Altyor has taken the spontaneous step of carrying out its carbon assessment. Yes, spontaneous! This means that we were not obliged to do so, but that it seemed so essential.
And what’s more, because we like challenges and want to do things right, we didn’t just do it on the first two scopes (our direct emissions and those linked to our energy consumption) but also on the one that (often) weighs most heavily in the balance sheet and is (too often) forgotten: scope 3, which concerns all our indirect emissions (waste, purchases, business travel, etc.).
After nearly six months of data collection on the energy generated, materials used, business travel, freight, etc. and twenty or so meetings, Altyor’s carbon footprint was presented to all Altyormates.
Review of our carbon footprint’s top priorities
Our super external auditor (an enthusiast, like us!) highlighted 4 themes to prioritise in order to reduce the environmental footprint of Altyor and its little sisters:
The raw materials
The manufacturing generated by the materials we use for our products is a key factor in our carbon footprint. Nearly 70% of our plastic materials used are recycled materials, so we need to work harder! The second lever will be to reduce the percentage of materials used in their design, in order to reduce the weight of the products. Finally, the sobriety of packaging is also an important element in reducing the environmental footprint of each product. Yes! We will continue to pester our customers (but always nicely) to use less virgin material, more recycled material, less packaging… But we are lucky, more and more of them are thinking about other alternatives!
The energies
This mainly concerns the energy generated in the use of products: products on mains, battery, battery. Our electronics design office has been aware of these issues for several years and for each product development, it looks for less energy-consuming components and the right size of batteries to reduce their consumption.
Transport
Obviously, transport is a lever in the carbon balance. It is therefore necessary to anticipate production needs as much as possible in order to optimise shipments (and obviously avoid air transport at all costs).
The end of life
The end-of-life of products is also an important issue and is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. For two years now, Altyor has been developing its own French recycling network. The objective for 2022 is to encourage our customers to choose product reuse or material recyclability in their business model. But we won’t tell you more about that. We’re working on it so that we can offer our customers a ‘cherry on top’ solution!
Additional actions
This snapshot provides results that lead to choices about the way we work. In addition to incorporating more recycled materials, reducing the weight of products or optimising the energy of products in use, some other levers are possible for a low carbon strategy, such as :
- Reducing the energy consumption of sites
- Implement a mobility plan (carpooling, etc.)
- Extending the life of equipment
- Consideration of carbon impact in procurement and projects
The hardest part of the job is to make these measures a reality. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get going!
More and more commitments that we will share with you throughout the year!
Want to do your own individual carbon assessment? Indeed, sobriety is also a personal matter. On the ADEME website, you can create your own, and thus implement individual actions in your daily life: https://nosgestesclimat.fr/
How to calculate and analyse the ecological footprint of your product?
Life cycle assessment is the starting point for understanding the environmental impact of your product. To understand the ins and outs of what is known as LCA (life cycle assessment), we have put together 14 answers that will shed some light.