Philips reports rising sales of green healthcare products

Philips has announced that it has made strong progress with its efforts to increase sales of its green products and improve the overall sustainability of the business.

The firm's green product sales came to 11.3 billion euros in 2012, representing 45 percent of its overall sales total, thus marking a key step towards meeting Philips' EcoVision business goals by 2015.

Its healthcare division drove the highest increase in nominal green product sales growth at 36 percent, thanks to the introduction of 16 new offerings that can reduce environmental impact while improving patient outcomes and expanding access to care.

For example, COCIR, Europe's coordinating committee for the radiological, electromedical and healthcare IT industry, recently chose Philips' magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems as being the industry frontrunner in terms of energy-efficient MRI.

Jim Andrew, Philips' chief strategy and innovation officer, said: "We are proud to report that today Philips improves the lives of every fourth person on earth and our ambition is to grow this target to three billion a year by 2025."

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Philips recorded a four percent year-on-year increase in healthcare sales, led by high-single-digit growth at home healthcare systems.