Evaluating a company's impact (the case of Illumina)

This week’s read time: 3 minutes

You are reading Green Digest Impact, a bi-weekly newsletter that provides in-depth analyses of companies’ environmental and social impact.

OUR APPROACH

Central to our narrative is the principle of double-materiality, which recognizes that a company's impact is twofold: it affects both the environment and society at large, and in turn, these external factors influence the company's financial and operational performance.

While traditional ESG assessments focus on the latter, we aim to examine companies' direct impacts on these factors. In pursuit of this, we introduce a unique scoring system that quantifies a company's impact.

The insights and analyses presented in Green Digest Impact are brought to you by a partnership between Green Digest and Impaakt, a Swiss-based impact data provider. Contact Impaakt here to explore how they can assist you.

PRESENTED BY FINANCIAL TIMES

FT Climate & Impact Summit Europe

The Financial Times’ Climate & Impact Summit is the platform dedicated to accelerating progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Join influential leaders in business, finance, and policy to learn how to manage climate risk, meet tightening sustainability standards and achieve your net-zero targets with confidence. Designed to drive meaningful progress through collaboration, innovation, and investment— be empowered to create measurable impact.

Register now and save 20% on in-person and digital passes with code: GREENDIGEST

THIS WEEK’S COMPANY

Illumina

This week, we dive deep into Illumina’s environmental and social impact.

Illumina is a leading company specializing in genomic sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers across 160+ countries, including top academic institutions, pharma companies, research labs, and hospitals worldwide.

Some interesting facts:

• Illumina’s technology is behind more than 90% of all DNA data ever sequenced.

• In 2003, sequencing a human genome cost nearly $3 billion. Illumina brought that cost down to under $200 with its NovaSeq X series machine, enabling mass-scale sequencing and personalized medicine.

COMPANY’S IMPACT

Illumina’s overall impact score

Illumina has a general impact score of +2.78 (on a scale from -5 to +5). Its impact is spread across eight European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) topics, split between positive and negative analyses.

In the socio-economic sphere,

Illumina dominates the clinical genomics market, generating over 90% of the world’s sequencing data. Its technology underpins critical applications in cancer research, reproductive health, and rare genetic diseases, supported by a robust portfolio of approximately 2,000 instruments and consumables. These tools enable rapid, accurate, and scalable genomic analysis, playing a vital role in advancing precision medicine.

With a workforce of 9,300 employees across 165 countries, Illumina also acts as a key economic driver in local and regional healthcare ecosystems. By equipping labs and institutions worldwide, it strengthens global healthcare infrastructure, helps close global health gaps and accelerates access to life-saving diagnostics and treatment.

However, Illumina navigates complex legal landscapes, including ongoing patent disputes, such as a $333 million infringement judgment, and antitrust challenges related to its market dominance and acquisition of Grail, a biotech company.

Environmentally,

Illumina has an annual carbon footprint of over 338,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, comparable to the annual electricity usage of around 70,500 homes. Further, Illumina withdraws 277,000 m³ of water, of which only 3.6% is recycled. It withdraws 49% of its water in water-stressed regions. Furthermore, it generates over 7,300 tonnes of waste, of which around 36% is sent to landfills. Additionally, the company generates an estimated 2,000 tonnes of electronic, paper and plastic waste.

_{*The impact score is current as of April 2025 and may be subject to changes as it is continuously updated.
**You can find details about the scoring methodology here and the information sources here.}

PRESENTED BY GRI

Boost your sustainability career with the GRI Academy! The GRI Academy is the world’s number 1 training provider for sustainability reporting and offers online, self-paced courses on the most recent developments in the field.

 Start learning today and take your skills to the next level.

SCORES BY ESRS

Illumina’s impact scores by ESRS topics

Positively (and by weight), the company scores the highest in S4 - Consumers and end-users (+4.35), followed by S1 - Own Workforce (+1.69) and G1 - Business Conduct (+2.43).

Negatively, the company scores the worst in E5 - Resource Use and Circular Economy (-2.33), followed by E1 - Climate Change (-2.58) and E3 - Water and Marine Resources (-2.96).

*the analysis takes into account the weight and impact materiality of each topic

CONCLUSION

Materiality Map & Final Words

So, Illumina’s key social and environmental impact lies in …

its role as a global leader in genomic research and clinical applications, providing innovative solutions to millions of people worldwide. By serving a diverse range of customers, Illumina's operations contribute significantly to advancements in healthcare and medical research.

However, the company faces significant environmental challenges, including a substantial carbon footprint, considerable water usage in water-stressed regions, and waste management issues. 

Illumina's overall impact score of +2.78 reflects its contributions to advancing genomic research and healthcare, balanced against concerns over environmental sustainability challenges, and legal challenges related to its market dominance and patent disputes.

If you’d like to delve deeper into Illumina’s impact, you can explore it here.

If you'd like to learn more about the scoring methodology, you can do so here.

Do you have a specific company you'd like us to cover? Send your suggestions to [email protected]

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 1,000,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

Sign up to start learning.

PARTNER WITH US

Increase your brand awareness and visibility by reaching the right audience and target market. Showcase your company, solutions, services, products, reports, surveys, events, or other content in front of our highly targeted audience of +4,000 Sustainability & ESG professionals. Contact us at [email protected] if you think we can partner in some way.