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To reduce our ecological footprint we are maintaining our focus on overall environmental performance improvement, driven by our EcoVision program.

We are committed to develop, promote and market more energy-efficient solutions for people in all markets. We address this challenge with our Green Products and Green Innovation.

We also seek to facilitate new solutions that will drive responsible energy practices, and have long focused on the energy efficiency of our products and production processes.

The significant issues for our company – and our industry – in the environmental area continue to be energy efficiency, chemical content of products, and collection and recycling. We remain committed to giving our full attention to these challenges.

Working with stakeholders, we aim to share expertise and co-create innovative solutions that will make a difference to future generations.

Optimizing our ecological footprint

Responsible corporations are taking decisive action to fight climate change and increase resource efficiency. And Philips is leading the way.

To help reduce global CO₂ emissions, companies can either focus on their own operations, for example by reducing energy and material consumption in their activities. Or, they can focus on making their products more ecologically efficient. At Philips we focus on both … and much more.

The key performance indicators of our EcoVision program reflect our holistic approach to sustainability. Two of these focus on optimizing our ecological footprint, namely ‘energy efficiency’ and ‘materials’.

Recognition of leadership

At all levels of our operations in 2011, we continued to monitor and minimize the CO₂ emissions resulting from our activities. As a result, in September, the independent not-for-profit organization Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) awarded us the top score of 99 (out of 100) for Carbon Disclosure and an ‘A’ for our overall Carbon Performance.

Our sustainability performance in 2011 also led to us regaining our sector and super-sector leadership in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Green Products and Green Innovation

In 2011 we continued our drive for Green Products – new products that are significantly better (by at least 10%) than either their Philips predecessor or their nearest competitor. Six specific areas are considered in the Green Product classification process: energy efficiency, packaging, hazardous substances, weight, recycling & disposal, and lifetime reliability.

One of the sustainability product highlights in 2011, addressing the subject of materials, was our launch of the world’s first ever recycled designer coffee machine: the SENSEO Viva Café Eco, which uses old electronic appliances to create a first-class coffee system. All outer plastic parts – except those that come into contact with the water or coffee – are made from up to 100% recycled content. The machine also has a five-minute auto shut-off for energy saving, and its packaging is made from 90% recycled cardboard.

Also last year, after 18 months of rigorous testing, the US Department of Energy awarded us the highly prestigious ‘L Prize’ for our LED replacement for the 60 W incandescent bulb. The Department calculated that if every 60 W incandescent bulb in the US was replaced with our 10 W prize winner, the nation would save USD 3.9 billion in one year and avoid 20 million tons of carbon emissions. This is comparable with the emission reduction that could be realized by shutting down 20 medium-size power stations.

Our InteliVue MX40 Patient Monitor and Trilogy home healthcare solution illustrate how our innovations are also significantly reducing energy usage in the hospital and home settings.

And to ensure our green pipeline remains well stocked, we invested some EUR 470 million in Green Innovation in 2011.

Greener business models

We are also creating innovative new business models that help improve our ecological footprint. For example, the ‘Pay per Lux’ lighting concept currently being trialed in the Netherlandsprovides companies with energy-saving, state-of-the-art lighting systems without any capital expenditure. It works like this: after installation, we retain ownership and maintenance of the lighting, and in return the customer pays only for the amount of light emitted. This encourages the deployment of energy-efficient products and advanced lighting controls.