Latest news with #ScienceBasedTargets
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
APC to expand pouching capabilities in Iowa, US
American Packaging Corporation (APC) has announced plans for an expansion of its pouching capabilities at its Center of Excellence in Story City, Iowa, US. The company aims to commence construction in October this year, with the project expected to be completed by the end of September 2026. This expansion is said to demonstrate APC's commitment to enhancing its flexible packaging solutions, which include various pouches, bags, and others. APC CEO and president Ray Graham said: 'American Packaging is uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for pouches and bags for a wide variety of applications. 'Customers can find the perfect combination of packaging materials, printing, and special features for their products.' The project will allow APC to serve the growing demand for these solutions in North America. APC operations director Kevin Neis said: 'APC's Story City Center of Excellence offers award-winning flexographic printing for its preformed pouches and bags, creating vivid graphics with eye-catching shelf appeal that our customers value. We are excited to expand our pouching capacity and capability.' Established in 1902, APC is a family-owned company that operates six Centers of Excellence across the US and employs around 1,300 staff members. In March this year, APC announced that the Science Based Targets initiative approved its near-term emissions reduction targets. The company aims to reduce its absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 58.8% by 2034, using 2023 as the baseline year. "APC to expand pouching capabilities in Iowa, US" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Major grocery chain announces game-changing initiative to solve ongoing issue with its products: 'Will have a substantial impact'
A grocery store in the United Kingdom is committing to a major change in its packaging, looking to reduce plastic waste and make recycling easier for its customers. The chain Co-op announced it will switch from plastic packaging to more sustainable options for its private label products, including bakery items, produce, and proteins, according to Trend Hunter. The initiative will reportedly remove 115 tonnes (253,532 pounds) of plastic per year. "Co-op is committed to making a difference to the lives of our members and the world in which they live," group property and sustainability director Heather Thomas said in a statement. "These new packaging developments will have a substantial impact across our operations, eliminating millions of pieces of plastic and importantly simplifying home recycling for our members and customers." According to Sustainable Packaging News, Co-op has a goal to reach net-zero carbon pollution in its operations by 2035 and across the company by 2040. The outlet also reported that the brand was recognized by Science Based Targets initiative. Switching to sustainable packaging and reducing plastic has proved to be a money saver for businesses, which can help consumers in turn. A PakFactory report explained that recyclable and biodegradable options, including cardboard, can often be cheaper than traditional packing supplies. They are also lighter, leading to reduced shipping costs. They require fewer resources to make than plastic, which uses dirty energy sources such as petroleum and isn't consistently recycled. The Supply Chain Solutions Center reports that 91% of plastic packaging is sent to landfills and often ends up in the environment in the form of chemicals or microplastics, which negatively impact human health. More and more companies are getting in on sustainable packaging, cutting down plastic in major ways. PepsiCo introduced 50% recycled chip bags in 2024, a major advancement for a company that is one of the biggest plastic producers in the world. And a grocery chain in the Netherlands launched PEF packaging, a plant-based material that is biodegradable. When you think about a product's packaging, which of these factors is more important to you? The way it looks The information it provides The waste it produces I don't think about packaging at all Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Solve the daily Crossword
Web Release
6 days ago
- Business
- Web Release
LG'S LATEST SUSTAINABILITY REPORT HIGHLIGHTS PROGRESS TOWARD 2030 ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS
LG Electronics (LG) has released its 2024–2025 Sustainability Report, highlighting the company's strong progress toward its 2030 environmental targets, including reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and advancements in resource circularity. The report outlines the company's wide-ranging efforts to embed sustainability into its operations as part of its vision for a Better Life for All. In 2024, LG's Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) emissions totaled 910,000 tons of CO? equivalent (tCO?eq), bringing the company close to its 2030 goal of 878,000 tons. The company had previously set itself the goal to reduce GHG emissions by 54.6 percent (compared to 2017 levels) by 2030. The early achievement of this goal was driven by proactive adoption of energy-efficient equipment and carbon-reduction technologies across multiple production processes. LG is also making headway in cutting Scope 3 emissions from product use through expanded application of AI and other energy-saving technologies. In 2024, the company reduced product carbon emissions by 19.4 percent compared to 2020. Notably, LG was the first South Korean home appliance manufacturer to have its emissions reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets include a 20 percent cut in Scope 3 emissions across seven key product categories by 2030 (based on a 2020 baseline). Progress has also been made in resource circulation. LG achieved a 97.4 percent waste recycling rate at its global production sites in 2024 – surpassing its 2030 goal of 95 percent. The company also collected 532,630 tons of used electronics from 91 locations in 56 countries last year, bringing its cumulative total since 2006 to over 5 million tons. Additionally, LG increased the amount of recycled plastic used in its products by 36 percent year-over-year. LG remains committed to enhancing accessibility in its products and services. The LG Comfort Kit, designed to make appliances easier to use regardless of age, gender or ability, now includes 14 products. Accessibility features such as screen reading and simultaneous audio output for hearing aids and speakers on LG OLED TVs, as well as kiosks with height adjustment and tactile keypads, further reflect this commitment. The company also provides inclusive services including disability care programs, sign language consultations, senior support, and in-store educational sessions on safety, IT and culture. LG continues to strengthen its approach to responsible management through a governance structure rooted in compliance and ethics. The company's board of directors is guided by principles of independence, expertise and transparency, while its ESG Committee plays an expanding role in overseeing sustainability initiatives. In its supply chain, LG supports shared growth through third-party ESG audits aligned with Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) standards. As a result of its continued efforts, LG ranked in the 'Top 1%' of S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) for the second year in a row. The company has also earned an 'A' grade from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) for five consecutive years and has been included in the Dow Jones 'Best-in-Class World Index' for 13 straight years.
