Earth Day 2024: Coherent Corp. Announces Milestones in Its Sustainability Journey

PITTSBURGH, April 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – In support of Earth Day 2024, Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR), a global leader in materials, networking, and lasers, announced today that the company is now obtaining approximately 70% of its global electricity needs from renewable energy sources. In total, this represents over 500 million kWh of renewable electricity per year, thereby avoiding more than 250,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

Coherent has set as a top priority to reduce its carbon footprint across its global operations. In December 2023, the company announced a commitment to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and  Scope 2 emissions by fiscal year 2040. Continuing to increase the use of renewable electricity is an important lever to achieve that commitment.

“At Coherent, sustainability is an all-hands issue. We encourage -- in fact, we expect -- every one of our ~25,000 employees to participate and contribute to the Coherent Lean System through initiatives that attack waste in all of its forms across our enterprise,” said Tim Challingsworth, Chief Sustainability Officer. “Even better than using renewable energy is using less energy by training and certifying our employees across several tiers of Lean Six Sigma certifications that focus on projects to identify and eliminate waste in our processes. Driving our Lean principles is intimately intertwined with our sustainability ambitions,” he said.

Since its inception in 2023, the Coherent Lean System has completed projects that will result in 2.5 million kWh of energy savings per year. Coherent is also working to eliminate fossil fuel usage in its facilities. For example, its Highyag facility in Kleinmachnow, Germany, installed a heat pump in 2023 to help reduce Scope 1 gas emissions and set a goal to decrease gas emissions by 65% in CY2024.

Coherent is also proud to announce its membership in the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), effective February 2024. The RBA is the world’s largest industry coalition dedicated to responsible business conduct in global supply chains. Coherent has operated according to the principles of the RBA in many locations for years and will now be expanding its RBA compliance program to all of its manufacturing sites globally and its supply chain.

Coherent is committed to human rights, sustainability, compliance, diversity, responsible business conduct, and adherence to high ethical standards, as highlighted in its 2023 ESG Report, released last December. The company’s sustainability vision is guided by the Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee of the Coherent Board of Directors.