Kingspan Group 'Cuts GHG Emissions by 65%'

High-performance insulation specialist Kingspan Group says it has cut its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 65% since 2020.

The claim is made in the company’s fourth annual ‘Planet Passionate’ sustainability report. 

The report says that, in 2023, the company achieved Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reductions of 40%, a result it says is explained by the introduction of its business-wide ‘internal carbon price’ in January 2023.

An internal carbon charge is a fee that a company charges itself on a per-ton basis that can be used to drive decision-making at the margin, reduce costs, or align internal culture with wider decarbonisation efforts.

Among measures the company says it has taken are:

• Launching a bio-based hemp insulation product, HemKor, as well as new lower-carbon ranges across its flooring, ceiling and insulated-panel products
• Installing solar photovoltaic systems on nearly half of its sites, to boost on-site renewable energy generation 
• Recycling 858 million waste plastic bottles in 2023.
• Selling enough rainwater tanks in 2023 to fill an estimated 500 million baths

Scope 3 emissions key to global warming targets

Greenhouse gas emissions are categorised into three groups, or 'Scopes'. Scopes 1 and 2 are emissions that are owned or controlled by a company. 

As such, Scope 1 covers emissions from burning fuel in a fleet of vehicles, whereas Scope 2 are emissions a company causes indirectly, when the energy it purchases and uses is produced. Energy for an electric fleet of vehicles, for example. 

However, it is Scope 3 emissions that hold the key to making serious headway on reaching global net-zero targets by 2050. 

Scope 3 emissions are those not produced by a company itself, or a result of activities controlled by them, but emissions they are indirectly responsible for up and down its supply chain. 

Kingspan’s 10-year Planet Passionate sustainability programme is designed to help it decarbonise its operations and supply chain. 

The company has committed to challenging science-based targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) covering Scopes 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions.

Its aim is to achieve a 90% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 operations emissions compared to 2020, and a 42% reduction in Scope 3 emissions. The report mentions progress only on Scopes 1 and 2 emissions. 

Bianca Wong, Global Head of Sustainability at Kingspan Group, said: “Our global team has completed 300 projects across the business since 2020 to help us realise our sustainability targets. 

“With the majority of Kingspan’s value chain emissions coming from our upstream supply chain, we are working closely with our key supply partners to reduce the carbon intensity of our key raw materials. 

“This work has enabled us to bring new lower embodied carbon products to market in 2023.”