Renewable Energy
Energy use accounts for a large part of Elopak’s internal CO2 emissions and efforts to reduce energy consumption are a high priority. We are focusing on two key strategies on the path to a renewable energy future: energy efficiency measures across the company and reducing emissions from the energy we source.
In terms of energy efficiency, Elopak has improved significantly since the beginning of our reporting in 2008. The amount of energy used per produced carton has been reduced by 24% from 2008 to 2021. Our emission reduction targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, and through this program, further energy optimizing projects will be initiated.
In 2015, Elopak became the first packaging company and the first Norwegian company to join the RE100 campaign, committing to sourcing 100% renewable electricity from 2016 onwards for all fully owned production units and offices worldwide. It makes sense that cartons made predominantly from renewable materials are produced with 100% renewable electricity, and we are proud to have sourced 100% renewable electricity since 2016.
To reduce emissions from electricity means replacing fossil-based electricity with renewable electricity. To achieve this, companies can either invest in new renewable generation capacity directly, or source renewable electricity by using certificate systems. Elopak has chosen the latter approach, and is purchasing energy certificates, both in Europe and in North-America, covering 100% of our electricity consumption.
Energy attribute certificates are a system to document the source of electricity produced
- The electrons in the power grid originate from both fossil-based and renewable sources. It is impossible to physically track individual electrons. What can be done, however, is to allocate renewable and fossil-based electricity, by way of the invoice/payment flow.
- By purchasing energy attribute certificates, you purchase the right to claim that your electricity is green. A system ensures that double counting is impossible.
- Whenever a megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity is produced from a renewable source, a digital certificate is generated. This certificate is valid for a year and can be sold to electricity consumers. Once the certificate is ‘canceled’, this counts as the consumer using 1 MWh of renewable energy. This incentivizes the development of new renewable energy plants by allowing the owners to sell not only the electricity but also the certificate.