Labels and packaging materials maker Avery Dennison says climate change is a threat to its business, and plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least three per cent every year until 2025. Dean Scarborough, Avery Dennison chairman and chief executive officer, says, “Cutting emissions while still growing as a company is the defining business challenge of the 21st century.
Dean Scarborough, Avery Dennison chairman and chief executive officer
Scarborough says, “At the very least, it is a matter of risk mitigation. Climate change threatens our business, our supply chain and the communities where we live and work. “By using the three per cent solution, developed by World Wildlife Fund and Carbon Disclosure Project, as the basis of our approach, we expect to reduce emissions by a minimum of 26 per cent by 2025.” He says between 2010 and 2015 the company cut its emissions indexed to net sales by 15 per cent based on a 2005 baseline. Scarborough says the company achieved the reduction mainly by identifying ways to use energy more efficiently. “To meet the new goal, we’re exploring every option, including renewable energy sources and fuel switching,” says Scarborough, who will discuss climate change with other global business leaders at a gathering coinciding with the United Nations’ COP21 climate talks in Paris this December. Avery Dennison says it will also develop a paper supply with origins that are 100 per cent certified as sustainable, with at least 70 per cent bearing certification by the Forest Stewardship Council, the gold standard in sustainable forestry. The company also aims to reduce landfill waste by 95 per cent and reduce waste from its label products by 70 per cent. It will minimise environmental impacts by ensuring that 70 per cent of purchased film and chemicals conform to, or enable end products to conform to, Avery Dennison’s environmental and social guiding principles. Avery Dennison’s sustainability report is available online at averydennison.com/sustainability.
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