Sustainable development at ifolor
SIGG bottles instead of PET, home working options, strict waste separation and recyclable product components – just a few examples of the measures taken to reduce CO2 emissions further. At the same time, the company is increasing its donations to offset projects. Since 2011, ifolor has committed itself to the goal of “50% emissions reduction by 2020”. This was already achieved in 2016 in close cooperation with Swiss Climate.
In 2016, the emissions reduction target of -50% was exceeded compared with the 2011 baseline. There were also around 3% emissions savings in 2020 compared with 2019.
The year-on-year changes in the business travel segment were of particular interest:
- 67% pandemic-related
- 45% commuting
In addition, heating emissions were reduced by 9% through increased working from home.
The largest reduction since the start of measurements in 2011 was achieved by switching to 100% electricity from Swiss hydropower.
The reasons for the fluctuations since 2016 can be explained as follows: The increase in individual items has been offset by the decrease in other items. These increases are mainly attributable to hazardous waste, which is the result of the insourcing of two products.
By investing in offset projects, we were able to offset some CO2 emissions in 2020:
- With the forest protection project in Switzerland and the Republic of Congo, ifolor was able to offset 437 tonnes of CO2.
- An additional 237 tonnes were offset by supporting a project for the use of energy-efficient cookers in Ghana.
Small savings in everyday work have contributed to a heightened awareness and further opportunities for savings. These include switching off the lights at the end of the working day, continuous waste separation in offices and production halls, dispensing with PET bottles and introducing Tupperware for takeaways at the Zurich office.
“By increasing the proportion of recycled photographic chemicals used in photographic paper processing, we aim to save at least 12 tonnes of hazardous waste and thereby further improve our CO2 balance sheet at the same time.” Andreas Schmidt, Head of Quality Management Systems”
In addition, the newly introduced sales promotions support various climate projects. For example, 7,000 trees were planted through the Happy Hour – Happy Earth campaign. On Ocean’s Day, orders generated a donation of CHF 4,500 to the PADI Aware Foundation. Thanks to positive feedback, the next campaign will start at the end of the year: https://www.ifolor.ch/en/happy-earth.
In the future, further measures will be implemented to reduce waste, introduce sustainable products and further save energy, and a new climate target will be defined with the partner Swiss Climate. Internally, the company will continue to raise awareness of sustainability and is planning further marketing campaigns.
The graphics are taken from the internal report on CO2 management by Swiss Climate AG.