Back on track
After 2019's increase, we were able to reduce our greenhouse gas balance.
Due to the corona pandemic, the GHG emissions from our business travel activities have been reduced by 98.8%. However, the decrease in transport-related GHG emissions had an even more decisive effect on the overall footprint: here we were able to record a decrease of 8.1% - which corresponds to approx. 63 tons - to almost 719 tons of CO2 equivalent.
On the one hand, this is due to the expansion of direct transports as well as a differentiation between inland waterway and truck transports within Germany that we have been able to show since this accounting period, but primarily to a significant reduction in sea transports carried out.
Reduced and compensated twice
Finally, our greenhouse gas balance for 2020 shows an absolute total of 747.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, which corresponds to a reduction of almost 108 tonnes or 12.6% compared to the previous year's value. Since the sales volume of our products has even increased significantly compared to the previous year, we were able to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions per 1000 kg sales volume by 25% to 83.36 kg of CO₂ equivalent.
We offset the determined 747.5 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by using recycled marine fuels and purchasing respectivly cancelling carbon offsets. During the last UN climate conference in Glasgow it became clear again that the current measures by the member states won't be sufficient to achieve the 1.5 ° target. This is why climate neutrality does not seem enough to us this year.
For this reasion, we have doubled our total compensation this year to 1,495 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, so that we have been working climate-positive since 2020.
You can find all information and background information here >
Total of all emissions
in 2020
Summary and detailed overview of the single categories
t CO2e | % | Difference to 2018 (base year) |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
Scope 1 | 0,00 | 0,00% | - | |
- | - | - | - | |
Scope 2 | 6,75 | 0,9% | -54,25% | |
Electricity | 0,13 | 0,02% | -96,08% | |
Natural gas | 0,3 | 0,04% | +14,59% | |
District heating | 6,4 | 0,84% | ||
Heating oil | 0,00 | -100% | 0,00% | |
Scope 3 | 740,77 | 99,1% | -0,11% | |
3.1 | Purchased goods and services | 16,47 | 2,20% | +98,19% |
3.3 | Fuel and energy related emissions | 1,69 | 0,23% | -43,05% |
3.4 | Transportation and distribution (upstream) | 718,80 | 96,16% | +4,69% |
3.6 | Business travel | 0,43 | 0,06% | -98,87% |
3.7 | Employee commuting | 3,37 | 0,45% | -37,00% |
total emissions (t CO2e) | 747,51 | 100% | -1,2% |
This greenhouse gas balance covers all carbon emissions caused by MATSEN CHEMIE AG through its business activities within the defined inventory boundaries in 2020.
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 Standard" and its extension, the "Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard". The determination of the data and their evaluation was carried out transparently and to the best of our knowledge and belief.
You can find our entire 2020 carbon footprint with all associated sources and emission factors here>.
GHG emissions in KG CO2e per 1000kg of products sold
Electricity
District heating
Natural gas
Seagoing ship
Truck
Barge & airfreight
Train
Car
Hotel accomodation
Public transportation
Car
Telephones
Packaging material
Scope 2
Scope 3
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.
GHG Protocol accounting guidlines
- 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.
Categories according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol
According to the place of origin and the control to which the respective emission sources are subject, they are classified in one of the three emission categories, Scope 1, 2 or 3.
SCOPE 1 records all direct GHG emissions that arise directly in the company or from its own business activities (e.g. 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. SCOPE 3 records all other indirect GHG emissions that arise from upstream and downstream company activities / process stages, therefore beeing not under the direct control of the company.
SCOPE 3 CATEGORIES
In this category we currently record the office furniture purchased for our office location in Hamburg, the paper consumption and the communication technology used in daily work: mobile phones, telephones, laptops / tablets and computer screens.
In addition, since this year we have been recording all purchased consumables that are used by our logistics partners when products are refilled / repackaged (pallets, big bags, plastic packaging, etc.).
Further technical purchases (printer, projector, etc.) as well as additional consumables (coffee beans, hygiene articles, cleaning agents, etc.) are checked annually- in case of significant quantities that justify a recording after a cost-benefit analysis, they will be included into the balance sheet,
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 2020 carbon footprint with all associated sources and emission factors here>.