Inhouse ecology

Average CO2e emissions (calculated using the emission factors ecoinvent v3.8) for 2023 amounted to 89,378 tons (t) (location-based), an increase of 6 per cent compared to 2020 (the base year). Of this total, 12,403 tons or 14 per cent of CO2e emissions are attributable to Scope 1, 33,526 tons (38 per cent) to Scope 2 (location-based) and 43,450 tons to Scope 3 (49 per cent).1 The biggest reduction compared to 2020 was in Scope 2 (down 29 per cent). In Scope 3, emissions have increased by 42 per cent since 2020, while Scope 1 has seen an increase of 94 per cent. Scope 1-3 emissions rose by 28 per cent compared to the previous year.

Data quality is collected on the basis of three grades: The best data quality is 1 (exact), followed by 2 (calculated) and 3 (estimated). For RBI‘s operational ecology data, the value is exact and calculated. No areas are classified in the lowest category 3 (estimated) in terms of their data quality.

At 45,016 tCO2e, energy consumption accounts for around 50 per cent of location-based emissions (down 8 per cent compared to the previous year and 27 per cent compared to 2020) and is the biggest source of emissions for RBI. Despite the stricter calculation factors and a renewed increase in the use of office buildings, energy consumption has decreased significantly. The emissions arise in Scope 2 in particular, but also in Scopes 1 and 3. RBI’s total energy consumption was around 184 GWh in 2023. The average energy consumption per employee per year is 4,332 kWh. RBI’s proportion of green electricity is 48 per cent.

Business travel generates 17,222 tCO2e, which equates to around 19 per cent of emissions (97 per cent more than in the previous year and 70 per cent more than in 2020). As a result, this became the third-ranking source of emissions at RBI in 2023. It arises in both Scope 1 and Scope 3. Business travel at RBI amounted to around 51 million pkm in 2023 (passenger kilometers; pkm are calculated on the basis of the number of persons carried and the distance covered). The average per employee per year is 1,208 pkm, an increase of 55 per cent.

At 5,376 tCO2e (26 per cent more than in the previous year and 24 per cent more than in 2020), waste accounts for around six per cent of emissions. The impacts are solely in Scope 3. The quantity of waste produced at RBI in 2023 amounts to around 6,800 per year or 153 kg per employee, of which around 96 per cent is non-hazardous waste. Around 62 per cent of waste is taken to landfill sites, approximately 19 per cent is incinerated and around 15 per cent is recycled. Electrical devices account for approximately four per cent.

At 19,501 tCO2e, material consumption accounts for around 22 per cent of emissions (up 224 per cent on the previous year and 156 per cent compared to 2020), making it the second biggest source of emissions. The impacts are solely in Scope 3. The proportion of recycled materials in paper purchasing is 69 per cent. In total, RBI used around 904 tonnes of paper in 2023, which is down on the previous year’s level. Paper consumption per employee therefore amounted to only 4,254 sheets per year.

Water use takes last place at 0.1 tCO2e, thereby causing almost zero per cent of all emissions (11 per cent more than in the previous year and 18 per cent less than in 2020). The effects are exclusively apparent in Scope 3. Total water consumption in 2023 amounted to 284 million liters, or 6,658 liters per employee per year, which was a marginal increase.

Parcel delivery and the transport of goods account for one per cent of emissions at 860 tCO2e (14 per cent more than in the previous year and 18 per cent more than in 2020). The km/tkm values reported in the supplier survey were collected internally but not included due to insufficient verifiability. The impacts of the emissions are primarily in Scope 3.