Cans specialist Crown Holdings published a climate transition plan last month, which CEO Tim Donahue said covers the company’s “climate ambition,” including a decarbonization road map, approach to climate risks and other components.
Crown has numerous 2030 sustainability goals under a program it calls Twentyby30. Under that framework, the company aims for a 50% combined reduction in absolute scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, from a 2019 baseline. It also seeks to cut its scope 3 emissions — which account for 91% of its overall greenhouse gas emissions footprint, especially due to upstream purchased goods and services, transportation and distribution — by 27.5%.
By the end of 2025, Crown had nearly hit that goal, at 25%. Continued reduction strategies include collaborating with suppliers on sustainable sourcing and shared decarbonization efforts, and continuing to explore more efficient materials and solutions in its own products and secondary packaging.
These efforts have also necessitated better data. To improve accurate calculations, “we organized face-to-face meetings with the majority of our aluminum and steel suppliers, fostering dialogue and collaboration around emissions data,” the company reported. “These engagements enabled us to request recycled content information and supplier-specific emission factors.” This also promotes a shared responsibility approach, Crown noted.
Crown also detailed strategies to specifically target transportation emissions. These include increasing the use of intermodal transport, namely rail and sea options to mitigate emissions from long-distance road shipments. “In parallel, load optimization efforts are helping increase truck utilization and reduce the total number of trips required,” the company reported.
Long-term, Crown is seeking a 90% reduction in scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution and use of sold products by 2050.
The plan also notes climate risks on Crown’s radar. These include costs from rising energy prices, disruptions to raw material supply chains or possible physical damage to facilities from severe weather.
“We use climate scenario analysis to explore a range of future climate outcomes and inform long-term business planning,” Crown reported, noting the example of entering virtual power purchase agreements as a result of this analysis.
While climate transition plans are less common than annual sustainability reports, it’s a step that some other packaging suppliers, such as Ball, have taken.
