Living life to the fullest with dialysis
Growing up with parenteral nutrition
Paul, the four-legged therapist
The History of Dialysis
Serving patients in Swaziland
Using protons to take on cancer
A little heart at the center of a complex surgery
On duty in disaster zones
More ‘Quality of Life’ in clinics
Ready to help the littlest ones
"I want to help others, so they won’t give up"
From a local pharmacy to a global corporation
The four Fresenius business segments manage environmental matters differently to meet their individual business requirements. Therefore, we present the corresponding environmental management approaches separately for each business segment.
Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius Kabi, and Fresenius Vamed use the ISO 14001 standard as the basis for their environmental management and have locations certified according to this standard. Furthermore, they have certified locations according to the energy management standard ISO 50001.
Energy consumption, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) data are collected in all business segments. To comply with the interests of external stakeholders, we have been reporting key figures1 since 2017. External stakeholders, such as investors and environmental associations, frequently inquire about information on waste and effluents for the Group. Therefore, we also include information on these topics.
Water is an important resource for all of the four Fresenius business segments. Fresenius operates in highly regulated markets with regard to hygiene, sterility, and product quality. Water used in our health care facilities and production sites has to meet regulatory requirements. To safeguard our patients’ and employees’ health, we have to ensure that adequate management and control systems are in place.
Water management and water treatment is coordinated and controlled locally within the Fresenius Group. The business segments have to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. In fiscal year 2018, Fresenius1 consumed a total of approximately 56 million m³ of water. The same applies to wastewater: the business segments are expected to treat wastewater from production or health care facilities in compliance with local laws and regulations and implement relevant management provisions, if necessary.
Fresenius Group1 water consumption
| m3 in millions | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Fresenius Medical Care | 41.8 | n. a. | n. a. |
| Fresenius Kabi | 9.7 | 9.8 | 9.8 |
| Fresenius Helios | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| Fresenius Vamed | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Total | 55.9 | n. a. | n. a. |
Production processes and patient treatments in hospitals or other health care facilities require a high amount of energy. The structural condition of health care facilities also influences energy consumption. Fresenius continuously invests in environmental protection through structural measures, such as new construction projects and modernizations in line with the latest standards of efficient heat insulation and applicable energy savings regulations. In fiscal year 2018, Fresenius1 consumed a total of approximately 5.3 million MWh of energy. As with water consumption, our patients’ well-being and product safety are the focus of energy management. Safe and uninterruptible power supply is therefore a top priority. Measures for saving energy are always considered with the utmost care. We continually optimize our energy procurement and generate energy ourselves at numerous locations. This makes us independent and shall secure the energy supply in the long term.
Fresenius Group1 energy consumption
| MWh in millions | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Fresenius Medical Care | 2.35 | n. a. | n. a. |
| Fresenius Kabi | 1.65 | 1.57 | 1.49 |
| Fresenius Helios | 1.14 | 0.95 | 0.96 |
| Fresenius Vamed | 0.16 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Total | 5.30 | n. a. | n. a. |
In fiscal year 2018, Fresenius1 caused a total of 1,523 thousand t CO2 equivalents.
Greenhouse gas emissions Fresenius Group1, Scope 1 and 2
| tCO2 equivalents in thousands | 2018 | 2017 | |
| Fresenius Medical Care | Scope 1 | 218 | n. a. |
| Scope 2 | 548 | n. a. | |
| Fresenius Kabi | Scope 1 | 169 | 174 |
| Scope 2 | 255 | 248 | |
| Fresenius Helios | Scope 1 | 114 | 103 |
| Scope 2 | 182 | 152 | |
| Fresenius Vamed | Scope 1 | 18 | 3 |
| Scope 2 | 19 | 6 | |
| Total | Scope 1 | 519 | n. a. |
| Scope 2 | 1,004 | n. a. |
In the health care industry, waste is a strictly regulated factor. All Fresenius locations have to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations and also to global or local standard operating procedures and environmental management provisions. There are important interfaces between professional, safe disposal and the requirements for hygiene and sterility in production processes and hospital treatments. This ranges from the selection of suitable disposal containers, cleaning, and sterilization procedures to the occupational safety of our employees when disposing of hazardous – e.g. infectious – waste.
Where necessary, business segments lay down specific rules and requirements in internal guidelines, training, and controls for our employees, for example in the area of hygiene in our acute care clinics.
For more information about environmental management see the Non-financial Report.
1 Fresenius Medical Care figures include data on energy and water consumption provided by GMQ-coordinated manufacturing sites as well as data on electricity and water consumption from dialysis centers. Greenhouse gases are calculated based on energy data. Due to the timing of this publication and the availability of data sources such as energy or water bills, the company has performed a limited amount of extrapolations to complete this reporting year’s dataset. The data from Fresenius Helios contain all company-owned hospitals in Germany and Spain. Fresenius Kabi’s data include all facilities worldwide. Fresenius Vamed’s data include all fully consolidated health care facilities, and as of 2018 the German post-acute care business transferred from Fresenius Helios to Fresenius Vamed.
