AkzoNobel using 100% renewable electricity in North America
AkzoNobel (AKZA; AKZOY) is materializing its ambition of reducing the company’s carbon emissions in operations by 50 percent by 2030 through driving continuous energy efficiency and transitioning to 100 percent renewable electricity across all our sites globally. In North America, the company has achieved a milestone with the use of 100 percent renewable electricity now in place at all locations including manufacturing, offices, warehouses and research and development facilities.
“We’ve aligned our own sustainability ambitions with the Paris agreement, which aims to limit global warming and ensure that global temperature rise does not exceed 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels,” said John Griffin, North America Regional Director, and Commercial Director of Automotive and Specialty Coatings. “It’s gratifying to be the first paints and coatings company to set science-based sustainability targets by announcing carbon reduction targets for the full value chain and doing what we said we would do by using 100 percent renewable electricity.”
The AkzoNobel manufacturing facility in Garcia, Mexico uses solar panels for 80 percent of its electricity.
AkzoNobel’s target is to reduce carbon emissions for the whole value chain by 50 percent by 2030 (baseline 2018). This will apply to the company’s own operations, as well as its partners, such as customers and suppliers. The targets were officially validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in September 2021.
In 2017, the company already joined the RE100 initiative uniting the world's most influential businesses committed to 100 percent renewable electricity – developed by the international non-profit organization The Climate Group in partnership with CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project).
Examples of how AkzoNobel is achieving its ambitions include:
Lowering energy consumption
·Energy efficiency – improving the energy efficiency of equipment and installations, including LED and compressed air systems.
·A strong focus on behavior –we create awareness (for example by making energy use visible), and actively manage shutdown management and resource efficiency.
Shifting to 100% renewable electricity
·Self-generated renewable electricity – by installing solar panels at a number of our locations. We’re in the process of continuously increasing this number as part of a global program.
·Source renewable electricity – the electricity generated by our solar panels cover part of our total electricity consumption needs. For the remainder, we’ll continue to purchase renewable electricity with certificates of origin, power purchase agreements and Guarantees of Origins.
About AkzoNobel
We supply the sustainable and innovative paints and coatings that our customers, communities – and the environment – are increasingly relying on. That’s why everything we do starts with People. Planet. Paint. Our world class portfolio of brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens and Interpon – is trusted by customers around the globe. We’re active in more than 150 countries and have set our sights on becoming the global industry leader. It’s what you’d expect from a pioneering paints company that’s committed to science-based targets and is taking genuine action to address globally relevant challenges and protect future generations.
