Sustainability
Being a force for positive change
Smith+Nephew's purpose of Life Unlimited drives all that we do to restore patients' bodies and self-belief.
We believe that this purpose applies not just to the benefits that our products deliver to patients, but also to the wider health of the planet and society.
Our sustainability strategy
Our sustainability strategy is built on our purpose - Life Unlimited, our business strategy and our culture pillars of Care, Collaboration and Courage.
It is designed to help us grow together; not just as a Company, but as a global team, and to do so in an efficient and effective way.
As a profit-seeking enterprise, our challenge is to focus our efforts on meeting our economic objectives while at the same time optimising the social impact and reducing the environmental impact of our work.
Our manufacturing sites maintain appropriate establishment registrations with the USFDA, ISO 13485 certifications for medical device manufacturing and ISO 9001 certifications for worldwide distribution facilities, as well as CE Mark and 510(K) certifications.
We have developed an overview of our net zero transition plan, which is based on the UK Transition Plan Taskforce Disclosure Framework issued in October 2023. This will be updated periodically as we progress against our milestones.
Our impact in 2024
Our sustainability strategy is supported by three strategic pillars that define our priorities: People, Planet and Product.
People
Creating a lasting positive impact on our employees and communities.
Our objectives:
- Belonging - empowering and promoting the inclusion of all.
- Volunteering - providing eight hours of paid volunteer time to all employees.
- Giving - improving patients' lives through product donations to under-served communities.
- Health, safety and wellbeing - maintaining an annual Total Incident Rate (TIR) of less than 0.5 and Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of less than 0.1.
Planet
Working to reduce our impact on the environment.
Our objectives:
- Climate change - Achieving net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHGs by 2040 and Scope 3 GHGs by 2045.
- Waste - Achieving zero waste to landfill* at our facilities in Memphis, US, and Malaysia by 2025 and all of our strategic manufacturing facilities by 2030.
- Water - Conserving water throughout our business processes.
*We define zero waste to landfill as a landfill diversion rate of 90% or greater.
Product
Innovating sustainably across the value chain.
Our objectives:
- Product design - including a sustainability review in development for all new products and product acquisitions.
- Sustainable packaging - reducing our packaging, and designing with reusable, recyclable and/or renewable resources.
- Supplier engagement - completing a focused Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) risk-based due diligence of our Tier 1 suppliers annually.
External recognition
We are proud to have maintained our listing on a number of high profile and prestigious socially responsible investor and sustainability indices.