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Superfos, manufacturers of injection moulded plastic packaging, has developed a tool that enables precise calculations of the carbon footprint of each packaging solution. The goal is to reach lower CO2 emissions through green innovations.

The packaging manufacturer has an ongoing focus on reaching a smaller carbon footprint. The CO2 tool calculates each packaging container’s precise CO2 emissions through the choice of raw material, energy consumption in production, transport and disposal.

“The calculator is both an important part of our carbon footprint strategy and our response to an increasing customer wish combined with a lack of market standards in this field.

"Though packaging accounts for only 10% of an average product’s total CO2 emission, there is still room for improvement. And precise calculations give us a head start on reaching a smaller carbon footprint because it enables us to pick out the best way to take action,” said Product Design Manager Torben Noer from Superfos.

As energy systems and waste disposal are very different from country to country, it used to be difficult to calculate the actual footprint on each market. However, this problem is solved in Superfos’ calculator.

A real break-through, according to Torben Noer: “Our calculator enables us to differentiate between the waste handling, energy systems and recovery systems in each market including whether there is a recycling system or not.

"Furthermore, the calculations show that the use of virgin plastic is environmentally expensive, so we are focusing on various ways to reduce the need for virgin material. In one calculation, natural fillers save about 7 grams of CO2 on each container. Added up to a million containers, this equals the CO2 emission from an average car driving all the way around the world!”