Barco reaches first target to reduce carbon footprint of own operations one year in advance

In 2016 Barco first set a number of very ambitious 5-year sustainability goals, to be established by 2020 (compared to 2015). The primary targets were reducing the carbon footprint of its operations by 20%, reducing the energy footprint of its products by 25%, and ensuring that at least 25% of new product releases received the Barco ECO label. The first of these goals have already been reached in fiscal year 2019. Next to good progress in the logistical footprint in the first years, strongly reduced business travel and a move of production activities to a more energy-efficient plant were the main drivers of 2019’s strong results.

Delivering on many fronts

Great results are created by great partnerships. That is why Barco assigned an internal taskforce and partnered with an (external) carbon footprinting expert to create a roadmap for the coming years. A first focus on logistics, resulting in a shift of transportation by boat instead of airplane, led to a strong reduction of Barco’s carbon footprint. In subsequent years, also the mobility and infrastructure pillars were tackled.

2019 was a very successful year for Barco. The company not only achieved great business results, but managed to do this while strongly reducing its carbon emissions in mobility and infrastructure, with a year-on-year reduction of 13% and 12% respectively compared to 2018. The main drivers are a strong reduction of business travel, and the centralization of manufacturing activities (including the relocation of production activities to the state-of-the-art factory in Kortrijk).

The graph below clearly shows the year-on-year reduction in carbon footprint, split into logistics, mobility and infrastructure.

Next mid and long term objectives

In 2019, Barco set again the focus on the mid and long terms, further sharpened its ambitions and set new targets for 2023. The objective is to improve on sustainability across the board. Meanwhile, Barco also decided to commit Science Based Targets as a way to further solidify its ambitious sustainability goals. Barco is joining the global movement of leading companies aligning their business with the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels for the best chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

“The good results achieved in recent years for sure is a great way forward in this process,” says Jan De Witte, CEO of Barco. “It clearly shows our ambition to reach our targets and establishes our leading role in the switch to sustainable business conduct. Sustainability is now an integral part of the Barco DNA.”

Barco’s Ecolabel: an industry first

In order to allow evaluating the ecological footprint of its products in a quantifiable and objective manner, Barco has developed a tool that grades its products according to their ecodesign performance. This gives customers an overview of environmental performance and encourages developers in Barco to make sustainable choices. The framework that has been used to validate the ecoscoring is defined in the ISO 14021 standard.

Products that are at the top of the ranking and thus have a lower environmental footprint can be marked with the ‘Barco Eco Product label’. The first products with this Eco Product label are already being shipped, including the 6MP diagnostic display, some ClickShare solutions and the Series 4 Projectors. It is Barco's ambition that by 2023, 70% of revenues will come from products with this Eco Product label, and 75% of products launched have this label.

About Barco
Barco designs technology to enable bright outcomes around the world. Seeing beyond the image, we develop visualization and collaboration solutions to help you work together, share insights, and wow audiences. Our focus is on three core markets: Enterprise (from meeting and control rooms to corporate spaces), Healthcare (from the radiology department to the operating room), and Entertainment (from movie theaters to live events and attractions).

For more information, visit us on www.barco.com, follow us on Twitter (@Barco), LinkedIn (Barco), YouTube (BarcoTV), or like us on Facebook

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