydrogen and biogas. As of today and taking into account current technologies, we expect that approximately one third of emissions will be unavoidable in 2025 and will therefore have to be compensated.
SGL Roadmap to Climate Neutrality
[CO2 emissions in kt, Scope 1 + 2]
SGL Carbon aims to reduce not only the CO2 emissions that can be directly influenced, but also those of the upstream and downstream value chain. Therefore, a global reduction target for Scope 3 emissions is to be adopted before the end of 2022.
SGL Carbon has been offering a CO2-reduced SIGRAFIL® carbon fiber since March 2024. The use of biomass as an energy source for steam generation and the consistent purchase of electricity from renewable energies allow the CO2 footprint to be reduced by up to 50%. As a result, 4000 tons of 50k carbon fibres can be produced in our own value chain at the precursor site in Lavradio, Portugal and in Moses Lake, Washington State. Optionally, bio-based acrylonitrile can be selected as a raw material, which can further reduce the CO2 footprint.
Energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions
| Environmental data | 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| Energy consumption 1) | ||||
| in gigawatt hours (GWh) | 1,169 | 1,301 | -10% | |
| thereof oil and gas | 427 | 468 | -9% | |
| thereof electricity | 519 | 592 | -12% | |
| thereof steam | 223 | 241 | -7% | |
in relation to economic output (GWh per €1.0m sales revenue) 2) | 1.07 | 1.15 | -7% | |
CO2-emissions3) | ||||
| in thousands of tons (kt) | 295 | 326 | -10% | |
| thereof direct | 79 | 86 | -8% | |
| thereof indirect | 216 | 240 | -10% | |
in relation to economic output (kt per €1.0m sales revenue) 2) | 0.27 | 0.29 | -7% | |
“B” rating in the CDP Climate Change Questionnaire 2023 (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project)
Water and waste management
During the production of our products carbon waste and various residual materials are generated. Both carbon and the residual materials that accrue in the production process stages are recycled to a large extent for ecological and economic reasons. Thereby, for example, recycled carbon fibers can be used as nonwoven textiles for automotive production or ground graphite residues can be added directly back into the production process.
We require water, among other things, for cooling production plants, for steam production and for isostatic graphite forming (pressing process). To reduce our water withdrawal, SGL Carbon relies on secondary circuits and recooling systems, resulting in 810,000 m3 (approx. 13%) less water withdrawn in 2022.
Water requirement and waste volume
| Environmental data | 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| Water requirements 1) | ||||
| Total (millions m3) | 5.41 | 5.44 | -1% | |
| thereof from Company wells | 3.31 | 3.40 | -3% | |
| thereof from rivers | 0.59 | 0.58 | 2% | |
| thereof from public water supply | 1.51 | 1.46 | 3% | |
in relation to economic output (m3 per €1,000 sales) 2) | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4% | |
Waste volume 1) | ||||
| in thousands of tons (kt) | 26.5 | 24.8 | 7% | |
| thereof hazardous waste | 3.4 | 3.6 | -6% | |
in relation to economic output (t per €1.0m sales) 2) | 24.3 | 21.8 | 11% | |
