A fast-growing pet company needed to know where emissions actually come from

Alvar Pet is a Finnish pet products company that has quickly grown its position as a responsible player in the pet industry. When the company began building a systematic sustainability programme, the first step was to find out where emissions actually come from.

Starting point

Alvar Pet had a clear intention: sustainability must not remain at the level of a slogan. The company wanted concrete numbers to back up customer communication and to make real changes. Emissions data, however, was not already compiled, as with most growth companies.

NGS started by mapping Alvar Pet’s operational structure and identifying where the emission sources are. Data collection was then handled as part of the project: the necessary information was requested from the supply chain, numbers were challenged, and calculation was done per GHG Protocol methodology.

What was done

The project covered Alvar Pet’s organisational carbon accounting Scope 1–3. Four significant emission sources were identified that together make up the majority of the company’s carbon footprint.

One key finding was the relative significance of electricity consumption. The share turned out to be surprisingly small in the overall picture, which directs reduction efforts in the right direction. The greatest opportunities for impact were found in the supply chain and product raw materials.

Result

Alvar Pet received a finished report, calculation files, and a clear picture of the starting points from which to continue emissions reduction work. The project created the foundation for future accounting and gave Alvar Pet the tools to communicate transparently about emissions to their stakeholders.