Waters Shares Update on Sustainability, DEI Goals

Earlier this month, Waters Corporation released a comprehensive report outlining its progress toward its sustainability goals, reducing its environmental impact (1). The company, which is based in Milford, Massachusetts, set sustainability goals in 2022 that it has since been working toward hitting.

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“We are making strong progress towards reducing our environmental impact, including increased renewable energy procurement, and we achieved our greenhouse gas reduction target two years early,” said Udit Batra, President and CEO of Waters Corporation, in a press release about the report. “Our Waters Student Academy continued to advance STEM education in underserved communities, fostering a more equitable future workforce. Strong governance remains central to our operations, and we were honored to be recognized as the 2024 Public Company Board of the Year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, New England Chapter,” he said.

Sustainability and green chemistry have become a big focus for analytical science companies as industries strive to reduce environmental impact and align with global green initiatives. The 12 principles of green chemistry were developed by Paul Anastas and John Warner in 1998 (2), followed by the 12 principles of green analytical chemistry (GAC) from Agnieszka Gałuszka et al. in 2013 (3). Broadly speaking these principles emphasize waste reduction, energy efficiency, and the use of safer, renewable materials throughout analytical processes.

The analytical science industry is integrating these principles by developing eco-friendly methods, optimizing instrumentation for minimal reagent consumption, and adopting practices that prioritize the environment. At the recent International Symposium on Chromatography (ISC) conference in Liverpool, UK, Warner spoke about the challenges facing both industry and academia and emphasized the need for new technologies to handle the complex samples being analyzed.

“There is a pathological pragmatism to green chemistry. We can’t do it just by wanting to; we must teach the next generation,” Warner said. “None of this can happen without the invention of new sustainable separation technologies”(4).

Customers are also doing their part to drive sustainability forward; laboratories have their own set of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and they are holding analytical companies to account. The Water’s report highlighted the company’sprogress in reducing its environmental footprint. Waters reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 36% from its 2016 baseline, surpassing its original target of 35% two years ahead of schedule. In addition, Waters has halved its landfill waste compared to 2019 levels, achieving its 2025 goal early and paving the way for zero waste to landfill by 2030.

Company efforts to reduce water use have been successful, with a 29% reduction since 2019. These results stem from infrastructure and manufacturing improvements across the company’s global sites. In line with its long-term sustainability vision, Waters has committed to setting science-based targets to limit global warming, in support of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) (5).

The company highlighted its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals in the report. The report highlighted that 77% of candidates for jobs are from underrepresented groups. The Waters Student Academy (WSA) program is one such avenue it has utilized to nurture talent; nearly 400 students from underrepresented communities have participated in the program, with 36 summer interns involved in 2023–an increase from 15 in 2022. To help develop future talent, the company launched its University Pathways Program, designed to provide mentorship, career development, and educational support to students. This initiative aims to create a pipeline of diverse professionals, representative of the society we live in and equipped to go out into the STEM workforce.

Waters also emphasized its strong governance practices, which has earned the company recognition as the 2024 Public Company Board of the Year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, New England Chapter (6). The board continue to report in line with industry frameworks, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) (7), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) (8), and United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (9).

References

(1) Waters, 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report. https://www.waters.com/content/dam/waters/en/library/corporate/esg-reports/2024/2024-Environmental-Social-and-Governance-Report.pdf (accessed 2024-12-18).

(2) Anastas, P.T.; Warner, J.C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice; Oxford University Press, 1998.

(3) Gałuszka, A.; Migaszewski, Z.; Namieśnik, J. The 12 Principles of Green Analytical Chemistry and the SIGNIFICANCE Mnemonic of Green Analytical Practices. Trends Analyt. Chem. 2013, 50, 78–84. DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2013.04.010

(4) Hroncich, C. Green Chemistry Highlighted During International Symposium on Chromatography. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/green-chemistry-highlighted-during-isc-2024 (accessed 2024-12-20).

(5) Science Based Targets. https://sciencebasedtargets.org (accessed 2024-12-18).

(6) NACD New England Chapter. https://www.nacdonline.org/new-england/ (accessed 2024-12-18).

(7) IFRS Foundation. https://www.ifrs.org/sustainability/tcfd/ (accessed 2024-12-18).

(8) SASB Standards. https://sasb.ifrs.org (accessed 2024-12-18).

(9) United Nations, The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). https://sdgs.un.org/statements/global-reporting-initiative-gri-15214(accessed 2024-12-18).