The SBTi is a partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It promotes best practices for large-scale climate action in the private sector. The SBTi asks companies to set emissions reduction targets for 3 scopes:

• Scope 1 includes all direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, such as business travel in company cars or the combustion of fuels in heating systems.
• Scope 2 includes all indirect emissions from the production of purchased energy consumed by the company.
• Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions within the supply chain, encompassing upstream processes during the production of raw materials, and downstream processes such as the distribution, use and end-of-life treatment of products.

INTEGRA has pledged to:

• reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46 percent by 2031, from a 2021 base year
• increase our use of renewable electricity from 48 percent in 2021 to 100 percent by 2030
• reduce our scope 3 emissions by 52 percent per revenue by 2029, from a 2019 base year

The myclimate foundation supports us in continuously monitoring the impact of our global operations, so that we can see where we stand regarding our emissions reduction targets. Reports detailing our annual greenhouse gas emissions are available from 2019 onwards, and the latest report for 2024 was released this summer. The report shows that we have already reduced our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 57 percent since 2021 (Figure 1), surpassing the target that we originally set for 2031.

This good news doesn't mean that we'll stop implementing additional measures to further reduce these emissions. We're planning to:

• Convert our vehicle fleet to electric cars. We have started purchasing electric cars, but converting our entire fleet has not yet been possible, as our sales staff working remotely often do not have charging facilities at home.
• Eliminate the use of natural gas for heating. This has not yet been possible in the US, and will take a while to be implemented, as it requires the construction of a new production facility – a project that will take several years to complete.
• Use 100 percent renewable electricity. Building the new INTEGRA campus at our headquarters in Zizers, Switzerland, made a significant contribution to our sustainability goals. Its 3,827 m2 photovoltaic system has helped to increase the proportion of renewable electricity we use, from 86 percent in 2023 to 98 percent in 2024. Only 2 percent of our electricity now comes from non-renewable sources – our sales offices in some subsidiaries cannot choose their own electricity providers due to local legislation – but we will continue to work on switching away from non-renewable energy sources wherever possible to move towards our 100 percent target.

Reaching our scope 3 target is the most important goal for us, as 97 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions are scope 3 emissions. The graph below (Figure 2) shows that we're on track to reach this target too, and we’ve already reduced our emissions by 28 percent from 2019 to 2024.

As you can see from Figure 3, our emissions hotspots in the value chain are product materials and transport. We've been working for several years to reduce the amount of plastic used in our consumables product range; introducing racks with 384 pipette tips instead of only 96, reagent reservoirs with reusable bases, GREEN CHOICE refill inserts and ECO racks for handheld pipettes. For the near future, we have set ourselves the goal of gradually producing fossil-free pipette tip racks by using recycled or bio-based materials, which will further reduce our carbon footprint. Stay tuned for updates on this!

To reduce our transport emissions, we have reduced air freight from our Swiss and US production sites to subsidiaries by more than 280,000 t/km from 2023 to 2024. We are also working to further our reliance on air freight through proactive measures including improved production planning, increased inventory levels and accurate data collection, as well as ensuring that no shipping space is wasted, leading to more efficient fuel usage. Moreover, in 2024, we started producing pipette tips for European customers in Switzerland instead of in the US. This will help us to reduce transport emissions by an estimated 26 percent once we've ramped up production to full capacity.

Take a look at our sustainability page to learn more about INTEGRA’s initiatives and future plans.