In Finland, branded foodstuffs major Paulig Group has announced that it has taken a step forward in implementing its sustainability program and achieved "CarbonNeutral" building certification for its Vuosaari coffee roastery in Finland. The roastery has become Paulig’s first certified carbon neutral production site. The roastery building emissions have been reduced by 98 percent since 2014, and the remaining emissions have been offset through carbon finance projects.
Family-held Paulig Oy’s ambition is to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations by 80 percent by 2030, and the plan is to make all of its production sites carbon neutral by the end of 2023. The company currently operates ten foodstuffs manufacturing sites in six countries.
Paulig is one of the most sustainable coffee roasteries in the world, and since 2018 all of the coffee beans we use have come from sources that have been verified sustainable. Now we are stepping up our climate action and the Vuosaari roastery has become our first carbon-neutral production site. With this action, we have taken a step closer to our targets and we enable coffee lovers to taste not only great flavours but also the change for a better future, said Kaisa Lipponen, SVP Communications and Sustainability at Paulig.
At the Paulig Vuosaari roastery in Finland, Paulig produces 100 million coffee packs a year and has more than 200 end products in production. To become carbon neutral, Paulig Vuosaari roastery has invested in energy efficiency, utilized heat recovery, and switched to sourcing renewable electricity, biogas, and renewable district heating.
CarbonNeutral certified building
With these activities, the roastery building’s emissions have been reduced by 98 percent since 2014, and the remaining emissions resulting from the waste generated from the production and refrigerant leaks from the cooling equipment have been compensated through third-party verified forestry projects in Colombia, Asia and East Africa.
The Vuosaari roastery building has been certified as a “CarbonNeutral” building by Natural Capital Partners in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol – the leading global framework for carbon neutrality.
Paulig plans to make all of its ten production sites carbon neutral in the coming years. Emission reduction measures will include improving energy efficiency at all the sites, increasing the sourcing of renewable energy, and possibly investing in its own renewable energy production, such as on-site solar panels.
Reduce value-chain emissions
In addition to aiming for carbon-neutral own operations, Paulig is working with its suppliers to reduce value chain emissions by 50 percent by 2030. With suppliers, the focus is on climate-smart agricultural practices that can enable lower-impact raw materials and better climate resilience for farmers in the future.
In April 2020, Paulig announced its ambitious sustainability approach towards 2030, which is based on the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company selected three focus areas and set targets for all of them. These include:
- Products and services that enable the health and well-being of people and the planet: By 2030, 70 percent of the company’s net sales will come from products and services that enable the health and well-being of people and the planet.
- Climate action and circularity: By 2030, the company will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 80 percent, and from its value chain by 50 percent from the 2018 baseline. Paulig’s science-based targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative and the targets are consistent with reductions required to keep warming to well below 1.5 C. Paulig has also started to use carbon-neutral pallets. Paulig has set a target to use recyclable and renewable or recycled materials in its packages by 2030.
- Fair and inclusive way of working: The company’s aim is to be a fair and inclusive partner and employer throughout its value chain. All of Paulig’s coffee is already 100 percent from verified sustainable sources and the company aims to extend this work to also cover other raw materials. The goal is for 100 percent of the raw materials from high-risk areas to come from sustainable sources verified by external parties by 2030.