TECHx
6 days ago
- Business
- TECHx
Sustainability Report: LG Cuts Emissions, Expands Recycling
Home » Green Tech » Sustainability Report: LG Cuts Emissions, Expands Recycling LG Electronics (LG) has released its 2024–2025 Sustainability Report, providing an update on its progress toward environmental goals. The company revealed advancements in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resource circularity, aligned with its vision for a Better Life for All. According to the report, LG's Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) emissions in 2024 totaled 910,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent. This brings the company close to its 2030 target of 878,000 tons. LG had previously announced a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 54.6 percent from 2017 levels by 2030. It reported that early progress was enabled by adopting energy-efficient equipment and carbon-reduction technologies across its operations. LG is also working to reduce Scope 3 emissions from product use. It reported a 19.4 percent drop in product carbon emissions in 2024 compared to 2020. The reduction was achieved through expanded use of AI and energy-saving technologies. The company noted that it was the first South Korean home appliance brand to have its emissions targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets include a 20 percent reduction in Scope 3 emissions across seven key product categories by 2030, based on a 2020 baseline. The Sustainability Report also outlined LG's efforts in waste reduction and recycling. In 2024, the company reached a 97.4 percent waste recycling rate at global production sites. This surpasses its 2030 goal of 95 percent. Additionally, LG collected 532,630 tons of used electronics from 91 locations across 56 countries last year. Since 2006, the company has collected over 5 million tons of used electronics. Other highlights from the report include:• A 36 percent year-over-year increase in the use of recycled plastic in LG products • Continued product design improvements to enhance accessibility for users of all ages and abilities LG also detailed initiatives to improve inclusivity. The LG Comfort Kit now includes four products aimed at simplifying appliance use. Accessibility features in LG OLED TVs include screen reading and simultaneous audio output for both hearing aids and speakers. The company also offers height-adjustable kiosks and tactile keypads, as well as services like sign language consultations and senior support programs. In the area of responsible management, LG reported that its governance structure is rooted in compliance and ethics. The board of directors follows principles of independence, expertise, and transparency. The ESG Committee continues to expand its oversight of sustainability programs. LG also conducts third-party ESG audits across its supply chain, based on Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) standards. As a result of these efforts, LG announced its inclusion in the top 1 percent of S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment for the second year. The company also received an 'A' rating from MSCI for the fifth year and has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 13 consecutive years. The 2024–2025 LG Sustainability Report reaffirms the company's long-term goals and documents its progress across environmental, social, and governance areas.
