With data towards climate neutrality
From 2030 thyssenkrupp Materials Services aims to be climate neutral. To this end we are already setting ourselves ambitious targets: Indirect emissions in our value chain (Scope 3) - particularly from the use of our products - are to be reduced by at least 16% in the next few years. With the Product Carbon Footprint calculator (PCF calculator) we have now developed a way to accurately calculate emissions for every product in the thyssenkrupp Materials Services portfolio.
Emissions transparency for the entire supply chain
For the metal processing industry in particular, it will become increasingly relevant in the future to determine the environmental footprint of their own products. In the future, companies will have to be able to identify and sustainably reduce this footprint along the entire supply chain. Accordingly, demand for reliable and up-to-date data on product carbon footprints is high among our customers.
With the PCF calculator it is now possible to calculate this footprint for each product individually and track the total CO2e emissions of an order. "We are already meeting an important customer need with this," says Frank Thelen, Head of Governance and Procurement at thyssenkrupp Materials Services. "To capture the full footprint of a product, you need input data from all suppliers. We offer our customers the first complete solution for calculating the product carbon footprint - at order as well as supply item level."
From production to the gate
The complex calculation incorporates data from the product's manufacture to its delivery to the customer's gate - in short, "from cradle to gate." To this end, the tool collects all emissions that are emitted throughout the supply chain. The data is assigned to the individual order items according to the standards of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol - an internationally recognized standard for recording all greenhouse gas emissions of a product. This allows customers to view the emissions of each of the products supplied by thyssenkrupp Materials Services.
"The Product Carbon Footprint calculator is an important milestone on the way to achieving our own climate targets, but also those of our customers," says Frank Thelen. "Because with the data from the calculations, our customers have exact baseline data for their own PCF calculations. On this basis we can advise our customers so that, for example, products from other manufacturing processes with lower CO2e emissions can be used in the future. In this way, we are making an important contribution to the climate neutrality of our customers' products."
Reducing the product carbon footprint through green steel
From 2023, one of the steel grades in the thyssenkrupp Materials Services product portfolio that customers can use to reduce their Scope 3 emissions will be Green Steel from Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, whose emissions are already 80 to 95 percent below the industry average. Frank Thelen says: "As steel products have a comparatively high carbon footprint, this data is particularly critical. Even a reduction of 10 to 20 percent for such a product is already a major step forward for the climate. That's why full transparency across the entire supply chain is so important. Only then will stakeholders be able to make decisions and take action."
As there is likely to be an undersupply of "green" steel at present and over a longer period, customers of thyssenkrupp Materials Services have the option of obtaining so-called Voluntary Climate Credits (VCC) to help them reduce the PFC of their products and make an important contribution to climate protection in the process.
Calculation model already certified
The system for calculating the product carbon footprint has already been certified by the international classification society DNV. The next step is to integrate the data from the PCF calculator into the SAP system of thyssenkrupp Materials Services. The information can then be printed on every delivery bill and specified per delivery item. This process is to be introduced at all MX companies worldwide by March 2023.