Sibelco set Scope 3 carbon emission targets

Targets set for Scope 3 emissions reductions in partnership with customers and supply chain

FURTHER to their ambitious Scope 1–2 carbon emission reduction targets that were set in 2021, Sibelco have now set out their targets for driving Scope 3 emission reductions in partnership with customers and their supply chain.

Between 2021 and the end of 2026, Sibelco will engage with customers and suppliers that account for at least two-thirds of Sibelco’s total Scope 3 emissions on their use of SBTi guidance and tools to set science-based carbon emission reduction targets. This is in line with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) ‘well below 2°C’ scenario.

Sibelco’s Scope 3 emission profile was calculated as the equivalent of 12,161 ktonnes of carbon equivalent for the baseline year 2021. The significant majority of this was emitted in the processing of products sold to customers – particularly those in the glass and ceramics industries.

Commenting on the new target, Sibelco chief executive officer Hilmar Rode said: ‘Industry partnerships are vital in achieving the carbon emission reductions necessary to limit global warming to well below 2°C compared with pre-industrial levels.

‘Sibelco have been working with key customers and logistics partners for many years on improved carbon efficiency. The targets that we are announcing today formalize our commitments and we look forward to engaging with an even broader group of customers and transportation companies over the coming years.’

In 2021, Sibelco set out a target of reducing Scope 1–2 emissions intensity (tonnes CO2e/revenue) by 5% per year from 2021 to 2030, cumulatively 37%. This intensity-reduction target is one of the toughest set by any business in the industrial minerals sector. Sibelco will invest approximately €90 million in new technologies and operational excellence initiatives between 2021 and 2030 to support their goal.

The baseline for Sibelco’s Scope 1–2 emissions is 527 ktonnes CO2e, ie the equivalent of 0.40kg CO2e/€ ex-works revenue. This includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.

The baseline for Sibelco’s Scope 3 emissions is 12,161 ktonnes of CO2e. This includes emissions linked to the processing of Sibelco’s minerals by customers, transport of minerals and other products to and from Sibelco’s operations, and other Scope 3 categories such as waste, end-of-life emissions, purchased goods and services, and business travel and commuting.

Based on the above sum of Scope1-2 and 3 emissions, Sibelco’s total baseline for 2021 was 12,688 ktonnes of CO2e.