KHS offers beverage industry new tool for calculating the carbon footprint
The impact the packaging has on a bottler ’ s carbon footprint can now be measured in figures with the help of calculation tools KHS developed together with independent experts . The systems supplier thus provides the beverage industry with a reliable guide when planning machine conversions and switching to a sustainable portfolio .
With this new tool KHS is adding a further component to its holistic packaging services . In cooperation with the Hamburg Institute for Environmental IT ( ifu ), a leading independent international software developer for material and energy flow analyses , the Dortmund systems provider clearly shows its customers which style of packaging has which impact on the climate and whether a conversion for a stretch blow molder , for instance , has a positive effect on their carbon footprint or not .
In principle , the solution is a simple Excel tool fed with data where in 12 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk
With this new tool KHS is adding a further component to its holistic packaging services .
a first step all parameters that impact the climate are recorded in the entry mask . These include , for instance , the materials used for the conversion , packaging , transportation and the distance engineers have to travel for installation . The tool then computes how much CO2 has been ‘ spent ’ on the conversion . In a second step the number of kilowatt hours the conversion has saved is then entered in the computer , plus the customer ’ s location and which type of electricity it uses or itself produces . Once combined , these figures show how long it takes for the CO2 expended during the conversion to be neutralized . In order to be able to express the respective advantages of a particular container in figures and help beverage bottlers reach a decision as to which kind of packaging will prove to be the most climatefriendly for them , the tool is used to compare various styles of primary packaging with one another , such as PET bottles made of recycled or virgin material , glass bottles , beverage cans , HDPE containers and carton packs , with respect to the impact they have on the environment . The KHS service is rounded off by a program that calculates the carbon footprint of secondary packaging . To facilitate its development the engineering company supplied Hamburg ’ s ifu institute with the parameters for all of the packaging options in its entire portfolio to enable their global warming potential ( GWP ) to be calculated according to DIN EN ISO 14067 .
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