Yardley-based Crown Holdings, Inc. announced Tuesday that it has signed The Climate Pledge, joining more than 200 other signatories to commit to being net-zero carbon across its business operations by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Crown joins companies like Amazon and Global Optimism in the pledge and said it will offer its Twentyby30 sustainability commitments, business strategies and best practices to the community to help achieve actionable results in addressing the climate crisis and solving the challenges of decarbonizing the economy.
As part of The Climate Pledge platform, signatories must commit to three areas of action to advance the goal of reaching net zero by 2040; implementing operational changes and technologies that prioritize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction, measuring internal GHG emissions and issuing reports on those emissions, and working to neutralize and offset remaining emissions to achieve net-zero.
“To decrease global GHG emissions at the rate needed to reach net-zero by 2040, it’s crucial for the packaging sector to take aggressive action,” Timothy J. Donahue, president and CEO of Crown, said. “Crown has seen — in our lifetime — the key benefits and impact of metal as a sustainable packaging material. Our decision to engage and grow with members of The Climate Pledge is the natural next step as we work with our stakeholders, consumers and peers to reduce emissions and fight climate change.”
A leading supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, Crown provides a wide variety of packaging materials including recyclable metal and glass. The company’s Twentyby30 program sets out 20 measurable goals to be achieved by 2030 that address Climate Action, Resource Efficiency, and other concerns, all guided by the company’s Governance and Ethics standards. Its Climate Action pillar focuses on production efficiency, product and process innovation, strategic material procurement and utilization of renewable electricity.
Crown’s sustainable solution of metal packaging plays an increasingly important role in decarbonizing production cycles for packaging manufacturers, the company said, by providing manufacturers with recyclable material that is easily and infinitely repurposed without degrading the value of the material.
Investing in, producing and subsequently recapturing metal packaging, the company said, not only extends the lifecycle of a manufacturer’s product but also reduces the manufacturer’s dependency on raw materials and the energy required to turn those materials into packaging. The company estimates producing metal packaging with recycled materials preserves 70 to 90 percent of the energy used for packaging made from raw materials, which reduces a manufacturer’s carbon emissions.
“Solving this challenge cannot be accomplished by one company; it requires all of us to act together, and it’s one of the reasons we’re so excited to announce that more than 200 businesses have joined us in signing The Climate Pledge — a commitment to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early,” Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said.