How Businesses Can Contribute to Fighting Climate Change – Small Steps That Make a Big Difference

As world leaders gathered at the recent COP26 conference in Glasgow to accelerate climate action, the spotlight has also been on businesses to boost their efforts in fighting carbon emissions. The ambitious target to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels cannot be achieved by governments alone. It will require at least 45% emission reductions by 2030 compared to 2010 levels according to scientists, necessitating consumers, international organizations, governments and businesses to work closely together.

To do our part in the fight against climate change, we have been working toward ambitious sustainability goals. With our own recent 2040 Climate Pledge Net Zero commitment, we join principal partners of the conference, including such companies as Unilever, Sainsbury’s and GSK, in their pledges to get to net zero. This complements our Twentyby30 program, which aims to build upon our 2020 accomplishments of having exceeded our goals to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 10% and our energy consumption 5%.

The focus of the Twentyby30 program includes making operational improvements in energy, water, waste and elevating our focus on material use efficiency, recycling, responsible and ethical sourcing as well as food contact and safety. Our Science Based Targets-approved goals are targeted at lowering our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50% while also reducing GHG emissions from our supply chain by 16%. With our commitment to Net Zero by 2040, we have accelerated our renewable electricity goals to sourcing 60% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% by 2040. In terms of resource efficiency, we are looking to reduce water usage in our operations by 20% by 2025 and to fully replenish the water consumed from high scarcity risk watersheds.

To further contribute to optimum circularity, we will strive to send zero waste from our operations to landfill, while reducing packaging material use by making our aluminum and steel cans 10% lighter in weight. We are proud of our Brazilian and European operations significantly contributing to waste prevention and material circularity already. Our teams have taken creative steps to move to zero waste, including recycling damaged layer pads into other packaging materials and repairing damaged reusable plastic pallets on-site rather than returning them to the supplier for recycling. At the end of 2020, 100% of our Brazilian and 23% of our European facilities achieved zero waste to landfill.

The COP26 conference shined a bright spotlight on global sustainability issues and important milestones required to reverse climate change. We believe that every company, every employee, and every consumer can make a meaningful contribution to fighting climate change one step at a time. With infinitely recyclable metal packaging as our primary product, we empower our customers to opt for sustainable materials, while also pursuing our own bold sustainability goals.

Read more about our commitment to sustainability in our 2020 Interim Sustainability Report.