Philips transforming healthcare with responsible and sustainable innovations, delivering better care for more people

“We are proud of the progress we made in 2024, executing our focused strategy to improve people’s health and well-being, creating sustainable long-term business value for all our stakeholders,” says Marnix van Ginneken, member of Royal Philips’ Board of Management. “Our sustainability-led partnerships with customers and suppliers highlight the potential for significant cost savings, improvements in energy efficiency and expanding access to care in and outside the hospital, while the company continues to explore ways to provide consumers with greater choices to live sustainably.”

Improving healthcare for patients, people and planet

For the first time, 2024 saw Philips achieve 100% EcoDesigned new product introductions (NPIs). Meeting growing customer demand to support their environmental ambitions, Philips EcoDesigned products are designed to increase energy efficiency, avoid the use of hazardous substances, optimize the use of materials and improve packaging across the product life cycle. These measures are driving significant and systemic changes in healthcare, providing safe, efficient and effective methods of care, while often bringing down costs.

Philips is focused on delivering meaningful innovations and teaming up with partners to improve and expand healthcare delivery with lower carbon emissions. In 2024, Philips grew its portfolio of innovative, energy-efficient and, increasingly, compact and lightweight solutions, while scaling the adoption of circular practices to reduce material use and waste in the healthcare value chain.

Philips introduced helium-free operations in MRI, combining compact and lightweight design, for increased flexibility and ease of installation in difficult and remote locations, contributing to wider access to advanced MRI. Its PowerSave+ feature ensures additional energy savings by switching automatically to stand-by mode within 30 minutes of idle time. MRI scanners equipped with Philips’ BlueSeal magnet technology have so far saved more than 2.75 million liters of helium since 2018, eliminating the need for helium refills – a scarce resource – even in the event of a shutdown. This ensures long-term reliability and reduced environmental impact.

In the Personal Health segment, the expansion of the Philips Refurb Edition and local takeback systems across select European markets gave toothbrushes and shavers a second life while supporting consumers in making sustainable choices.

CO₂ emissions across Philips’ operations, its logistics and its full value chain were significantly reduced, thanks to low-carbon energy alternatives and optimized planning. Driven by the company’s supplier sustainability program, 48% of all purchases (by spend) in 2024 came from suppliers with science-based climate targets – up from 46% in 2023. Collaboration with suppliers also resulted in better continuous improvement skills, with a positive knock-on effect on overall quality and cost management.

Philips continues to team up with customers across the world, to enable better health outcomes and address pressing challenges, including cost of care, staff shortages and growing health disparities and reduce their environmental impact at the same time.
 

• A 2024 analysis confirmed that the collaboration with Champalimaud Foundation (Portugal) achieved a 24% emissions reduction per exam in its radiology and nuclear medicine department in the first year of the partnership. 
• County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (UK) with support from Philips, identified key areas where sustainability could be enhanced in ICU care, everything from discharging patients sooner to reducing waste in the supply chain, training staff and refurbishing buildings. Critical care was strategically chosen as a focus area as, per patient, it is a high consumer of electricity and single use items and is one of the most expensive types of care. The recommendations will now serve as a blueprint for further change and targeted improvements to further enhance critical care.
• A cradle-to-grave analysis of hospital-based radiology services, together with the Department of Radiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US), found the energy consumption from imaging equipment accounted for more than 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis also shed light on areas of focus for future evidence-based decarbonization strategies.