Crown Holdings, a supplier of cans and other metal packaging products has announced that the company cut its direct greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 8% from 2007 to 2010, according to its first sustainability report.
During the period, it is estimated that indirect emissions were down by 2% and indirect GHG output was up slightly from 2009 to 2010, environmentalleader.com reported.
Since 2007, Crown decreased use of propane by 14%, natural gas by 8% and electricity by 2%, and from 2009 to 2010, electricity use was up and natural gas use was down slightly and LPG use stayed roughly the same.
Crown's Wantage, UK technology center has cut annual electricity use by over 11%. At Mansfield, UK, a new plant design allowed the company to recover 80% of waste heat from compressed air production, and use it for space heating. The company is recovering hot air from ovens used to cure and dry coatings, reducing gas use for space heating by 75% in Beijing.
Through converting trucks with extended load areas, the Beijing plant has increased its number of pallets per truck by 69%, and at Perrywood, UK, improved planning and load optimization allows the plant to ship tinplate sheets and cans, reducing truck shipments by 30%.
Several of the company's US plants have invested in variable frequency technology that matches motor speed to system load, through which the company's Faribault, Minnesota, aerosol can facility reduced annual energy use on production lines by about 9%, the report stated.
In Ohio, the company has worked with its trailer supplier on a redesign that reduced steel coil shipments by 50%. In 2000, Crown introduced its SuperEnd beverage ends, which reduce metal use by 10%, and to date it has produced over 300 billion ends, saving an estimated 73,500 metric tons of aluminum, 1,200 metric tons of coatings, and 600,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases.
Crown's coating and steel usage has decreased by 5% since 2007, while aluminum use increased as a direct result of Crown producing 19% more cans. The consumption of both aluminum and steel rose from 2009 to 2010.
As part of its sustainability program, Crown will recycle metal, packing and other materials. Metal comprises about 85% of Crown's incoming materials. In 2010, over 350,000 tons of metal was recycled. Since 2007, Crown's waste-to-landfill levels fell by 15%.
The company's Mexico City plant reduced its hazardous waste inventory by 82% through cleaning previously discarded industrial rags. VOC emissions, generated through use of various surface coatings, inks and cleaning solvents, declined 8% from 2007 to 2010 through using lower-VOC coatings, alternative cleaning materials and improved add-on controls.
By replacing wide-spray coaters with precision sprays to target cans' easy-open ends, Crown's Nantes, France facility cut its VOC emissions in half, the report said.
