Environmental value*
Cradle-to-grave carbon footprint
Cradle-to-grave carbon footprint is an important measure of resource productivity. Carbon footprint per ton of sold product has reduced 7% since 2012. Emissions from our own production are 9% lower than in 2016.
We continued to work with our suppliers and have increased sales of paints with a lower carbon footprint in Asia.
For more details, see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements.
Energy
The energy we use at our sites contributes about 15% to our cradle-to-grave carbon footprint. Renewable energy is an important aspect of the improvements required to reduce our carbon footprint.
The proportion of renewable energy in our operations increased to 45%.
For more details, see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements.
Raw materials
A considerable proportion of our environmental footprint results from the raw materials we buy, with most of the bio-based materials exhibiting lower footprints.
In 2017, 11% of all our organic raw materials came from bio-based (renewable) sources.
For more details, see Note 6 of the Sustainability statements.
Operational eco-efficiency program
The focus of the operational eco-efficiency program is to increase efficiency in the use of raw materials and energy and decrease emissions and waste in our own operations. It is an important way to drive out cost. In 2017, we further improved our eco-efficiency, resulting in an improvement of 31% since 2009, with significant improvements on the individual eco-efficiency parameters, such as waste, VOC, carbon, NOx and SOx emissions.
For more details, see Note 7 of the Sustainability statements.
Waste
Effective raw material management helps to reduce waste in our manufacturing operations, while reducing both our environmental footprint and costs.
Our target is to drive towards “zero waste to landfill” and a program is being developed to achieve this with specific projects.
Total waste per ton of production generated and leaving our sites was down 5%, while total waste volume was down by 4%.
For more details, see Note 7 of the Sustainability statements.
*Including discontinued operations.
The carbon footprint of a product is the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused during a defined period, of the product lifecycle. It is expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents CO2(e) emitted.
The carbon footprint of a product is the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused during a defined period, of the product lifecycle. It is expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents CO2(e) emitted.
Refers to the eco-efficiency of our manufacturing operations. Our aim is to improve operational eco-efficiency by reducing the resources used and emissions/waste from our sites during the manufacture of our products.
We report emissions to air, land and water for those substances which may have an impact on people or the environment: CO2, NOx and SOx, VOCs, chemical oxygen demand, hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Definitions are in the Sustainability statements section.
Eco-efficiency means doing more with less; creating goods and services while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution.
Volatile organic compounds.