Mattel Sustainability Report: Targets 50% Carbon Cut by 2020

by | Oct 26, 2012

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Mattel is aiming to cut its normalized carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2015 and 50 percent by 2020, from a 2008 baseline, as part of the company’s first set of measurable sustainability goals.

The company also aims to improve packaging material efficiency by five percent by 2015; increase the amount of recycled material and sustainable sourced paper and wood fiber in its packaging to 85 percent, also by 2015; and achieve $25 million in sales of products that use “an environmental enhancement gained through innovation,” with no specified target date. Mattel will define enhancement criteria for packaging and products over the next six months.

The carbon emissions reductions will be calculated from Mattel-owned and operated facilities including manufacturing, distribution and corporate locations of over 20,000 square feet, and will be normalized to sales.

Since 2008, Mattel says it has reduced its absolute and normalized CO2 emissions by 11 percent and 38 percent, respectively. The report doesn’t provide exact figures, but scope 1 emissions fell from about 17,000 metric tons CO2e in 2008 to about 12,000 in 2009, rising to about 15,000 in 2011. Scope 2 emissions were about 200,000 metric tons CO2e in 2008, and since then have fluctuated around the 175,000 mark.

Also since 2008, the company has reduced its absolute energy usage by 3 percent, which it says is a decrease of 33 percent on a normalized basis. Its “resource expeditions” have identified a number of efficiency and renewable energy measures such as using evaporated air cooling systems instead of traditional air conditioners, recycling heat on its molding machines, reusing hydraulic oil, improved maintenance of diesel generators and compressed air systems and transitioning to less carbon-intensive fuels. And as a result of the expeditions, 130-watt high pressure sodium lamps in the Mattel HQ parking structure were upgraded to 64-watt fluorescent lights. The retrofit also equipped each fixture with photoelectric sensors, and reduced energy consumption by 47 percent.

Most of Mattel’s global energy consumption – 82 percent – is associated with its manufacturing operations, followed by corporate offices at 13 percent, and Mattel-operated distribution centers at 5 percent. More than half of its direct energy consumption comes from natural gas.

In 2012, Mattel upgraded its employee shuttle – used to make a 1.5 round trip at its headquarters more than 100 times a day – with a new Ford E450 compressed natural gas shuttle bus. The CNG shuttle now makes more than 95 percent of these trips, and produces almost 30 percent less carbon emissions and 92 percent less hydrocarbon emissions than the older, gasoline-powered fleet.

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