Our Approach to Sustainability

Quality education empowers people to improve their political, social and economic situations. According to the United Nations it is a basic human right and a requirement for sustainable development. We contribute to this by continuously training our employees and through many forms of support for young scientists.

We believe, gender equality is not only a UN human right, it is also a lever for economic growth. It gives women better access to education, medical care and financial resources. We support equality in our own business activities and expect our business partners to behave accordingly.

In 2008, access to clean drinking water was recognized as a human right by the United Nations. Within the scope of our product stewardship, we try to keep the water consumption of our products as low as possible throughout their entire life cycle. We also make sure that our business partners also handle water and wastewater responsibly.

Both are an urgent sustainability goal, as more than 60% of all workers worldwide do not have an employment contract and fewer than 45% of all workers are employed on a full-time, permanent basis. Bad working conditions are often associated with poverty, discrimination and inequality and mainly affect groups of people such as women, people with a disability, young people and migrants. Therefore, at all process stages, we make sure that no human rights are endangered at any point within our supply chain.

This SDG aims to expand scientific research in all countries throughout the world. While Sartorius does not have a direct influence on the areas of infrastructure or sustainable industrialization, it does contribute in a wide variety of ways to achieve this innovation goal. By having our production sites serve as centers of competence, we develop scientific expertise at many sites across the globe. Our promotion of young people helps us spread and network the scientific basis worldwide and, as a result, strengthen future innovation activities.

For Sartorius, this means, among other things, the transition to a circular economy. Sterile plastic products are a key component of Sartorius’ product portfolio – for a good reason: the properties of these products are beneficial for the patients at the end of the supply chain, for the environment and for the basic availability and development of innovative medical care. At the same time, single-use products inevitably raise the question of the product’s end of life. We are addressing this issue and considering the end of life of our products as well as their overall ecological footprint.

Action to combat climate change is taken within the company and also in our supply chain. Human-induced climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. It requires action from everyone concerned, especially the private sector. A key issue is to reduce emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. We accept this responsibility within the scope of our climate strategy.

Partnerships to achieve aims are a standard approach for Sartorius. We especially strengthen our innovation activities through partnerships and cooperation agreements. Achieving sustainability targets requires a cooperation approach because they concern the entire supply chain and success can be achieved only through cooperation with customers, suppliers, contractual partners and science.