All our companies in Colombia participated in the National Carbon Neutrality Program

“Participating in this type of scenario allows us to connect the emission reduction goals set by the government and those that business sector establishes within its sustainability programs.”

Luisa Ribero, Corporate Head of Sustainability Plastilene Group.

One more way in which commitments materialize

In order to meet the ambitious goals of the E2050 Long Term Climate Strategy, such as a 51% reduction in GHG emissions, zero net deforestation by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050, the Ministry of Environment in 2021 proposed three work blocks to involve private and public organizations and civil society in general:

• National Carbon Neutrality Program
• SINA Carbon Neutrality
• My carbon footprint

Thus, climate change began to gain more relevance in sustainability agenda; a very valuable scenario for industry considering the contribution of plastic and its recycling to the reduction of GHG emissions compared to substitute materials.

Therefore, and in line with our Sustainable Innovation strategy and recent certification that ICONTEC granted us as Carbon Neutral Companies, we decided to participate and contribute to the National Carbon Neutrality Program.

Two-way relationship

In this first version, 103 quotas were available for companies from any sector and they were classified according to their level of progress in GHG management. These companies not only began to contribute to the country’s goals, but also received technical support from Ministry of Environment through periodic sessions.

The first sessions of group 4 consisted of reinforcing knowledge and sharing experiences in the process of measurement, compensation and mitigation to become Carbon Neutral; in the following sessions, we worked on a support tool for Ministry of Environment where initiatives that each organization had for carbon footprint mitigation were registered and optimized.

Organizational growth must be accompanied by a mitigation plan

It is not just a matter of offsetting GHG emissions through carbon credits, ICONTEC audits and monitors strategies implementation to mitigate impact annually after certification is granted.

Since energy consumption represents the largest percentage contribution to our footprint, our carbon footprint management plan includes:

• Changing to LED luminaire technology (2020)
• Purchasing renewable energy starting in 2021 for plants in Colombia (except those located in free trade zones). 
• Implementing photovoltaic energy use in Tocancipa and Mosquera by 2022. In this way, we balance business growth with generation of our own energy from solar panels.

Participation in group 4 of National Carbon Neutral Program, together with Natura, Acueducto, Primax, Pintuco, Dragon Colombia, Alcantarillado Bogotá and Grupo Nutresa, was important for this last project definition.

At the end of National Carbon Neutrality Program first version, Plastilene, Novalene, Altalene, Reciclene and Interplast received recognition from Ministry of Environment for participating in the program and implementing mitigation initiatives.

Groups 1, 2 and 3 could continue in the following versions of the program and advance towards carbon neutrality. For our part, we will continue to build and work with other actors in the chain, especially now that the largest post-consumer plastic transformation plant in the country is in operation at Reciclene, which will process 10 thousand tons of this material per year.

We highlight the government’s initiative that makes goals tangible, strengthening and technically advising private sector on the need to incorporate climate change actions.