About the Sustainability Report

Reporting period

Annual reporting, December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024. The Sustainability Report 2024 was published together with the Annual Report on March 7, 2025, as a combined report.

System limitations

The management system as it relates to sustainability as well as all data specified is currently limited to 54 locations. This corresponds to a coverage level of 95% expressed in FTE terms. The greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions) of the locations not covered are considerably lower than 5% of the total emissions. Consolidation is carried out in accordance with the “financial control approach” of the GHG Protocol.

Method for calculating greenhouse gas emissions

The calculation of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3) is based on the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition). The GWP (Global Warming Potential) factors were adopted from the 6th IPCC Assessment Report (AR6). The GHG emissions were calculated with the help of the REGIS expert system and version 3.11 of the ecoinvent dataset (secondary data).

Scope 1

Scope 1 emissions were generated by the burning of natural gas, heating oil, propane, methanol, direct emissions from privately owned vehicles and operating materials (e.g. refrigerant losses).

Scope 2

Scope 2 emissions from electricity and district heating were calculated based on the market. In so doing, the purchase of certificates of origin, “Energy Attribute Certificates” (EACs) as well as any contract documents with energy suppliers regarding the energy mix purchased for each location were taken into consideration. In the event that certificates of origin were not available for the purchased energy, an appropriate country-specific residual mix or, if this was not available, the market mix was used in each instance. In addition, the location-related Scope 2 emissions were also calculated.

Scope 3

Scope 3 emissions were calculated in all categories using the secondary data in the ecoinvent dataset (average data method).

  • Category 1 – Purchased goods and services
    Emissions in this category were calculated based on purchased raw materials, trading goods, packaging and outsourced services.
  • Category 2 – Capital goods
    The annual expenditure in the various categories of property, plant and equipment was used to calculate these emissions. Every category of property, plant and equipment is linked to a defined activity basket and takes regional aspects into consideration.
  • Category 3 – Fuel and energy-related activities (not included in Scope 1 or 2)
    This category is based on energy-related data that has already been collected for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
  • Category 4 – Upstream transportation and distribution
    The emissions were calculated based on distance. In so doing, data on the transported weight, the distance and the means of transport for the upstream transportation was collected. In the event of incomplete data, the available data was extrapolated at a number of locations.
  • Category 5 – Waste generated in operations
    The calculation of the emissions in this category factored in the weight and type of all waste, including hazardous and non-hazardous waste, as well as various waste disposal methods such as recycling, incineration with and without energy recovery, and landfilling.
  • Category 6 – Business travel
    The emissions in this category were calculated based on distance. In so doing, both the distance and the means of transport used for business travel were taken into consideration.
  • Category 7 – Employee commuting
    The emissions were calculated based on distance in this category too. The distances covered by employees were extrapolated based on random samples and the number of FTEs.
  • Category 8 – Upstream leased assets
    The emissions in this category are already taken into consideration in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
  • Category 9 – Downstream transportation and distribution
    The emissions in this category were calculated in the same way as in category 4.
  • Category 10 – Processing of sold products
    Sold products are not processed further at the customer’s location. This category is not material.
  • Category 11 – Use of sold products
    Although most sold products do not require any energy during their use, the remaining products were analyzed to determine the lifespan of their rechargeable batteries/batteries and also their energy consumption during their service life with the customer. The calculated emissions were rounded due to modeling uncertainties.
  • Category 12 – End-of-life treatment of sold products
    Most of the products sold by the SFS Group can be recycled. Nevertheless, the emissions for this category were calculated based on the weight of the products, the materials contained in the products and the waste disposal methods, such as “waste-to-energy” for the respective end market. The calculated emissions were rounded due to modeling uncertainties.
  • Category 13 – Downstream leased assets
    This category is not material for SFS.
  • Category 14 – Franchises
    Not applicable, as the SFS Group does not have any franchises.
  • Category 15 – Investments
    Not applicable, as the SFS Group does not hold any substantial investments outside of the scope of consolidation.
  • Other Scope 3 emissions
    The road infrastructure was taken into consideration in this category. No separate data was collected for this purpose, as it was available in the secondary data used.

Restatements

In the current year under review, the following material restatements or changes were made compared to the 2023 reporting year:

  • Transparency on non-financial matters (Art. 964a-c of the Swiss Code of Obligations): A separate section on climate reporting in accordance with the requirements set out by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
  • Switch from using secondary data from ecoinvent’s v3.10 dataset to the v3.11 dataset
  • The data used to calculate Scope 3 emissions in categories 11 and 12 was only collected for the first time after the publication of the Annual Report 2023. The prior-year figures were added to this report

External assurance

No external assurance has been obtained for the Sustainability Report. The Compensation Report and Financial Report were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG as external auditors.

See the Compensation Report, Auditor’s Report and Financial Report, Auditor’s Report.

Contact

SFS Group Schweiz AG
Corporate Services
Iso Raunjak, Head of Corporate HR and Communications,
Member of the Group Executive Board
Rosenbergsaustrasse 8
CH-9435 Heerbrugg
T +41 71 727 51 51
sustainability@sfs.com