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8th Jun 2020
From burning fossil fuels through driving, turning up the heating or cooking our favourite food we’re all responsible for releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. How much is known as our carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impacts of an activity on global warming by calculating greenhouse gas emissions of those activities, usually stated as a ‘CO2e’, or carbon dioxide equivalent. This is done to show all key greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane & nitrous oxide) expressed as a common unit, allowing easy comparison across organisations, industries and countries.
The emissions are set out under three categories:
Scope 1 – All Direct Emissions from activities of an organisation or under their control. This includes fuel combustion on site, from owned vehicles and fugitive emissions. Examples include fleet vehicles, gas emissions from boilers and air-conditioning refrigerant leaks.
Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from electricity purchased and used by the organisation. Emissions will be created during the production of energy and eventually used by the organisation. Examples include, electricity from the energy supplier to power computers, heating & cooling.
Scope 3 – All other indirect Emissions from activities from the organisation but occur from sources that they do not control. This is usually the largest share of the carbon footprint, especially office-based companies, covering emissions associated with business, travel, procurement, waste and water. Examples includes plane travel, shipping of goods & waste disposal.
During the carbon footprint assessment, these scopes assist to define the sources of the pollutants within each organisation which are helpful for targeting areas for future improvements.
Duo: Our pact for the planet
A contributing factor of climate change is carbon emissions caused by the everyday functioning of everyday business and people. We want to be a supplier that creates impact for the better: for our customers, their policies and the world we share and that is why we created our Pact for the Planet.
To help reduce the carbon emissions of our business we are committed to reducing our scope 1, 2 carbon emissions and we monitor our emissions via a Climate Change Agreement. To support our efforts, we’ve also reduced our gas and electricity use by investing in heat recovery technology and new manufacturing equipment, as well as educating our staff so that our whole company is on board.
To reduce our scope 3 emissions, we’re taking several actions including planning deliveries to minimise distributor journeys, maximising the use of recycled materials in our products and most importantly we’re innovating and developing our CO2 negative, recyclable & renewable GreenPE products.
It has been reported that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point in the last 800,000 years. This is caused by many things but one is fossil fuels. When fossil fuels are burnt, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which in turn trap heat in our atmosphere, making them the primary contributors to global warming and climate change. Our efforts to reduce our reliance on fossil derived polymers and replace these with carbon negative, renewable products and increase the availability of recycled polythene using our closed loop recycling system means we’re well on our way to being less reliant on the Earth’s precious resources.
We’re not alone in this, we’ve also supported our clients in reducing waste and lowering their carbon footprint, meaning they can improve their entire supply chain – as well as the world we live in. Find out more about our pact for the planet and the low carbon packaging solutions available from Duo here
Sources: Green Element 11 Facts about Global Warming National Geographic Fossil Fuels