Climate change

Within the packaging industry, BOBST’s carbon footprint and impact on climate change occurs in several main areas.

The Group operates industrial sites, produces equipment, and ships machines and spare parts to its customers worldwide. All these activities consume energy (e.g. electricity and fuel) as well as natural resources (e.g. iron) and generate carbon emissions.

On the other end, the machinery sold by BOBST enables converters worldwide to produce packaging from a wide variety of substrates. However, their energy consumption is considerable and causes Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

When BOBST’s activities are broken down according to the GHG protocol, it turns out that the direct and energy-indirect emissions generated by the production of a BOBST machine (scopes 1 and 2) represent only a half-percent share of its overall carbon footprint. The highest impact, 99.5% of GHG emissions, occurs up & downstream in the value chain (scope 3), where BOBST has little leverage. This result points out an inverse relationship between BOBST’s direct scope of action and the carbon footprint of packaging in general.

Accountable for 77.6% of total BOBST GHG emissions in 2022, BOBST machines in the use phase at the converters’ plants over their lifetime represent the most significant fraction of the carbon footprint of the Group. Two main reasons explain the importance of GHG emissions related to the equipment sold by BOBST. First, a packaging machine consumes energy while operating. Second, a BOBST machine is designed to last (15 to 30 years), and thanks to the maintenance programs and solutions provided by BOBST services the machines can function optimally and for a long time. As the carbon footprint of the Group’s activities is primarily concentrated in its downstream GHG emissions (scope 3), BOBST has a crucial role to play in the design and maintenance of its machines to lower their environmental impact during their lifetime, jointly with clients.

The Group is committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which supports companies setting GHG targets consistent with the Paris Agreement. The latter aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. As a result, BOBST is currently working to define reduction targets based on this methodology and will announce them in its sustainability report 2023. The Group is also in the process of implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The goal is to identify the most material climate-related risks and opportunities over different time horizons and to assess their potential impacts on the business to enable decision-useful, forward-looking information.

Bobst Group aims to pursue the reduction of its carbon footprint to prevent climate change. BOBST is committed to reducing its scope 1 and 2 emissions which are under the Group’s direct operational control (e.g. energy used in operations).

In 2023, BOBST is assessing decarbonization options for its operational activities in the SBTi submission target process framework.

Reduction of scope 3 emissions is more a long-term effort. Dedicated streams take up this task, mainly the stream equipment, since machines in use at BOBST customers’ plants are responsible, over their lifetime, for the majority of scope 3 emissions. Reducing emissions from BOBST machines remains a priority area for action, and a reduction target for scope 3 is also in preparation for submission to SBTi.

Bobst Group shares climate change commitments and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions results externally, through its sustainability report, and internally, to the relevant experts and working group in charge of defining the action plan for emissions reduction.