Cutting down our CO2 emission

Answering the urgency for actions against global warming, Hager Group is pushing for immediate actions in lowering its CO2 emissions in production sites.

For a real move towards a low-carbon business, we need to make substantial investments, accepting that it will take time and a lot of effort and tenacity to get to where we need to be. However, we have committed to making our business a low-carbon emission operation and put a lot of efforts and investments into making this a reality.

First steps: Measuring our CO2 footprint

At Hager Group, our first step in the right direction was a general audit of our CO2 footprint. It turns out that most of our emissions are buried within our products, from raw materials to end-of-life (indirect emissions). Another part of our emissions come from our production sites (direct emissions). Tackling those emissions is something we are currently engaged in. 

Best practice

Our overall stated goal is to reduce our direct CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 following the verified methodology of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) to measure our output. We have production sites in various countries and several continents. Low carbon roadmaps have been developed for 6 selected sites to identify CO2 mitigation opportunities and cluster them according to their feasibility in order to activate financial levers necessary to implement (when possible in house) energy efficiency and management solutions. Efforts are also made to standardize material analysis and management practices in our 22 sites to normalize reporting “what gets measured gets managed”. Whilst decreasing CO2 emissions in existing buildings and operations usually is a long-term initiative, this project aimed for short-term wins: “We have selected six factories with high CO2 emissions in our portfolio, and began implementing a series of carbon reduction initiatives in 2022.

We want to see how much we can reduce CO2 in a short time period and prove that our commitment to a low-carbon world is not empty words, that we can deliver on it.” - Matthieu Alexandropoulos, Environmental Sustainability Director at Hager Group.

On a good way to achieving our goals

Having chosen six production sites to participate, which together are responsible for 70% of our direct emissions, we are on track on our objective to reduce of 1.5% of greenhouse gas emissions in the first year. At the moment, emissions are going down even though production has increased.

It’s still a long way to go. However, building on our successes of this short-term project, we are working on a mid- and long-term roadmap to hit our stated target of 50% by 2030.  

How do we do it?

Our environmental sustainability efforts play a crucial role in our overall business strategy and goals. Since 2020, they are reflected in our company’s KPIs and thus, are consolidated in our performance evaluation.

The short-term levers we activated are among others:

• Detection of air compressed leaks

• Pausing machines whenever possible

• Lower heating and cooling temperatures

• Replacing bulbs with LED bulbs

• Choosing lower lighting intensity

Long-term levers include:

• Reduced overall energy consumption

• Take advantage of heat created in certain process to feedback the energy for other areas

• Switching to clean energy sources (Self-consumption, power purchase agreements)

We are also working on solutions that go further with the attempt to grow our resilience and independence towards fossil fuels: In Obernai, we installed more than 400 solar panels to provide electrical energy for Electrical Vehicle Charging stations for our employees and customers. In our production site in Arenzano, Italy, we are working on a roadmap for the next year to four years, which will enable us to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% until 2028. Our French site in Bischwiller will in the short-term substitute natural gas with biomass to mitigate our process heating environmental impacts.   

Bischwiller: Away from fossil fuels

Hager Group’s production site in Bischwiller, France, will switch from gas to biomass. Even though the gas heaters, will remain in case of emergencies, Hager Group plans on converting to biomass. Within only four months, the switch is planned to be completed. From early 2023 onwards, the site will be operated with heat produced by a local power plant that combusts wood waste from local companies in Alsace.

This switch will save up to 200 tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to the production of 12,200 smartphones.  

A promising start

Yes, we’re only at the beginning of our journey towards becoming a low-carbon business. But we have made considerable inroads in a very short time. This is something we’re immensely proud of and it inspires all of us to continue full steam ahead down this road.