SIG Combibloc Presents an Environmental Performance Analysis

The focus here is on enhancements that address the key environmental impact factors: the production of greenhouse gases, the consumption of fossil resources and the responsible management of the sources of renewable raw materials.

3/7/2011 --- In setting itself ambitious targets, SIG Combibloc is continuing to focus firmly on its environmental commitment. By 2015, the company plans to have reduced CO2 emissions in its production plants world-wide by 40 per cent, energy consumption by 35 per cent and specific waste volumes by 25 per cent. It is also planned to increase the percentage of FSC-labelled carton packs to 40 per cent by 2015. In a new brochure, SIG Combibloc provides information on the environmental performance of its carton packaging system and its global environmental strategy.

Rolf Stangl, CEO of SIG Combibloc: “Our goal is to further reduce the carbon footprint of our products and our production processes. And to help us meet this challenge, we have all the information at a glance: the life-cycle of our packaging, from the acquisition and processing of the raw materials, right up to the disposal or recycling of the carton packs after use. Independent, critically audited life-cycle assessments conducted by noted specialist institutes help us to precisely identify those parameters in the life-cycle of our carton packs where we can make changes to produce the greatest possible benefit for the environment. For us, that means 'sustainable development' in the original sense of the term, beyond just a short-term image boost. In this way, we will ensure that our system of carton packs and the filling machines that go with them continue to provide the basis for one of the most environ-mentally-advantageous packaging solutions available for long-life foods”.

For SIG Combibloc, that means taking effective action at those stages of the life-cycle where the most far-reaching environmental benefits can be achieved. Conducted in accordance with internationally binding standards, environmental performance analyses produce valid facts that enable companies to make statements on the impacts that a packaging has on the environment. And so they generate important insights for environment-related improvements. The focus here is on enhancements that address the key environmental impact factors: the production of greenhouse gases, the consumption of fossil resources and the responsible management of the sources of renewable raw materials.

Key considerations: material and weight
The findings of a 2009 Europe-wide life-cycle assessment for food packaging confirm that, within the life-cycle stages of a carton pack upon which SIG Combibloc is able directly or indirectly to exert some influence, it is primarily the material that affects the environmental profile of the packaging in respect of fossil resource consumption and CO2 emissions. The key factors impacting on the product's environmental performance are the type of material and the overall weight of the package. Here, it is the extraction and refining of the three material components of the carton pack – raw paperboard, polymers and aluminium foil that make the biggest contribution to the overall output of greenhouse gases. Plus, through-out the entire product life-cycle, the extraction and refining of the material components also takes the biggest share in fossil resource consumption. In other words, almost half the CO2 emissions and two thirds of the fossil resource consumption associated with the entire life-cycle of a carton pack have already been generated by the time the raw materials for manufacturing the carton packs are delivered to SIG Combibloc's production plants.

And, compared to the raw paperboard, it is the polymers and the aluminium that produce the greatest share of greenhouse gases and consume the greatest quantity of fossil resources. In comparison to polymers (61 per cent) and aluminium (25 per cent), only a small share 14 per cent of fossil resource consumption during the 'Material' life-cycle stage is attributed to the raw paperboard. And when it comes to the share in CO2 emissions generated by this life-cycle stage, at 21 per cent the raw paperboard still lags behind the polymers (29 per cent) and the aluminium (50 per cent). This is despite the fact that raw paperboard makes up on average around 75 per cent of the weight of a carton pack.

Controlled sources
This is why SIG Combibloc looks very carefully at the raw materials on which its carton packs are based. The company also takes steps throughout the entire product life-cycle to identify further environmental goals, determine appropriate actions and implement them consistently. Rolf Stangl: “We aim to increase as far as possible the fraction of wood, a renewable, regenerating raw material, in the composition of our carton packs. When selecting the materials we use, we ensure that the raw paperboard is manufactured from wood that can be verifiably shown to originate from controlled and responsibly managed forests, guaranteeing full traceability all the way back to the forests of origin. We require all our suppliers of raw paperboard to have their production sites certified in accordance with the internationally binding chain-of-custody criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council for a full chain of custody verification”.

Certified world-wide
In 2009, SIG Combibloc was the first manufacturer of aseptic carton packs worldwide to have all its own production plants and sales organisations CoC-certified to the FSC's standards. Having achieved this milestone, the company can now offer customers all over the world carton packs that are permitted to carry a FSC label. In Europe, the first SIG Combibloc carton packs with the FSC label went on sale in 2009. FSC-labelled carton packs from SIG Combibloc are now available in a number of other regions, such as Asia. Rolf Stangl: “Our production plants produce more than 20 billion carton sleeves each year. Our goal is to increase the percentage of our carton packs that are FSC-labelled to 40 per cent by 2015”.

Systematic reduction
The production volume of SIG Combibloc's production plants increased by around 23 per cent between 2004 and 2009 and looks set to continue to rise. This increase is due above all to the positive growth in the company's non-European markets. Stangl: “We still have our sights set on systematic reduction – reduction in CO2 emissions, energy consumption and waste accumulation. By 2015, we aim to have reduced CO2 emissions by 40 per cent, specific energy consumption by 35 per cent and specific waste quantity by 25 per cent in our packaging plants world-wide”. To achieve this, environmental management systems in accordance with ISO 14001 have been implemented at all production plants. An active, global system of knowledge-sharing and process optimisation in accordance with 'best practice' examples represents the basis for the achievement of the company's global environmental goals.

Other environment-related corporate objectives of SIG Combibloc include reducing the weight of the composite structure and the closures and developing filling machines that offer clear gains in efficiency. Stangl: “When creating upgraded versions of our filling machines, we will continue to act with the environment clearly in mind. In forthcoming generations of machines, we aim to reduce the specific energy consumption, in comparison to the respective predecessor model, by a further 20 per cent, and water consumption by 25 per cent”.