SIG is the first in the industry to produce all its packs using 100% renewable energy – electricity and gas – at production sites worldwide. By effectively eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from production, this represents a major milestone on SIG’s journey to go Way Beyond Good by contributing more to society and the environment than it takes out.

SIG has met its 2020 goal to source 100% renewable energy and Gold Standard CO₂ offset for all non-renewable energy at production plants two years early. The company made the switch to 100% renewable electricity in 2017 and is now sourcing renewable alternatives for the remaining energy used in production that comes from natural gas.

SIG is purchasing biogas certificates that are certified to the recognised GoldPower^® standard to offset 100% of the natural gas used at its production sites as of 1 January 2018.

Arnold Schuhwerk, SIG’s Global Category Manager for energy procurement, said:

“We achieved a big milestone last year by securing 100% renewable electricity for production. Sourcing renewable alternatives for gas was even more challenging because the market for renewable biogas is not yet well established.”

With no viable option to source renewable biogas directly, SIG is sourcing it indirectly instead by supporting projects to construct and operate waste-to-energy systems in China, Thailand and Turkey that capture gas generated at landfill sites and use it to produce renewable energy.

Landfill gas from decomposing waste includes large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Preventing this gas from escaping into the atmosphere helps to avoid harmful climate impacts.

The projects are certified to the GoldPower^® standard which verifies that they will not only deliver measurable greenhouse gas emissions reductions, but also create benefits for local communities, such as air or water quality improvements or job opportunities.

“We are supporting projects that capture harmful greenhouse gases from landfill and convert these into energy. We chose the projects because they are certified to a recognised standard to make sure they have a positive social impact as well as supporting environmental savings,” said Schuhwerk.

All other remaining greenhouse gas emissions from production sites, such as small amounts released in the printing process, are also being offset to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from production.

The switch to renewable gas will save an estimated 28,600 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions per year. This will make an important contribution towards SIG’s science-based targets to cut Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 – and by 60% by 2040 – from the 2016 base-year.

By reducing the climate impact of SIG’s solutions, this latest step to go Way Beyond Good will also help customers cut the lifecycle impacts of their products and meet their own sustainability goals.