PLANET: ANALYSING AND PLANNING

Carbon Footprint

In the beginning of 2022, we conducted the first fully comprehensive evaluation and carbon footprint calculation for FORCIT Group. The calculation presents all business units and all functions including explosives manufacturing, offices, and services. This study clearly shows the differences in emissions between business units and scopes, and the importance of overall co-operation with customers and supply chains. Developing the data collection process, finding new raw materials with different energy sources and overall understanding of the meaningful actions in decreasing emissions are therefore key focus areas for the coming years. CO2 emissions totalled in 130,000 t CO2-eq.

Emissions From Our Production

Scope 1 comprises direct emissions from operations at our own sites and services (fuel consumption in facilities and vehicles) as well as emissions when producing or destroying explosives on site. In our operations, it is obvious that logistics stands for the biggest part of our direct emissions.

Scope 2 summarises the CO2 emissions of purchased electricity and energy (heating and cooling) needed for sites, facilities and processes.

The results show the importance of shifting to green energy and focusing on energy-saving activities and technologies. In the coming years, we will investigate possibilities to shift to green energy at all locations.

Emissions Of Materials

FORCIT’s biggest carbon footprint emission sources (95%) originate from Scope 3 emissions, which is common in industrial business footprints. Ammonium nitrate ‒ the main raw material in explosives production ‒ has the biggest negative impact and accounts for approximately two-thirds of the total emissions of FORCIT Group. The results clearly show the great influence of Scope 3 emissions along the value chain, urging us to develop co-operation and partnerships to reduce these.

While production of raw materials causes the biggest footprint, the usage of our products at blasting sites is also clearly seen in our calculation results.

THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF FACTORIES IMPROVED BY 14% AND THE SHARE OF GREEN ENERGY INCREASED BY 8%

The amount of district heating used in Hanko factory has decreased. Also, the share of fossil sources decreased. The share of renewable energy increased and reached the level of 95%.

In Vihtavuori factory, the electricity was switched to 50% green electricity. The use of distric heating decreased over 60%. Improved figures are partly explained by better tracking and measuring.

These positive changes mostly concern our cartridge, pipe charge and detonating cord products, but also the bulk emulsion manufactured in Vihtavuori.

Increase in energy efficiency can also be seen in places where fossil oil is used for heating the facilities. The consumption decreased by almost 30%.

The overall electricity usage increased by 7%, but the share of green energy also increased, and thus the impact on CO2 emissions is neutral.

Business runs well and the total energy efficiency improved by 20% in relation to production volumes. The increased volume also means that the number of deliveries, driven distances and fuel consumption has increased, but not at the same pace as the volume. The idling statistics of trucks show improvement.

FORCIT GROUP: PLANET IN FIGURES

** Does not include personal cars.

The amount of waste decreased by 4%, and the share of recycled or energy waste increased, but there was a lot of internal variation.

The battery consumption has not developed into the right direction.

Carbon Neutrality Roadmap

According to principle of materiality, we defined the carbon neutrality roadmap to include only the Explosives business unit and the production operations of FORCIT Defence. Carbon footprint data was crucial in analysing materiality.

The roadmap to carbon neutrality starts with actions in Scopes 1 and 2, meaning replacing fossil oil heaters with fossil-free technology. We set targets for economical driving and material recycling. Both factors should be improved by at least 5%. FORCIT already offers customers the possibility to offset the CO2 emissions of downstream transportation. The plan is to renew the fleet of support functions to electrical vehicles. ADR regulations and the current state of available technology prevent the use of electric or hydrogen technology in our explosive transports.

Investments In Energy Improvements

In Karlskoga, Sweden, station facilities will be upgraded by insulation and solar panels. Other solar energy applications have been set in our long-time planning. Focus on energy efficiency projects and heating systems will be prioritised in coming investments. Increasing the share of fossil-free electricity is a crucial goal.

Reducing emissions in Scopes 1 & 2 is our primary target. The aim is to reduce emissions by 6-10% each year compared to the level of 2021. The plan is to achieve carbon neutrality in our own production at the latest by 2035. As a result of hazardous waste and possible ADR regulations, we will prepare to offset 100 t CO2 eq/year. The decision to convert the ADR fleet to hydrogen-based technology has already been made and will be implemented when technical solutions and regulations permit it. Our targets are partly even more ambitious than the general target level to stop global warming based on climate science and the Paris Agreement.

