Top 6 highlights from our 2023 Planet Passionate sustainability report
April 29, 2024
Climate change is a present reality. From extreme weather events and rising sea levels to environmental degradation, we are all facing unprecedented challenges that threaten the environment, biodiversity and, ultimately, human wellbeing.
At the same time, against a complex backdrop of ongoing humanitarian crises, supply chain challenges and financial constraints, climate action momentum has decelerated.[1] There is a clear and dangerous disconnect between the urgency expressed by the scientific community and the current pace of climate change mitigation. In fact, the latest commitments made by the G7 private sector point to an increase of 2.7°C by 2050, significantly higher than the Paris Agreement goal.[2]
In this pivotal moment, bold and decisive action must be taken if we are to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. With the building and construction sector accounting for a staggering 37% of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions[3], transforming buildings into low-carbon, healthy environments must be high on the climate mitigation agenda.
As a global leader in building envelope solutions, we are committed to playing our part in contributing to a just and effective transition to a net-zero built environment future. Through Planet Passionate, our 10-year group-wide sustainability programme, we have set ambitious targets – aligned with a 1.5°C future – to decarbonise our operations, product offering and supply chain, including a 90% absolute reduction in GHG emissions within our operations and a 42% absolute reduction in scope 3 GHG emissions from a 2020 base year*. In today’s landscape, honouring these commitments is more important than ever.
There’s more to Planet Passionate than emissions
But being Planet Passionate is about more than just reducing carbon emissions; it is ultimately about taking action that matters. That is why the programme also features measurable energy, water and circularity targets. Through this, Kingspan is globally united to make a difference to some of the greatest challenges facing modern-day society: climate change, circularity and protection of the natural world.
In 2024, we launched our fourth annual Planet Passionate sustainability report, showcasing the considerable progress we have made towards our climate-related targets since the 2020 base year and our learnings as we continue on our path (see figure below).
Here are the top insights you need to know:
1. Since 2020, we have reduced our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 65%[4]
To reach our goal of net-zero manufacturing by 2030, we have committed to a number of changes to decarbonise our operations and reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions without the use of carbon offsetting. Through a range of initiatives and solutions – such as implementing energy efficiency projects at our sites and introducing a business-wide internal carbon price in January 2023, to phasing out the use of blowing agents with high global warming potential (GWP) – we have reduced our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 65% since 2020, an achievement we’re incredibly proud of.
2. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have now been installed on nearly half of our wholly-owned sites
As we move to become more self-reliant for energy generation and increase the use of renewable energy in our business operations, we set a Planet Passionate target to install solar PV systems on all sites that are wholly-owned by the Kingspan Group by 2030. By the end of 2023, we were tantalisingly close to the halfway point, with systems installed on 49.6% of all wholly-owned facilities – bringing our total solar capacity to 42MW by year-end and putting us firmly on track to meet our 2030 goal.
3. Since 2020, the waste we send to landfill has reduced by 33%
Our efforts to meet our zero company waste to landfill target are focused around: reducing the waste we produce; re-using waste where possible; and recycling waste where it cannot be reintroduced back into our manufacturing processes.
Achieving this target while we grow rapidly as a business is an ongoing challenge, but by prioritising waste management we have made important improvements; for instance, 24 additional waste streams were added in 2023 to improve waste segregation and we have also reduced municipal waste (from office buildings and other commercial/industrial activities) by 81% since 2020.
As part of our wider circularity strategy, we continue to work to increase the use of recycled PET as a raw material, and since 2020 we have recycled the equivalent of more than 3 billion PET bottles into our manufacturing processes.[5]
4. We harvested 57 million litres of rainwater in 2023
Climate change, rising urbanisation and growing population density are all exacerbating scarcity and misuse of precious water resources. As a global manufacturer, we recognise our responsibility to reduce our negative impact on the world’s water resources and water-related ecosystems.
We set a Planet Passionate target to harvest 100 million litres of rainwater at our sites worldwide by 2030 to lower our impact on the water supplies we share with local communities. By 2023 year-end, 49 of our 224 sites group-wide (22%) had rainwater harvesting systems installed, taking our total capacity to 71ML and enabling us to harvest 57 million litres of rainwater during 2023.
See water conservation projects in action in our 2023 Planet Passionate report.
5. In 2023, we launched 3 lower embodied carbon products and introduced our first bio-based insulation product
One of the overarching goals of our Planet Passionate programme is to enhance the environmental benefits of our key products, while maintaining their high performance.
By focusing on reducing embodied carbon and bringing new solutions to market at pace, we have made important progress in our innovation journey. In 2023, we brought three new lower embodied carbon products to some of our markets, including QuadCore LEC insulated panels, RMG600+ raised access floor panels and the Tate Grid LEC structural ceiling solution. 2023 also saw the launch of our bio-based insulation product, HemKor, representing a significant step forward in our strategy to combine advanced material science, bio-based products and product innovations that can reduce embodied carbon emissions in buildings.
6. Over 80 Planet Passionate Communities projects were carried out group-wide in 2023
Planet Passionate Communities is the philanthropic arm of our Planet Passionate programme, focused on creating value to society and the local communities where we operate.
In 2023, Kingspan colleagues worldwide supported more than 80 wellbeing and environmental initiatives, from clean-ups and tree planting to educational projects and fundraising events.
The journey continues
As we move into the fifth year of our Planet Passionate programme, we are incredibly proud of the achievements we have made as an organisation since the programme began in 2020.
Inevitably, there is still much more we want and need to accomplish – particularly in a business that continues to rapidly change, grow and evolve. But with the unwavering dedication of our talented teams across the business who have completed over 300 projects since 2020 to help realise our group-wide targets, we remain confident and committed to our Planet Passionate journey.
To discover more highlights and learn more about our 2023 progress, read our 2023 Planet Passionate report.
*Correct at time of publishing.
[1] OECD (2023), The Climate Action Monitor 2023: Providing Information to Monitor Progress Towards Net-Zero, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/60e338a2-en.
[2] World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2023.
[3] United Nations Environment Programme, & Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (2023). Building Materials and the Climate: Constructing a New Future.
[4] Excluding biogenic emissions. Scope 2 GHG emissions calculated using market-based methodology.
[5] Equivalent number of PET bottles by weight.
In our fourth annual Planet Passionate sustainability report, we outline our latest progress and achievements including a 65% absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions since a 2020 base year.
