Our goal - Climate neutrality
We want to be the first chemical company in the world to offer its customers all products and services that are strictly CO2 neutral. The publication of our first greenhouse gas balance (GHG balance) for the 2018 financial year is the first step. Only those who know their CO2 emissions can reduce them in a targeted manner.
During accounting, we follow the guidelines of the internationally recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), the most common standard for accounting for corporate GHG emissions. The data were determined and evaluated transparently to the best of our knowledge and belief (see explanations).
Our goal is to map our “climate impact” in as much detail as possible. In our first GHG balance sheet, we have already shown all the shipments we have commissioned - this area is currently responsible for almost 91% of our total GHG emissions at MATSEN CHEMIE AG. We have developed a complex software solution for a valid data basis for this in recent year, which is integrated in our ERP system and provides us with reliable data on the quantities, means of transport and distances.
Climate protection out of conviction
We will expand the scope of GHG accounting every year and gradually include the production-related CO2 emissions of the chemicals we sell in the coming years. This project is associated with large time and financial resources, which is a great challenge for us as a new company in a business area that is very price sensitive. Nevertheless, we are convinced that our path is the right one. This is because, on the one hand, as a modern company, we want to live up to our social responsibility for climate protection and, on the other hand, sustainable management is the basis of our long-term corporate strategy. Economy and ecology are not contradictions in terms as if you save resources, you reduce emissions!
Total of all emissions
in 2018
Summery and detailed overview of the single categories
| t CO2e | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 0,00 | 0,00 | |
| - | - | - | |
| Scope 2 | 14,74 | 1,95% | |
| electricity | 3,41 | 0,45 | |
| natural gas | 0,26 | 0,03 | |
| heating oil | 11,07 | 1,46 | |
| Scope 3 | 741,57 | 98,05% | |
| 3.1 | Purchased goods and services | 8,31 | 1,10 |
| 3.3 | Fuel and energy related emissions | 2,97 | 0,39 |
| 3.4 | Transport and distribution (upstream) | 686,61 | 90,78 |
| 3.6 | Business trips | 38,34 | 5,07 |
| 3.7 | Commuting workers | 5,34 | 0,71 |
| Summe - Emissionen Total (t CO2e) | 756,31 | 100% | |
This greenhouse gas balance sheet covers all GHG emissions caused by MATSEN CHEMIE AG through its business activities within the defined system limits in 2018. In order to prevent possible uncertainties and to determine a realistic emission value, a safety margin of 5 percent was taken into account in the accounting. The accounting corresponds to the guidelines, principles and methods of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol "Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standards" and its extension, the "Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard".
The GHG Protocol defines the location of the cause and the control to which the respective emission sources are subject, i.e. from the three emission categories Scope 1, 2 and 3.
You can find our entire 2018 greenhouse gas balance sheet with all associated sources here (PDF).
Scope 2
Scope 3
Train
Car
Hotel
Flight
Prechain
Electricity
Natural gas
Heating oil
ÖPNV
Car
Paper products
Mobile phones
Laptops
Screens
Ships
Truck
GHG PROTOCOL ACCOUNTING GUIDELINES
- Relevance: Identification of all major emission sources within the organisational and operational system boundaries of the company.
- Completeness: Complete recording of all emissions within the selected system boundaries or along the value chain, as well as comprehensible justification and documentation of exceptions.
- Continuity: Consistent application of the selected accounting method over time to faciliate comparison with subsequent years.
- Transparency: Comprehensible documenting of the data used, the accounting method and all assumptions made.
- Accuracy: Avoiding systematic inaccuracies by ensuring high data quality thus guaranteeing real quantification of emissions.
CO2 EQUIVALENT (CO2e)
In addition to carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases contribute to increasing the greenhouse effect in the earth's atmosphere. These include, in particular, methane, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and various refrigerants. In order to make the effects of the different greenhouse gases comparable, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) defined the respective global warming potential of the individual chemical compounds. This expresses the heating effect of a certain amount of a greenhouse gas over a period of 100 years compared to CO2.
Categories according to the Green House Gas Protocol
SCOPE 1 records all direct GHG emissions that arise directly in the company or from its own business activities (including for heating its own buildings).
SCOPE 2 encompasses all indirect GHG emissions that arise in connection with the provision of wired energy (electricity and heat) by the energy suppliers. The rented office and laboratory space of MATSEN CHEMIE AG is heated by the landlord and this was billed via the additional costs, so that the associated GHG emissions were taken into account accordingly under SCOPE 2.
SCOPE 3 records all other indirect GHG emissions that arise from upstream and downstream company activities / process stages and are therefore not under the direct control of the company.
SCOPE 3 CATEGORIES
In this category, we currently record the paper consumption at the office location in Hamburg, as well as the communication technology used in daily work, namely mobile phones, laptops and computer screens. In the future, the office furniture purchased for our location in Hamburg, additional technical purchases (projectors, printers, telephones, etc.) and other consumables (coffee beans, packaging materials, hygiene products, cleaning agents, etc.) will also be included in the evaluation. Likewise, consumables used on our behalf by our logistics partners (pallets, plastic packaging, fastening materials, etc.).
The biggest challenge will be to gradually integrate all of the products we sell in this category and ultimately to ensure that all product related GHG emissions are recorded without gaps, from raw material extraction to the factory gate of our customers.
2 Not applicable. MATSEN CHEMIE AG does not have its own buildings, production facilities or vehicles. Consumer goods such as mobile phones, laptops, computer screens or office furniture, which could be listed under this category, are already included in category 1.
In this category, all indirect GHG emissions from the fuels recorded in Scope 1 and Scope 2 are taken into account. In this context, we consider the "grey energy", i.e. the amount of energy that is necessary in the upstream chain to be able to use the respective fuel (raw material extraction, production, storage transport) and the GHG emissions that result from this.
As a result of its scope, a detailed description of determining the GHG emissions for category 4 is given on the following page.
We currently do not record any GHG emissions caused by the recycling of waste. The household and recyclable waste generated on our premises mainly results from the catering the employees bring with them.
MATSEN CHEMIE AG works largely paperless, which is why only small amounts of wastepaper are generated. It is therefore not necessary to record these small quantities (effort / benefit analysis).
In the future, we want to record the waste generated on our behalf by our logistics partners in this category (disposal of pallets, plastic materials such as big bags, cardboard boxes, etc.) This should take place gradually from 2019.
In this category, in addition to emissions from hotel accommodation, we also record the relevant means of transport: airplanes, trains and cars (rental cars and the use of private cars for business travel purposes). Taxi rides are currently not taken into consideration. (Effort / benefit analysis).
In this category, we record the daily distance travelled between home and work for all employees working at the Hamburg location. For this purpose, we survey employees each year on the distance between their place of residence and the workplace, as well as the means of transport used for this journey. The calculation is then done on the basis of annual working days less annual leave and any other absences (business trips, illness, remote working)
Not applicable. MATSEN CHEMIE AG currently has no rented or leased property, plant or equipment.
Not applicable. Downstream shipments are defined as shipments that have been ordered and paid for by the buyer of the goods. Shipment of the products we sell is an elementary part of our sales strategy, so it is only in exceptional cases that goods are picked up at our warehouse locations by customers themselves.
Not applicable. With regard to the further processing of the products we deliver to our customers, we have no comprehensive and valid data. In addition, the possible uses of our products are so diverse that a uniform theoretical basis for calculation is not possible.
Not applicable (see point 10).
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
You can find our entire 2018 greenhouse gas balance sheet with all associated sources here (PDF).