Future Projects

Besides developing our own production, we will continue our efforts aiming at reducing our Scope 3 emissions. Sustainable supply chain and logistics play a pivotal role in this work. Focus on relevant sustainability projects (such as nitrogen-free emulsion, emulsion recycling, package recycling and plastics minimisation) will continue. These projects directly correspond to the needs highlighted in the materiality analysis.

CASE EXAMPLE: WIND TURBINE PROJECT

The need for wind power has increased substantially in recent years, and wind farms are being built all over the Nordics. FORCIT is involved in several of these projects and has, for example, delivered explosives and mobile emulsion solutions to wind power construction for one of Europe’s largest wind power projects in the Ånge-Ljusdal region in central Sweden. The wind farms will be an important part in contributing to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from Sweden’s power production and a step to society’s transition to renewable energy. By the end of 2025, it is estimated that wind power will reach an installed capacity of 52.7 TWh per year in Sweden. There are 765 wind turbines under construction, with an estimated normal annual production of 14.2 TWh.

Through good implementation and co-operation with contractors, FORCIT intends to continue to adapt and develop equipment and processes with great interest to contribute to sustainability, e.g., optimised logistics for explosives deliveries. FORCIT is proud to be able to support the Stens Bergborrning company in its role as one of the most important players in wind farm investments in the region.

DID YOU KNOW? EPD KEMIX

A wind turbine consists of about 85% steel and iron, which are recyclable materials. The blades consist of thermosetting plastic composites, the same as in e.g. boats, and for these, intensive development is underway to find sustainable solutions for disposal.

FORCIT has a new member in the environmental product declaration (EPD) family. The twelfth EPD is published for Kemix A pipecharges.

An EPD is a document which may be used in different countries to quantifiably demonstrate the environmental performance of a product. It can also be used internally for the improvement of product manufacture or process efficiency.

EPDs have some strict requirements and rules to conform to. They are generated based on data obtained through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). An LCA is performed for each product separately in line with EN 15804 and other related international standards, using a peer reviewed Product Category Rule (PCR) document. A PCR is a set of guidelines that determine what data should be gathered and how it will be evaluated. This document for explosives and initiation systems is NPCR 024. The standards and rules harmonise the structure for EPDs in the construction sector, making the information transparent and comparable.

All our EPDs are ‘cradle-to-grave’ and verified by a third party. The EPDs are published on The Norwegian EPD Foundation’s website www.epd-norge.no.

Reuse Of Emulsion Material

FORCIT has developed a method by which an emulsion explosive side stream classified as 5.1 can be broken down back into an aqueous ammonium nitrate phase and a separate oil phase. In 2022, FORCIT received funding from Business Finland to further develop this method in co-operation with Technical Research Centre VTT. The goal of the project is to find the most optimal decomposition and separation method, as well as to find the means for the further processing of the separated ammonium nitrate phase, so that it meets the quality requirements set for ammonium nitrate before being recycled back to FORCIT’s own production. The goal is to test and transfer the laboratory-scale process to production scale by the end of 2025.

NITROGEN-FREE EMULSION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Development work toward nitrogen-free emulsion has taken steps toward industrial utilisations. Authority permissions and CE approvals permit us to conduct test blasts at the Outokumpu Chrome Kemi mine. Well-planned testing procedure is now in the charging phase with hydrogen peroxide water gel explosive (HP Kemiitti), packaged as pipe charges. Tests have been successful and larger blasts will be conducted soon. R&D work continues towards bulk HPE Kemiitti, which will be an emulsion-based nitrogen-free explosive.

Driving Emissions

Business volumes have been at a high level and there have not been any critical changes in truck technology, thus the total kilometres and emissions have increased. Consciousness of economical driving, with both nature and profitability as main drivers, has positively influenced fuel consumption. Current tracing is not comprehensive enough, but still sufficiently wide to analyse the trend. Environ- mental consciousness and training clearly affected idling and driving culture, but there is still work to do and practices to develop. The share of idling depends on, e.g., the truck type and average distances, but we can show a few percent difference of idling between trucks in similar usage, and bigger variances in driving economy. More precise tracking will be continued.