Innovia Films: Driving sustainable performance through informed decision making Innovia Films has used the GaBi Cradle to Gate life-cycle assessment tool and scenario modelling software to establish sound environmental credentials for its products and processes. Working with PE INTERNATIONAL, the company now has the knowledge to drive informed sustainable choices about investment in manufacturing. Innovia’s challenge Innovia Films is a world leading manufacturer of speciality, high performance polypropylene and cellulose films. As a supplier to some of the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturers, food producers and specialist packaging companies, Innovia Films needed to establish a clear understanding of the environmental impact of the company’s products. Although industry data already existed for polypropylene film production, very little was available for cellulose film.
Our solution In 2007, the company asked PE INTERNATIONAL to deploy its GaBi software tool and undertake a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) from Cradle to Gate for NatureFlex, Innovia Films’ renewable and compostable cellulose film product. This was an in-depth analysis of two versions of the company’s cellulose product – coated and uncoated films – and went far beyond simply establishing their carbon footprints. A wide range of impact categories were addressed, from acidification potential to primary energy usage, giving the company an understanding of where the hot-spots were and where improvements could be made. The report was used to develop a strategy for improving both product and process. The study included scenario analysis, providing an historical perspective on how process development changed over the past 30 years, covering the installation of a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, process gas and heat recovery, and enhancements to waste-water treatment.
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Client Statement This work is critical in supporting our message. If you are selling a product on environmental credentials, you need to be able to prove that you are looking at and understanding every aspect of your supply chain.« Andrew Sweetman, Business Development and Sustainability Manager, Innovia Films
In 2008 a similar Cradle to Gate assessment of the company’s oriented polypropylene film product was undertaken. From 2009 onwards, three separate projects were commissioned. Firstly, there was an updated LCA study of the NatureFlex product to assess the impact of changes undertaken since the LCA of 2007. Changes included raw material modifications, the closing of two old lines and the installation of a new, more efficient production line at the company’s Wigton site in the UK. The other two projects involved ‘what if’ scenarios for alternative technologies. The work highlighted the potential benefits that would come from making these process changes and the scenarios were used to feed into the decision making process for possible capital investment.