With more than 30 manufacturing, fulfillment, warehouse, and office locations in countries throughout North America this food manufacturer wanted to get an accurate measure of their complete Scope 1 and 2 emissions and aspects of Scope 3. They also wanted to monitor and track water usage across all of their offices and facilities.
They chose to partner with SustainaBase because of our thorough process of mapping operations as well as automating the collection of relevant and material data. They recognized that this would allow them to see their organization through a carbon emissions lens for the first time. The resulting data visualization provides the essential views needed for actions related to Walmart’s Project Gigaton including:
- Setting SMART targets. These are targets that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-limited. At this point Walmart encourages Science-Based Targets, which SustainaBase supports, but Walmart doesn’t require companies to begin with them. Instead, they suggest that goals should reflect the maturity of the organization’s sustainability program.
- Engaging in CDP Reporting. CDP reporting is a framework that Walmart’s program suggests but does not mandate. In this case, the food manufacturing company will be using the data provided in the SustainaBase platform to report to the CDP.
Overall the goal of Project Gigaton is to avoid one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030 by engaging with their supply chain. Companies that commit to SMART goals among six defined pillars (energy, waste, packaging, agriculture, forests, or product use) and report emissions reductions during the annual reporting period are eligible for recognition as Sparking Change or Giga-Guru suppliers. The criteria for each of these recognition levels are being increased in September of 2021. For example to achieve the highest level, Giga-Guru, the “old” requirement was a SMART goal in one pillar and reporting impact for one pillar, which has been increased to three pillars or Science-Based Targets. Meanwhile, the Sparking Change category will be awarded to those suppliers that set a goal and report impact for one pillar.
Intelligence That Informs Reduction Strategies
In addition to getting a clear and data-driven carbon emissions and water footprint of the entire organization for the first time, the manufacturer is easily able to see where the largest emitting activities reside. They have a view of everything from electricity to refrigerants to on-site stationary energy usage and more across all of their facilities and assets. They also can easily see how their fleet contributes and what percent it comprises of the total footprint.
Water is a vital resource and one that is getting more conservation attention. Now they are able to visualize how water use fits into the bigger picture, where there are anomalous uses of water, and the largest users relative to other facilities.
Waste Reduction, Diversion and Tracking is Front and Center
The company is also participating in the 10x20x30 Champions program. This initiative is a commitment by the 10 largest food retailers, including Walmart, to engage 20 of their leading suppliers to cut their food waste in half by 2030. The SustainaBase system provides facility-level intelligence and data which enables regular management and optimization of waste reduction efforts. Waste data is notoriously unruly, often with different vendors servicing each site and often varying data sources by waste stream. There is an exciting opportunity to reduce carbon emissions via waste reduction since it impacts a range of things from the energy and resources that go into creating what becomes waste, to the fuel needed to transport the waste, and of course the energy and emissions involved in the incineration or landfill treatment. The SustainaBase system gives the company the data visualizations and insights they need to understand progress and meet their reduction goals.
Available Across Functional Areas
Governance is a key aspect of sound and responsible sustainability and ESG management. This food manufacturer is able to give executives throughout the organization immediate access to understand and manage the components that are relevant to their functional area.
All in One Place
Project Gigaton has multiple areas on which suppliers can focus their elimination efforts from food, product, and material waste, to packaging, energy and more. The SustainaBase system tracks all of these areas to give you the information and ongoing reporting needed to manage each and every sustainability aspect of your organization.
