Dive Brief:

• The Science Based Targets initiative approved Billerud’s updated emissions reduction goals, the Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer announced last week.
• The company committed to reducing scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030 from a 2022 baseline, and to reduce scope 3 emissions by 25% in that same time frame. SBTi approved Billerud’s previous goals in 2018.  
• Billerud says it has already has made significant progress in Europe and will continue work there, but it expects the largest upcoming emissions reductions to occur from its North American operations.

Dive Insight:

Billerud recently updated several sustainability metrics and re-crunched certain numbers, according to the 2023 sustainability report it released in March. The revisions set 2022 as the new baseline year. In part, Billerud said the changes occurred to account for its acquisition of Verso in 2022. 

The sustainability report also mentions the company’s “high ambitions” for energy improvements and decarbonization in North America — more so than in Europe, where numerous efforts have already occurred. This includes phasing out tire-derived fuel and substituting fossil-based fuel with biofuel.

“The dependence on oil and gas is higher at our North American operations where about 28% of our energy consumption is fossil-fuel based in our mills. Our mills in Europe are 98% fossil-fuel free,” the company said in its sustainability report.

Billerud also noted in its sustainability report the industrywide opportunity to employ carbon capture systems — both those that store the carbon and those that use it. It says that demand for these “is believed to increase rapidly in the next few years,” and the company is investigating the opportunity in more depth. It cites looking at two such carbon capture projects: one in collaboration with Norway-based company Viken Skog and another with Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. 

On the materials side, Billerud says the paper and packaging materials it produces are “fully recyclable and produced with responsibly sourced cellulose fibers.” In 2023, the company’s European material portfolio “was the first in the industry to be third-party assessed as 100% recyclable according to proposed EU legislation,” its website says.

Billerud’s goals that SBTi approved in 2018 included a 2030 target to reduce direct GHG emissions from its own operations and indirect emissions from purchased energy by at least 59% compared to 2016 levels. In addition, it aimed to reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchases of goods and services by at least 30% by 2030, compared to 2016 levels.

Billerud notes on its website that in 2023 it sat at 15% progress toward the new scope 1 and 2 goal of a 42% reduction by 2030. It charted 13% towards its new scope 3 goal of a 25% reduction by 2030.

Under SBTi's definition, direct greenhouse gas emissions from own operations and indirect emissions from purchased energy would be counted as scope 1 and 2 emissions, while indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchases of goods and services would qualify as scope 3 emissions. 

Other packaging companies also received SBTi approval for targets over the last year, including Amcor, which committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 54.6%, and scope 3 by 32.5%, by 2033.