Environment

The environmental management policy at Asklepios aims to reduce the negative impacts of our business activities on the environment, thereby making a contribution to environmental and climate protection. In 2023, we continued to work on the topic areas of energy and emissions identified in the materiality analysis and on the additional topics of waste and water consumption that are reported on a voluntary basis. To optimise our environmental management in these areas, we are automating the compilation of our key figures so that we can systematically pursue our goals and explain our progress transparently in the future.

Overall responsibility for environmental management rests with the Asklepios Management Board. The ESG Board, which was established in 2021 and meets as part of the regular Management Board meetings, is responsible for strategic organisation and project management. The Service Technology division handles strategic and operational environmental management centrally. After projects have been approved by the ESG Board, the technical management at the respective healthcare facilities implements the approved measures. Professional support with specific questions is provided by the Service Technology and Purchasing & Supply divisions. Technical management monitors the operation of all equipment and devices. It also oversees various construction and renovation projects. In relation to the latter, advice is given by the Group Architecture and Construction division, which is also responsible for developing company-wide standards for new buildings and renovations.

Reducing CO₂ emissions

As a healthcare group, Asklepios is aware of its responsibility to protect and conserve natural resources. One major lever here is energy-efficient, low-emission operation of our 164 healthcare facilities. Central goals in order to continuously reduce CO₂ emissions are reducing energy consumption and increasing the purchase of energy from renewable sources. We want to achieve this through measures such as renovations to improve energy efficiency and by reducing our heat consumption.

Our sustainability activities in the area of energy and emissions are based on an intelligent, comprehensive energy and building management system. We conducted the last inspections of all hospitals in 2023. The software has been implemented successfully, and employees are being trained at the same time. In 2024, meters will be fitted and displayed in the Asklepios infrastructure – individually in coordination with the technical management at the hospitals.

In five steps, we want to leverage the greatest CO₂ reduction potential without impairing our security of supply:

Carbon footprint for Scope 1 and 2

We are aware that having a data pool that is as exact as possible forms the basis for all measures to save CO₂. For this reason, we prepared a CO₂ assessment at Group level in 2021. In the first step, CO₂ emissions in Scope 1 (direct emissions, e.g. from boilers, cogeneration plants, technical and medical gases and the vehicle fleet) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from external procurement of energy) were calculated. In the second step, we want to design and continuously implement detailed measures on this basis in order to reduce our CO₂ footprint (Scope 1 and Scope 2) verifiably. The collection of data on Scope 1 and 2 emissions laid the foundations to be able to fulfil our responsibility for climate protection in the future.

CO₂ reduction measures at many locations

In the 2023 financial year, we once again examined the locations for savings and efficiency potential. This work forms the basis for the implementation of further energy efficiency measures at the hospitals. We are continuing to focus on three areas that offer high savings potential: lighting, ventilation and heating technology. Based on this, we have derived recommendations and actions that have been implemented at numerous locations.

Recommended actions for employees

An information campaign was launched again this year to promote responsible use of resources among our employees. Posters were put up in the hospitals and stickers were distributed.

Reducing waste

As a hospital operator, we often use sterile instruments and disposable materials due to the strict hygiene requirements that apply in our sector, which leads to high material consumption. In addition, the delivery of food to our patients also results in large quantities of food waste, which adds to our overall waste volumes. Since we have a responsibility to conserve resources as much as possible throughout the Group, we have defined the reduction of waste as an important sustainability topic for us.

Promoting the circular economy in our own surgical instruments workshop

Since 2021, the company ELAN Arzt- und Klinikservice GmbH has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Asklepios. The surgical instruments workshop carries out all repairs on surgical instruments, thereby contributing significantly to keeping them in circulation for longer. In addition to looking after external customers, ELAN supports all Asklepios hospitals throughout Germany, repairing between 20,000 and 25,000 instruments a year.

In order to conserve resources as much as possible when transporting the instruments, reusable transport cases are almost exclusively used when collecting and delivering the medical products, thereby avoiding (throwaway) secondary packaging. For smaller deliveries, ELAN also works with boxes and padding materials that can be used multiple times.