Ercros reduces its CO2 emissions by 13% in 2023
In 2023, Ercros reduced its direct CO2 emissions by 13% compared to 2022. If we focus on the sum of direct emissions (scope 1) and indirect emissions due to energy consumption (scope 2), the reduction has been even higher: 18% comparing 2022 to 2023, and 38% in the last five years. This reduction is the result of the improvements that are being achieved with the implementation of the 3D Plan. At the same time, as a consequence of the improvements applied in the transport of goods, more than 2.2 million kilometres travelled have been avoided with the consequent reduction in emissions in transport.
The company also reduced its total emissions rate by 6%, which includes substances emitted into the air and water, as well as waste generation. In the last five years, this index has shown an average improvement of 11.5%. Furthermore, in 2023, Ercros achieved a 9.5% reduction in energy consumption compared to 2022.
In the current context of drought, it is worth mentioning the efforts made by Ercros to reduce water consumption (14% between 2022 and 2023) and increase the consumption of regenerated water per ton produced by 9.3%. In the case of the Tarragona complex, 31% of the water consumed comes from municipal treatment plants.
During the last year, the company revalidated, for the fourth consecutive year, the Platinum seal of EcoVadis, an international sustainability rating platform, with 85 points out of 100. This result places Ercros in the 1% of the companies evaluated with the best classification. In addition, Ercros successfully completed the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire, which evaluates the climate change performance of listed companies around the world, and obtained a grade of B (Management), which represents a substantial improvement over that obtained in 2022. Likewise, Ercros obtained an AA rating and 80 points out of 100 in the ESG Rating 2023 of the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts (IEAF).
Ercros production centres have a certified sustainability management system. All of them are accredited by the ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards, and 98% of the total energy consumed by the company is covered by the ISO 50001 certification.
In terms of occupational safety, the general frequency rate of accidents involving own personnel decreased by 16% and the index that considers accidents with and without sick leave for both internal and external personnel decreased by 3%.
Finally, the complaints index, which quantifies the volume of products affected by a customer non- conformity in relation to the volume shipped of own and third-party products marketed, was 0.3%, which implies that the percentage of satisfactory supplies was 99.7%.