Environmental performance data

EN1 Use of hazardous substances (tons)

	2010	2009	2008
Phthalates – softener for PVC	31	16	25
PBB and PBDE – flame retardants in plastics	0	3.1	2.3
Lead in submarine cables	3,632	3,600	*6,596
Organic lead in polymers	52	24	36
Lead in other products, e.g. backup batteries and counterweights in robots	265	313	354
Cadmium in industrial batteries delivered to customers	1.7	2.2	2.0
Cadmium in rechargeable batteries	5.9	4.7	6.4
Cadmium in lead alloy	2.7	2.5	5.3
Cadmium in other uses	0.18	0.05	N/A
Mercury in products delivered to customers	0.038	0.011	0.015
SF6 insulation gas (inflow to ABB)	968	962	987
SF6 insulation gas (outflow from ABB)	959	951	969

* Increase due to higher business volume

Water

EN8 Water consumption

EN9 Water sources affected by withdrawal of water

EN10 Water recycled and reused

EN21 Total water discharge by quality and destination

EN25 Water bodies/habitats affected by water discharges and runoffs

Water withdrawals (kilotons)

	2010	2009	2008
Purchased from water companies	*3,300	*3,300	3,100
Groundwater extracted by ABB**	2,700	2,900	2,700
Surface water extracted by ABB**	2,900	2,700	2,800
Total water withdrawal	8,900	8,900	8,600
Water saved through recycling and reuse (kilotons)	3,000	800	900

*The figure is based on reported data from 87 percent of employees and an assumed
water consumption of 10 tons/year/employee for the remaining 13 percent of employees.
**Estimated (rounded) figures

ABB’s manufacturing processes do not use significant amounts of water, with extractions of groundwater and surface water used mainly for cooling purposes. None of these extractions caused significant changes to the water sources.

Approximately two-thirds of ABB’s manufacturing sites use water for process purposes. Thirty percent of the sites using process water use closed-loop processes, mainly for cooling systems, surface treatment processes and the production of electrical insulation paper. Excluding cooling water returned to the source of extraction, the use of closed-loop processes and reuse of waste water in other ways saved approximately 3,000 kilotons of water in 2010. In China, South Africa, Colombia and India, for example, water treated in ABB’s own treatment plants is reused for local irrigation and in sanitary services.

About 84 percent of plants discharge process water to the public sewers. About 13 percent discharge decontaminated process water via their own treatment plants. The remainder use water from local water sources, mainly for cooling water systems and test plants, which is then returned to these local water sources without any contamination. Two sites with their own treatment plants consider that their discharge of water affects the recipient, as the receiving bodies are near-permanently dry riverbeds.

Biodiversity and conservation

EN11 Land used in protected or high biodiversity value areas

EN12 Significant impacts on biodiversity in protected or high biodiversity value areas

EN13–15 Biodiversity and protected habitats

ABB's manufacturing and workshop facilities are not located in, or adjacent to, protected areas or areas of high biodiversity value, as defined in internationally recognized listings or national legislation or internationally recognized listings such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature Protected Areas Categories 1–4, world heritage sites or biosphere reserves. Nonetheless, ABB works to rehabilitate our own sites and some of our operations are working with partners to contribute to local biodiversity. For example, ABB in Taiwan focuses on wetland conservation, partnering with the Guandu Nature Park and Chouchai Wetland Park. Both parks are significant habitats and breeding grounds for a wide variety of bird species and ABB supports the rehabilitation and maintenance of these valuable sites.

At Grave Mountain in Georgia, U.S., ABB has made significant progress in rehabilitating a kyanite mine opened in the 1960s. The mining process created tailing ponds that could not support vegetation/ecological habitats, and also created acid mine runoff. Four tailings ponds covering 40 hectares of land have been rehabilitated.

Four series of wetlands were constructed to treat the acid mine runoff using a cutting edge approach. Through the addition of limestone and mushroom compost, water quality has been improved and natural plant life encouraged to return. The acid runoff from the mine now flows into the wetland where it is passively treated. The water discharged at the outfall is of good quality and does not disturb the downstream ecology. Today the mine is a showcase for responsible and sustainable mine reclamation.

Air emissions

EN19 Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (tons)

	2010	2009	2008
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)	786	782	909
Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC-Cl)	11	5	6

The major constituents of VOCs and VOC-Cls are xylene, thinner and perchloroethylene. Increases in 2010 were due to increased business volume involving certain processes. We expect to see reductions in VOC as the ABB low VOC paint program is implemented in the Transformers business unit.

EN20 Emissions of NOX and SOx (tons SO2 and NO2)

	2010	2009	2008
SOx from burning coal	0	0	0
SOx from burning oil	84	64	76
NOx from burning coal	0	0	0
NOx from burning oil	63	48	57
NOx from burning gas	92	90	90

These figures are for fossil fuels consumed in ABB premises for heating and process purposes.

Waste and recycling

EN2 Percentage of materials used that are recycled input materials

EN22 Waste

EN24 Handling of hazardous waste

EN27 Percentage of products reclaimable after use

	2010	2008	2007
Scrap material sent for recycling	135*	71	92
Other waste sent for recycling	44	46	47
General waste sent for disposal	38**	29**	35
Hazardous waste	9	6	7
Total waste	227*	153	182

*51 kilotons are scrap metals from several locations in South Africa that have now been consolidated to one site.
**The figure is based on reported data from 87 percent of employees and an assumed waste output of 0.33 tons/year/employee for the remaining 13 percent of employees.

In 2010, 79 percent of total waste was sent for recycling. Inhouse recycling, mainly of thermoplastics and packaging material, reduced the amount of waste by approximately 3.5 kilotons. Additionally, the lead used as counterweights for robots and the cadmium used in industrial batteries are recycled materials.

In 2010, ABB sent approximately nine kilotons of hazardous waste for disposal, up some 50 percent from 2009 mostly due to increased business volumes and plant refurbishments and consolidation. This waste was mostly used for heat recovery at specialized plants. ABB follows legal regulations to transport and dispose of hazardous waste only through officially authorized disposal agents.

ABB products contain mostly steel, copper, aluminum, oil and plastics. Approximately 90 percent of the material is reclaimable after the end of a product’s useful life. ABB enhances the ability to recycle by designing products that can be dismantled more easily, and by providing users with recycling instructions.

Environmental incidents and penalties

EN23 Numbers of significant spills

EN28 Significant fines for non-compliance

	2010	2009	2008
Oil spills	4	3	6
Chemical spills	0	0	1
Emissions to air	0	1	2
Others	3	0	3

Incidents were analyzed and adequate decontamination procedures were implemented to prevent any permanent contamination of soil and water due to these spills. Corrective actions, such as improved control systems, have been taken to reduce the risk of future spills.

During 2010, a $50,000 penalty was imposed for a spill from a coating process that occurred at a U.S. facility in 2009. The coating process has now been discontinued at that site.

EN30 Environmental protection expenditure and investments

For 2010, ABB’s expenditure on environmental management throughout its global sustainability affairs network was as follows:

Expenditure on environmental management	$ millions
Group level	10,250
Country level	5,100
Site level	3,850
Total	19,200

ABB limits the accounting of sustainability to the costs of implementing and maintaining environmental management systems to ISO 14001, health and safety management systems to OHSAS 18001, and running the sustainability network, including personnel costs and the cost of developing sustainability tools, education and training.

This does not include costs related to improvement projects. For example, the decision to invest in a new manufacturing process is the result of integrating many decisions in addition to environmental considerations.