Our Environmental Goals
Reducing Our GHG Emissions
In order to meet our ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, we have set the following short-, medium-, and long-term environmental goals. We plan to reset our goals to include future acquisitions in the fiscal year following the year in which the acquisition(s) are consummated. Each business unit or site commits to these goals but decides for itself what measures need to be taken to achieve them.
Emissions
We are committed to establishing initiatives that contribute to global efforts to limit planetary warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Our short-, medium-, and long-term plans are as follows:
Short-term
(next 5 years)
Novanta published its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions for the first time in our 2021 ESG Report and pledged an aggregate 15% reduction in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emission intensity from our 2021 baseline by the year 2026 (both normalized to annual revenue and excluding future acquisitions).
In 2022, we achieved 14% reduction in GHG emission intensity (measured as metric ton of CO2e per million dollar of revenue) from our 2021 baseline on an Organic basis, including all the same sites as those within our 2021 reporting scope, i.e., all facilities with more than 10 people and without any sites from the two business acquisitions consummated in August 2021.
As a result of the inclusion of our 2021 acquisitions in our 2022 GHG emissions inventory, we are resetting our base year to 2022, which included both ATI Industrial Automation, Inc. (ATI) and Novanta Motion that we acquired in August 2021 as well as all small sites that had 10 people or less.
Our new goal is to pledge an aggregate 15% reduction in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emission intensity from our new 2022 baseline by the year 2027 (both normalized to annual revenue and excluding future acquisitions).
Medium-term
(5 to 15 years)
We plan to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by an average of 5% annually, on a rolling base year basis in case of any future business acquisitions or divestitures.
Long-term
(+15 years)
Our goal is to achieve a target of net zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Renewable Electricity Procurement Initiative
The quickest and most impactful way that Novanta can reduce our Scope 2 emissions is to switch from fossil fuel-based electricity sources to clean and renewable electricity sources.
- In 2021, we set the goal of sourcing at least 90% of our electricity consumption from clean or renewable sources at our manufacturing facilities. As we continue to work on this goal, we are facing availability limitations for renewable electricity at our international facilities in the current volatile energy market. At some locations, there are no quality and reliable opportunities available for us to procure renewable electricity. We will continue to seek and evaluate opportunities to purchase renewable electricity that meet our quality standards. Although we have not experienced material adverse financial impact from our renewable energy procurement to date, there is no assurance that the cost of renewable electricity will not become more significant in the future.
Waste Reduction Initiative
Our goal is to conserve natural resources by avoiding waste in the long term, thus promoting the protection of people and the environment.
- We will raise awareness of waste prevention and reduction with our customers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders.
- We will establish Avoid, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle programs at all sites.
- We intend to reduce waste sent to landfill by 2% per year.
Paper Reduction Initiative
Our goal is to track and reduce our paper consumption at our facilities. As we believe paper production and consumption have an impact on global warming, we have established paper use reduction programs.
- We will purchase recycled or eco-friendly paper where available. We intend to reduce the use of non-renewable and non-eco-friendly paper by 10% per year.
- We will expand our adoption of digital solutions as part of our initiative to reduce paper consumption.
