Essity shows progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Essity has published details for each topic of the 2022 Annual and Sustainability Report. Regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the company has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and has scientific targets for scopes 1, 2 and 3, covering its own operations and the value chain of its suppliers.

In this regard, the company has increased its ambitions for the existing Science-Based Targets in Scope 1 and 2: the company has a clear strategy on how it will achieve these targets and the most important priorities have been identified. These actions will encompass the entire value chain, from raw materials, production, distribution, and consumer use to the management of used products.

Essity has also joined the United Nations Global Compact’s “Business Ambition to 1.5°C”. The climate targets are aligned with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement to reduce global warming. The initiative is supported by the CDP, World Resources Institute (WRI), WWF and UN Global Compact.

THE ROAD TO ZERO NET EMISSIONS

Essity focuses on the following areas to achieve its net zero emissions ambition:

• Sustainable innovations: Through sustainable innovation and daily improvements, Essity has reduced the carbon footprint across the company’s different product offerings by up to 43% over a ten-year period in Europe. The Essity’s Group target is that at least 50% of the company’s innovations lead to social and/or environmental improvements. In 2022, the result was 68%.
• Climate-smart materials: The company collaborates with its suppliers to develop sustainable products with a focus on alternative, renewable and recycled materials, and encourages them to set targets and increase their use of renewable energy.
• Fossil fuel-free tissue production: The company’s tissue manufacturing is an energy-intensive process and one of its most important tasks to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is therefore to become free of fossil fuels. To achieve this, measures include increasing the use of low-carbon hydrogen, biomass, biogas, geothermal steam, and electrification in its tissue processes.
• Resource Efficiency: Essity has extensive experience working with resource efficiency, including in its M-Save and E-Save programs which focus on material and energy efficiency in tissue manufacturing. The reduction in CO2 emissions per ton produced between 2005 and 2022 was 23%. During the 2022 energy crisis, additional measures were taken, such as investing in the ability to use a wider variety of fuels, allowing the company to react quickly to peak market prices, as well as conducting global training courses on the most effective ways to reduce energy use.
• Breakthrough technology: In 2021, Essity started making tissue using wheat straw Essity’s facility in Mannheim, Germany is the world’s first facility in the tissue industry to use these agricultural by-products for large-scale production.
• Zero production waste: Essity works to make production waste a valuable resource while reducing your greenhouse gas emissions. The goal for 2030 is for all production waste to be subject to material and energy recovery. In 2022, the total amount of production waste decreased and 62% was recycled.
• Clean transport: The company continues to reduce emissions on its transportation network by maximizing load fill, optimizing routes and gradually shifting to lower emission fuels. In addition, it is integrating sustainability into its global transport model, adding emission factors as a way to optimize load planning.
• Less waste after use: To reduce product and packaging waste, Essity is developing innovative solutions to reduce consumption, as well as new business models for recycling after use. To handle recycling, the company has also improved the recyclability of paper and plastic packaging. The company still offers compostable paper products to reduce waste, and the Tork PaperCircle recycling service has expanded to ten markets.

To ensure the achievement of its goals, Essity has appointed a steering committee led by members of the Executive Management Team. In addition, the company is also identifying the impact of climate change on its business using the TCFD framework.

Read more about Essity’s strategic priorities, earnings and leadership work in sustainability in the 2022 Annual and Sustainability Report, which can be downloaded at www.essity.com.