WALTHAM, MA – Qioptiq Photonics GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Excelitas Technologies, has been certified as a carbon-neutral company in recognition of its efforts to mitigate climate change. The distinction is awarded to companies that address their carbon impact on three levels: determining the levels of a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based upon scientific, third-party assessment; putting controls in place to reduce carbon emissions; choosing to support carbon reduction projects to further offset the company's greenhouse impact.

All greenhouse gases emitted by Excelitas Technologies’ subsidiary Qioptiq Photonics GmbH & Co. KG in Germany were calculated by independent, third-party environmental sustainability consultants in accordance with the official Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidelines. The company has launched several initiatives to minimize its own GHG emissions. As part of energy management alone, more than 1180 tons of CO₂ have already been eliminated over the period from 2015 to 2019. Additional measures include photovoltaic systems for on-site renewable energy generation, e-charging stations for company and employee vehicles, the gradual conversion of the company's vehicle fleet to electric and hybrid vehicles, purchasing energy-efficient machinery and equipment, large-scale conversion to energy-efficient LED lighting, and reduction of disposable packaging materials in company cafeterias. The catalog of measures will be continuously reviewed and augmented moving forward.

To offset the remaining emissions that cannot be avoided, Excelitas purchased climate protection certificates for the year 2021 to support funding for the following projects: reforestation in Uruguay, forest protection in Brazil, and hydropower in Brazil. The projects are all certified by Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the most widely used voluntary GHG program.

“Climate change is a global issue and Excelitas has made this commitment in our German operations to contribute to sustainability and help reduce the global CO₂ output,” said Dr. Robert Vollmers, Excelitas Vice President Operations, Commercial Optics. “Projects in emerging and developing countries help to improve economy, social conditions and ecology, while also helping to realize the sustainability goals of the United Nations. For emerging and developing countries, emissions trading is a key driver for the transfer of clean technologies and sustainable economic development,” Vollmers continued.

According to the principle of the "Clean Development Mechanism" (CDM) described in the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gases that are emitted in one place on earth and cannot be avoided should be saved by climate protection projects in other places. To finance this objective, companies can purchase certificates for corresponding climate protection projects. Each certificate represents one ton of CO₂ saved by the respective project. There are numerous climate protection projects worldwide, most of which support renewable energy.

“Sustainability is critical to our global future,” said David Nislick, Excelitas Technologies CEO. “We have recognized that voluntary emission reductions and the compensation of unavoidable emissions are essential to effectively counteract climate change. And since tangible action is critical to global change, we are funding important climate work that honors our commitment to reducing carbon output and leading by responsible corporate citizenship.”

Visit http://www.excelitas.com to learn more.