Waters Corporation highlighted the company’s progress in reducing its environmental impact, becoming more representative of the society we live in, and continuing to enhance our long-term stakeholder value with good governance and effective oversight in its 2024 report.
Waters continues to reduce its environmental impact, be representative of society and enhance long-term stakeholder value.
“At Waters, we are committed to delivering shareholder value while making a positive impact on the world,” said Dr Udit Batra, President and CEO, Waters Corporation. “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. Additionally, 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 honoured to be recognised as the 2024 Public Company Board of the Year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, New England Chapter.”
Report Highlights
Waters continues to achieve meaningful progress against the updated sustainability goals it introduced in 2022. Highlights include:
Environmental
- Reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 36 per cent from a 2016 baseline, exceeding the company’s 35 per cent target, two years ahead of schedule.
- Achieved a 50 per cent decrease in landfill waste from a 2019 baseline, reaching the 2025 goal early and setting Waters on track for zero waste to landfills by 2030.
- Reduced water use intensity in business operations by 29 per cent from a 2019 baseline through infrastructure and manufacturing improvements across global facilities.
- Committed to set science-based emission reduction targets aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) criteria for a 1.5°C future.
Social
- Increased candidate diversity in recruitment by 6 per cent over 2022 baseline, ensuring 77 per cent of candidate slates had diverse representation in the recruitment pool.
- Expanded its Waters Student Academy (WSA) program to reach more students from communities that are historically underrepresented in STEM fields, reaching over 380 students, and doubling the number of WSA summer interns.
- Introduced the University Pathways Program, where students’ career development and education are supported while developing a more diverse talent pipeline.
Governance
- Named 2024 Public Company Board of the Year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, New England Chapter.
- Fostered robust Board engagement in enterprise risk management.
- Continued to report in alignment with industry frameworks, including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Recognition of sustainability efforts by third parties
Waters received 14 awards and recognitions for its environmental, social, and governance efforts since 2023. Highlights include Barron’s 2024 100 Most Sustainable Companies (US); My Green Lab Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency (ACT) Labels; Dow Jones Sustainability Index; Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index; Public Company Board of the Year from the National Association of Corporate Directors, New England Chapter; US News & World Report – Best Companies to Work for 2023-2024.