Spadel, a producer of natural mineral water, has received the “CO2 Neutral” label from CO2Logic and Vinçotte for all its sites in Europe. This is a wonderful way of acknowledging a Belgian company, market leader in the Benelux with a strong regional presence in France and in the UK, that remains committed to sustainability and that was named as one of the Top 10 Most Sustainable Companies in Europe by the European Business Awards in 2014.

 

Sustainability is one of the strategic pillars of Spadel's business strategy. For this reason, the Belgian market leader for natural mineral water set itself ambitious sustainability goals in 2010: to achieve a 20% carbon footprint reduction by 2015 and to become entirely carbon neutral by 2020. The 1st 2015 goal -20% reduction was achieved, and Spadel can today say with pride that as of the end of 2015, it has become CO2 neutral  across the board, at all branches , production sites and offices across Europe. The CO2 Neutral label has been given today at a workshop organized at the Spadel offices on the implementation of the engagements of the members of the CSR network The Shift regarding the COP21.

 

The goal of reducing the CO2 footprint by 20% between 2010 and 2015 was achieved for the most part thanks to our own efforts (15%), while the remainder (5%) was gained by using compensation (offsetting). 

 

Marc du Bois, Spadel Managing Director: “Sustainability is in our DNA. Spadel wants to be a sustainable company in a sustainable world. Gaining the CO2 neutral label underscores the efforts we have been making for years to provide concrete answers for reducing our C02 footprint. This reinforces the choice of Spadel to develop regional quality brands with a low CO2 footprint”. 

 

The CO2  footprint fell by 15% as result from own achievements, from 211g CO2 per litre to 180g CO2 per litre. Over the five years, this represents a saving of 42,000 tonnes of CO2 , distributed as follows:

 

1)   22,000 tonnes of CO2 at the complete chain.

The savings are primarily the result of:

• The weight reduction in PET bottles at all Group sites
• The use of recycled PET for the Spa and Bru bottles, e.g. in the case of the Spa Reine bottles that have a unique ecological profile thanks to the 50% recycled PET
• The purchase of Belgian PET, which has 20% less impact compared with the market average.

 

2)   13,000 tonnes of CO2 reduction refers to measures in the manufacturing sites: energy saving, offices, company cars and so on. This is the result of 

• rationalised energy use 
• the implementation of new product lines such as the glass filling line in 2010 with a reduction in energy use of 30%, and the Bru-Chevron heating system for dishwashers
• the use of renewable energy: green energy in all manufacturing sites; the total renewable energy at a group level represents 37% of the total energy use;
• the installation of 26,000m² of solar panels on the Spa Monopole roof (the largest in Wallonia) and 2,450m² at Bru-Chevron;

 

3)   Finally, a 7000-tonne CO2 reduction in the ‘Distribution’ point, specifically in transport and the entire logistics chain through the project ‘Lean & Green’. 

 

C02 compensation tool
Despite the many efforts in recent years, some residual emissions that Spadel is unable to reduce immediately have remained in the industrial sites. To prevent the residual CO2 emissions from having an impact on the climate, Spadel has made the decision to compensate its operational activities by using Gold Standard-certified climate projects. In doing so, Spadel will be assisted by CO2logic, an independent climate consultancy. The efforts made by Spadel in terms of the environment will also be verified by the independent agency, Vinçotte. The project selected is the “Saving Trees” climate project in Uganda (www.savingtrees.org).

 

Antoine Geerinckx, CO2Logic Managing Founder, said “Gaining the C02 neutral label is a clear signal, demonstrating Spadel’s commitment to continuing their pioneering role in terms of sustainability. Spadel is already taking all the steps that most companies will be obliged to take over the next few years in an effort to stay below a heat increase of 2°C”.

 

Spadel’s sustainability strategy
Sustainability is one of Spadel’s strategic pillars. To further strengthen our leading position in this field, we have set out ambitious sustainability goals across three pillars:

 

• ‘Nature’s best close to you’ based on a proactive policy on protecting natural sources and on product innovation, aiming towards natural quality in all our products.
•  ‘Our footprint’, working as hard as possible towards reducing both our carbon and our water footprint.
• ‘People & Society’, playing an important social and societal role, both internally and externally.

 

Website spadel