Why Carbon Tracking is Crucial

Why Carbon Tracking is Crucial

The label and packaging industry is heeding the call to help mitigate climate change. A new tool from Avery Dennison empowers consumer brands to more accurately track and communicate their carbon impact.

“Time is short, but there is a clear path forward.” That, in a phrase, is the bottom line of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) March 2023 report. The report goes on to state that keeping the earth’s temperature increase limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels will require “rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors this decade.”

Label and packaging industry leaders such as Avery Dennison are heeding this call. We recognize that quantifying and communicating the carbon impact of our products a process called carbon tracking directly affects the most significant technological, social, economic, and political challenge of the 21st century the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. And we’ve recently introduced a new Carbon Footprinting tool to help customers more accurately track the carbon footprint of the label and packaging materials they purchase from us.

What is carbon tracking?

Carbon tracking is a science-driven, quantifiable and transparent process that measures and tracks a company’s sources of carbon emissions.

Those sources are categorized as scope 1, 2 or 3.

● Scope 1 includes direct emissions from sources completely within an organization’s ownership and control. At Avery Dennison, this encompasses everything from the equipment in our plants, to our company vehicles, to resources used by our office staff

● Scope 2 includes indirect emissions from energy purchased by an organization. Our scope 2 emissions include the resources we use to run our global operations and produce our products, including electricity, steam, heating and cooling.

● Scope 3 includes any indirect emissions not included in scope 2. Our scope 3 emissions range from activities like the materials we purchase, to the third-party resources we often use to ship, store, and distribute products.

Carbon tracking across these scopes has thus become a gold standard for evaluating an organization’s progress on sustainability. Brands are compelled by consumers, investors, employees, and others to communicate trustworthy, empirical data through regular sustainability reporting.

A more thorough and accurate measurement of carbon footprint

We developed our new Carbon Footprinting Tool in partnership with Carbon Trust, an internationally recognized consultancy that aids organizations in their efforts to contribute to a decarbonized future.

Utilizing a framework developed by the consultancy, the new tool offers a more thorough measurement of the carbon footprint of our products using primary data for raw materials and from our operations. Our previous measurement offerings relied on secondary data, including averages from various industry databases.

The use of primary data allows us to quantify carbon impact more accurately for customer product selection, new product development, and GHG accounting. Currently, we can track the footprint of a range of selected products within faces, liners, and adhesives.

Brands are feeling the pressure

The Carbon Trust Footprinting Tool builds on our history of providing customers with sustainability information for our products. Its introduction comes as brands feel more pressure to be transparent and need more objective carbon footprint data for every aspect of their products, including the packaging.

The tool also aligns with our own sustainability goals. Avery Dennison aspires to be net zero meaning we’ve eliminated our carbon emissions by 2050. Our 2030 sustainability goals include achieving a 70% reduction from our 2015 baseline of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and a 30% reduction of Scope 3 emissions from our 2018 baseline.

Why partner with Carbon Trust?

Carbon Trust has a strong global reputation. Founded in the UK in 2001, it offers strategic planning, target-setting, implementation, and communication support. Over the years, the organization has partnered with more than 3000 businesses, governments and financial institutions in 50 countries, helping these organizations produce and communicate more transparently.

Thrive in a future focused on decarbonization

Our Carbon Footprinting tool is the next logical step in our efforts to offer transparent sustainability data. It can help our customers thrive in a future focused on decarbonization. And I believe it contributes to the “clear path forward” envisioned by the IPCC.

Learn more about Avery Dennison, our Sustainability goals and the Carbon Trust Footprinting tool at label.averydennison.com.