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Sonoco targets 15% drop in greenhouse gas emissions
Packaging company Sonoco is voluntarily targeting a 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s 300+ global manufacturing plants by 2014.
Harris E DeLoach Jr – chairman, president and CEO – announced the new voluntary emission reduction goal in a letter to stakeholders from the company’s 2009–2010 Sustainability Report, which was issued today.
“Last year, we committed to reducing GHG emissions from our uncoated recycled paper mills in the US and Canada by approximately 15% by 2013,” he said. “I’m pleased to report that our efforts in 2009 led to an approximate 13% reduction. We have put in place a global web-based environmental management system which collects GHG emissions from all of our international manufacturing facilities. We have taken this data, established 2008 as our baseline year, and set a goal of reducing GHG emission from our more than 300 manufacturing facilities by 15% by 2014.”
DeLoach said the significant progress Sonoco made in 2009 towards reducing GHG emission came from decreasing energy consumption and by converting steam boilers at some of the company’s paperboard mills to less carbon-intensive fuels.
As an example, overall energy consumption at Sonoco’s North American paperboard mills was reduced by 3.3% in 2009, which saved the company approximately $2.2m and reduced GHG and other emissions. Further projects are under way at company mills in North America, Italy and Greece.
Source: Sonoco
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