National Observer
14-07-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds
This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration In 2021, Google set a lofty goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Yet in the years since then, the company has moved in the opposite direction as it invests in energy-intensive artificial intelligence. In its latest sustainability report, Google said its carbon emissions had increased 51% between 2019 and 2024. New research aims to debunk even that enormous figure and provide context to Google's sustainability reports, painting a bleaker picture. A report authored by non-profit advocacy group Kairos Fellowship found that, between 2019 and 2024, Google's carbon emissions actually went up by 65%. What's more, between 2010, the first year there is publicly available data on Google's emissions, and 2024, Google's total greenhouse gas emissions increased 1,515%, Kairos found. The largest year-over-year jump in that window was also the most recent, 2023 to 2024, when Google saw a 26% increase in emissions just between 2023 and 2024, according to the report. 'Google's own data makes it clear: the corporation is contributing to the acceleration of climate catastrophe, and the metrics that matter – how many emissions they emit, how much water they use, and how fast these trends are accelerating – are headed in the wrong direction for us and the planet,' said Nicole Sugerman, a campaign manager at Kairos Fellowship. The authors say that they found the vast majority of the numbers they used to determine how much energy Google is using and how much its carbon emissions are increasing in the appendices of Google's own sustainability reports. Many of those numbers were not highlighted in the main body of Google's reports, they say. After the report published, Google called its findings into question in a statement. 'The analysis by the Kairos Fellowship distorts the facts. Our carbon emissions are calculated according to the widely used Greenhouse Gas Protocol and assured by a third party. Our carbon reduction ambition has been validated by the leading industry body, the Science Based Targets initiative,' said a spokesperson, Maggie Shiels. The authors behind the report, titled Google's Eco-Failures, attribute the discrepancy between the numbers they calculated and the numbers Google highlights in its sustainability reports to various factors, including that the firm uses a different metric for calculating how much its emissions have increased. While Google uses market-based emissions, the researchers used location-based emissions. Location-based emissions are the average emissions the company produces from its use of local power grids, while market-based emissions include energy the company has purchased to offset its total emissions. '[Location-based emissions] represents a company's 'real' grid emissions,' said Franz Ressel, the lead researcher and report co-author. 'Market-based emissions are a corporate-friendly metric that obscures a polluter's actual impact on the environment. It allows companies to pollute in one place, and try to 'offset' those emissions by purchasing energy contracts in another place.' The energy the tech giant has needed to purchase to power its data centers alone increased 820% since 2010, according to Kairos's research, a figure that is expected to expand in the future as Google rolls out more AI products. Between 2019 and 2024, emissions that came primarily from the purchase of electricity to power data centers jumped 121%, the report's authors said. 'In absolute terms, the increase was 6.8 TWh, or the equivalent of Google adding the entire state of Alaska's energy use in one year to their previous use,' said Sugerman. Based on Google's current trajectory, the Kairos report's authors say the company is unlikely to meet its own 2030 deadline without a significant push from the public. There are three categories of greenhouse gas emissions – called Scopes 1, 2 and 3 – and Google has only meaningfully decreased its Scope 1 emissions since 2019, according to the Kairos report. Scope 1 emissions, which include emissions just from Google's own facilities and vehicles, account for only 0.31% of the company's total emissions, according to the report. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions that come primarily from the electricity Google purchases to power its facilities, and scope 3 accounts for indirect emissions from all other sources such as suppliers, use of Google's consumer devices or employee business travel. 'It's not sustainable to keep building at the rate [Google is] building because they need to scale their compute within planetary limits,' said Sugerman. 'We do not have enough green energy to serve the needs of Google and certainly not the needs of Google and the rest of us.' Thirsty, power-hungry data centers As the company builds out resource-intensive data centers across the country, experts are also paying close attention to Google's water usage. According to the company's own sustainability report, Google's water withdrawal – how much water is taken from various sources – increased 27% between 2023 and 2024 to 11bn gallons of water. The amount is 'enough to supply the potable water needs for the 2.5 million people and 5,500 industrial users in Boston and its suburbs for 55 days', according to the Kairos report. Tech companies have faced both internal and public pressure to power their growing number of data centers with clean energy. Amazon employees recently put forth a package of shareholder proposals that asked the company to disclose its overall carbon emissions and targeted the climate impact of its data centers. The proposals were ultimately voted down. On Sunday, several organizations including Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, League of Conservation Voters, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club, published an open letter in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Times calling on the CEOs of Google, Amazon and Microsoft to 'commit to no new gas and zero delayed coal plant retirements to power your data centers'. 'In just the last two years alone, your companies have built data centers throughout the United States capable of consuming more electricity than four million American homes,' the letter reads. 'Within five years, your data centers alone will use more electricity than 22 million households, rivaling the consumption of multiple mid-size states.' In its own sustainability report, Google warns that the firm's 'future trajectories' may be affected by the 'evolving landscape' of the tech industry. 'We're at an extraordinary inflection point, not just for our company specifically, but for the technology industry as a whole – driven by the rapid growth of AI,' the report reads. 'The combination of AI's potential for non-linear growth driven by its unprecedented pace of development and the uncertain scale of clean energy and infrastructure needed to meet this growth makes it harder to predict our future emissions and could impact our ability to reduce them.' The Kairos report accuses Google of relying 'heavily on speculative technologies, particularly nuclear power', to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030. 'Google's emphasis on nuclear energy as a clean energy 'solution' is particularly concerning, given the growing consensus among both scientists and business experts that their successful deployment on scale, if it is to ever occur, cannot be achieved in the near or mid-term future,' the report reads. The Kairos report alleges the way that Google presents some of its data is misleading. In the case of data center emissions, for example, Google says it has improved the energy efficiency of its data centers by 50% over 13 years. Citing energy efficiency numbers rather than sharing absolute ones obscures Google's total emissions, the authors argue.
