Carbon Business Assessment

Introduction

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The Business Carbon Assessment was completed to the international standard BS EN ISO 14064-1 and the GHG protocol. Quantification of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions arising from business activities and product processing, are completed in accordance with emission factors of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting; conversion factors published by DEFRA, the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy for 2022.

 

Carbon equivalent data conversions were calculated in accordance with Greenhouse Gas Reporting: 2022 published by the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and industrial strategy. Additionally, the inventory of Carbon and Energy has provided carbon equivalent data conversions for complex materials. Emission Factor were taken from Environmental Protection Declaration(EPD) documents of relevant materials or estimated using data from Defra 2022, with reasonable assumptions.

 

The assessment is based on data categorised into three scopes as defined by the Green House Protocol. The assessment provides detailed qualification of GHG emissions due to:

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1. Scope 1: Direct emissions such as those arising from  travel or company owned vehicles and fuel consumption by heating.

2. Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electric usage.

3. Scope 3: Other indirect emissions. This includes usage of water, office-based materials, plastics, transportation activities carried out by external companies.

 

Specifically, the business carbon assessment aims to:

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1. Quantify total emissions, as part of a business carbon assessment, to highlight the key contributors to Cosmetic Consulting Companies annual emissions.

2. Breakdown data by scope and by source, to emphasise the origin of emission and potential ways to address these.

3. Compare carbon emissions from bamboo and plastic to highlight the environmentally beneficial solutions.

 

This Business Carbon Assessment was completed for Cosmetic Consulting Company and their brands Earthy Nail Polish, Mother Nailture and Celeste Make Up for period 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022.

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Data and Analysis

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Scope 1 Emissions

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As CCC does not own company freight vehicles nor company cars, in the test period the only scope one emission applicable is fuel consumption by heating.

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Scope 2 Emissions

 

Scope 2 emissions has a smaller number of contributing factors than scopes 1 and 3, and as a result is a simpler section to review. The sole emission source for source for Cosmetic Consulting Company for scope 2 was electricity usage.

 

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Scope 3 Emissions

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Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the upstream and downstream activities of an organisation. This is where the majority of CCC’s carbon emissions are produced. In order to identify the carbon emission we must first identify the life cycle of our products.

 

 

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We recognise the fact that not all of our finished goods are returned back to us by the end consumer – this may be due to the product still being in use (the product has a shelf life of 24 months once opened) or the end user has made the decision to dispose of the cap rather than return back to CCC.

 

The scope 3 breakdown can be categorised below.

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Clearly the largest contributor to emissions is air freight representing 46% of all scope 3 emissions.

 

 

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In fact 88% of all CCC emissions relate to freight.

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Discussion and Emission reduction

 

Scope 1

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Gas Heating related to 2.67tco2e of scope 1 emissions. It is possible to reduce these emissions by installing electric heating, though this would only result in a net decrease with a 100% renewable certified energy tariff. This would mean that your energy is provided by renewable options only, instead of fossil sources, thus reducing the carbon burden.

 

Scope 2

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CCC scope 2 emissions arise from electricity consumption. As cutting consumption is frequently an unreasonable demand, a logical solution is to use a multipronged method to lower the emission value. Solar panels can have an impact. If CCC’s electricity was supplied using solar energy this would reduce the emission burden by 1.66to2e.

 

 

Scope 3

 

CCC scope 3 emissions are largely generated from freight and a reduction of air freight would see a 5,262 tco2e reduction in emissions.  The use of EV road vehicles and rail would have the possibility of reducing 2236.92 tco2e

 

The use of bamboo as material instead of plastic has resulted in a beneficial 55.18 tco2e.

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Roadmap to Net Zero

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Total carbon emissions for CCC for the year ending 31st December 2022 was 11,341 tCO2e. As we already established the majority of the carbon emission is due to freight and the way goods are being moved. To that extent CCC will make  the following changes as part of the roadmap to net zero:

 

1. Introduce a ban on all air freight – CCC will be a none air freight company – saving 5,262 tCo2e

2. All freight in to be freighted by rail instead of road – saving 1,058 tCo2e

3. All freight out to be freighted by rail instead of road – saving 2,095 tCo2e

4. Increase return and reuse from 16% to 26% saving 666 tCo2e

5. Reduce the remaining amount CCC will carbon offset

 

Offsetting can be purchased using the gold standard projects such as:

https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/products/sustainable-carbon-projetos-ambientais-ltda-buenos-aires-renewable-energy-project

 

 

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Conclusion

 

In conclusion, Cosmetic Consulting Company has total emissions of 11,341 tCo2e which can be broken down by scope.

 

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Multiple carbon reduction options have been explored, with the emission reductions for implementing these calculated and applied to CCC roadmap to net zero. It is envisioned that implementing some or all of these options, CCC can significantly reduce their annual emissions.