Climate change

BOBST’s carbon footprint reduction to prevent climate change takes a high-priority position in the Group’s sustainability strategy. It is relevant for BOBST because the CO2 emissions of packaging production and consumption are considerable. Therefore, BOBST is committed to reducing the intake of energy and natural resources in all Group’s operations to decrease its carbon footprint.

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.

BOBST carbon footprint breakdown

When BOBST’s activities are broken down according to the GHG protocol (see detailed figures on page 21), 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.

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Scope 3 upstream –indirect GHG

Procurement of raw materials, business travel, staff commuting, water and waste treatment, transport inbound.

Scope 1 – direct GHG related to BOBST’s operations

Fuel from owned and leased vehicles, emissions from burning fuels on BOBST sites (e.g. manufacturing and heating).

Scope 2 – indirect GHG

Related

to BOBST’s

Operations

Purchased electricity.

Scope 3 downstream –

indirect GHG

Energy consumed by the machines (sold in the report year) during their whole lifetime, transport outbound of machines and spare parts.

Most of BOBST’s GHG emissions occur at the customer’s premises

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 (see section Extending the life of BOBST machines page 57). 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 (see TCFD details below on page 69).

2022 carbon accounting of the Group’s activities

Since the publication of its first full GHG protocol aligned carbon accounting in 2021, BOBST has strived to improve the quality of the datasets and emission factors used. The figures presented here integrate these slight methodological changes, including recalculations of past emissions for better comparability (1). In the carbon accounting for 2022, all local entities for which the Group has operational control have been taken into account (except for Bieling & Petsche Stanzforme, Cito Group, Gordon, and Boxplan, which are entities that do not operate under the BOBST brand).

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(1) Changes in 2021 (base year)

– Scope 3 – Machine use: Improvement of the data collection method and update of the electrical mix emission factor has a significant impact (-35% compared to the value in SR 2021);

– Scope 3 – Transportation: The emission factor for the transportation of machines sold by road has been updated (-19% compared to the value in SR 2021) with a minor impact on the total.

Changes in 2019

– Scope 3 – Machine use: Improvement of the data collection method and update of the electrical mix emission factor has a significant impact (-44% compared to the value in BOBST SR 2021);

– Scope 1 & 2 – The update of the emission factors followed minor changes in emission values.

Changes in 2019 and 2021

Business travel accounting for 2019 and 2021 was updated after identifying an aggregation error. However, this correction has a minor impact on the total emissions for both years.

Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) – scopes 1 to 3 (in tonnes of CO2 equivalent)

BOBST’s scopes 1 and 2 have slightly increased since last year but have largely been counterbalanced by a decrease in scope 3. The latter was mainly due to a lower impact of the machine use phase due to product mix sales. In contrast, procurement and business travel emissions increased, mainly due to the end of Covid restrictions, especially in Asia.

Databases, tools, standards, and methodologies used in the calculation

All gases mandatory to be reported by the GHG protocol were included in the count, i.e. carbon dioxide, methane, HFCs, nitrous oxide, nitrogen trifluoride, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.

Databases used: Ecoinvent 3.8, DEFRA 2021, and Exiobase Input-Output database.

The tool used: SIMAPro.

Method of impact calculation: IPCC 2021 GWP100.

Standard used: GHG protocol standard.

The methodology relies on the GHG protocol standard for scope 3 and a spend-based method for procurement. Other indirect (scope 3) GHG emissions categories and activities included in the calculation: procurement, energy upstream, waste, water, business travel, commute, distribution of machines, machine use, and distribution of spare parts.

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Objectives for 2023

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 (see Machinery energy consumption on page 55), 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.

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Energy consumption is a key issue in BOBST’s sustainability strategy. In all the countries where the Group operates, it monitors and manages the consumption of the energy required for its industrial and service activities. BOBST makes energy savings where possible. It also invests in the infrastructure of its local entities to reduce their consumption or to enable them to produce renewable energy.

Within the framework of its operational activities, Bobst Group uses energy from renewable sources (solar photovoltaic), fossil fuels (methane, propane, diesel, fuel oil) or from the grid (electricity).

Energy shortage and soaring costs

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Solar energy –

For local entities equipped with photovoltaic panels, the electricity produced is either used, in addition to the power purchased from local suppliers, or fed back into the public grid. Within the Bobst Group, the production of photovoltaic solar energy represents 11.6% of the total electricity consumption.

The global energy crisis and soaring electricity and fuel prices have a direct impact on the operating costs of BOBST’s production and service sites. In many of the countries where it operates, the Group must also comply with new government directives concerning the reduction of gas and electricity consumption by individuals and companies.

Non-renewable energy

–

At BOBST, fossil fuels are used to heat the premises, for certain production processes and for company vehicles used for business travel. In Switzerland, the Mex site has a fossil gas-fired combined heat and power system. This system not only contributes to the heating of the buildings, but also produces electricity that is consumed directly on site.

In terms of indirect energy consumption, the machines manufactured and sold by the Bobst Group use energy both upstream and downstream of the value chain (see breakdown of BOBST’s carbon footprint in the section Climate change on page 21).

Bobst Group has thus taken measures to limit the impact of these actions on its activities and costs and has also developed crisis scenarios in case of shortage:

– Analysis of gas and electricity needs of seven of its European production sites;

– Installation of adapted generators at six European production sites to prevent possible load shedding or power cuts. There was no need to use this equipment in 2022.

At the same time, the energy supply contracts were reviewed.

Sustainable energy management

BOBST follows the commitments of the Charter of Bobst Group policy with regard to health, safety at work and environmental protection to define the axes of its energy management policy and the reduction of its environmental impact (see carbon footprint in the section Climate change on page 21). All over the world, projects and initiatives are underway. In Europe, BOBST is studying and investing in several projects to increase and diversify its production of renewable energy, to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the Group’s dependence on the

Energy consumed by the Bobst Group in 2022

All energy sources combined, the total consumption of BOBST’s operational activities in 2022 is equivalent to 66 530 MWh.

During the same period, the Group’s sites equipped with solar photovoltaic installations produced 4 895 MWh, of which 168 MWh were sold/reinjected into the public grid.

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The figures in this table are taken from the Group’s carbon footprint databases (see Climate change section page 21) and have been processed according to Conversion factors from DEFRA 2021

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