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FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY
Product carbon footprint ( PCF ) cradle to gate
Product carbon footprint measures emissions caused by a product from the extraction of raw materials to our gate . It enables customers to evaluate their scope 3 emissions and enables to minimize their carbon footprint by selective material sourcing .
Material specific CO 2 footprints * available :
• Tonnage-weighted average of different plants and production routes
• Differentiation by product type : slab , hot rolled ( BHB , WHB ) and cold rolled
• Calculation reviewed by third party
Outokumpu ’ s product carbon footprint calculation .
* Including Scope 1 , 2 and 3
Calculating the carbon footprint
A key area for debate was Outokumpu ’ s latest research to evaluate the carbon footprint of a real-world vehicle component during both production and use .
“ A first-of-its-kind investigation by us and researchers at FKA Aachen has shown stainless steel to have the world ’ s lowest carbon footprint compared to standard carbon steel and aluminium , when considering both the production and use phases ,” announced Outokumpu at the roundtable discussions .
“ The results are counter-intuitive because , while the natural assumption is that aluminium is the best material for reducing carbon footprint as it allows the construction of energy-efficient vehicles , that benefit is far outweighed by the energy needed to produce it . So stainless steel , with its inherently low carbon footprint due to production based mainly on recycled scrap , emerges as the clear winner ,” Outokumpu explained .
This new research takes into account the ISO 14040 environmental management standard which provides a framework to assess the CO₂ emissions of products and raw materials . It breaks down their carbon footprint into three scopes :
■ Scope 1 covers direct emissions from a producer ’ s own operations . For stainless steel , that could include burning of fossil fuels to heat furnaces .
■ Scope 2 covers indirect emissions . These arise from the generation of electricity used on production sites .
Outokumpu Circle Green stainless steel .
■ Scope 3 covers indirect emissions from the supply chain such as the use of raw materials and transport . This is where particular care is needed as not all material producers provide data under Scope 3 .
“ Variations in reporting can make it difficult to compare the carbon footprint of materials from different suppliers . While two products can appear identical in terms of composition and mechanical dimensions , their carbon footprints can be significantly
ISMR October 2024 | ismr . net | 87