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ESG

Environmental

We embrace our role in the environment and recognize that being good stewards of the planet will support our business success.

Our Commitment

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Our goal is to work to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Accords. We will achieve this by transitioning our fleet to lower emissions vehicles, implementing energy saving initiatives in all locations, the use of renewable energy, and investing in Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Verified Emissions Reductions (VERs). We are also focused on reducing our water consumption and lowering our waste streams through the use of increased recycling efforts. Within each of these categories TPB will continue to define and update our metrics to measure our environmental impact based on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and the The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Our Approach

We report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our own facilities (Scope 1 direct emissions) and emissions from purchased energy used in our own operations (Scope 2 indirect emissions). Emissions from our full value chain (Scope 3) of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol are not included in our calculations. We are undertaking a project to measure our Scope 3 emissions in 2021. Water usage, landfill use, and recycling activities are also key metrics in our environmental stewardship program.
We ratio all of our environmental metrics per million dollars of revenue. This accounts for increased business activity and allows us to define progress as a function of our operational growth.

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Our emission reduction strategy is based on the Paris Climate Accords. We are working toward science- based targets in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep the rise in global temperature well below two degrees Celcius compared to pre-industrial levels. We are also working toward having our targets set and approved through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

Our ESG plan calls for environmental reduction targets to be set by Senior Management and approved by the Turning Point Brands Board of Directors. Senior Management has the responsibility to achieve the targets, and these targets are communicated to the organization and are part of the annual goals process for our company.

2020 Highlights

Our 2020 GHG emissions for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions amounted to 3115 tonnes CO2-equivalents (CO2e), a 0.3 percent reduction compared to 2019. Scope 2 emissions increased by 6.3 percent driven by an increase in production at our manufacturing sites, offset by Scope 1 emission reduction of 3.7 percent as a result in lower natural gas usage and lower fleet fuel use. Our GHG emissions per million dollars revenue for 2020 was 7.7 as compared to 8.6 in 2019, a 10.9 percent decrease.

We have actively been exploring the use of renewable energy at our facilities. At our Louisville, Kentucky, facilities, we are engaged with the local power supplier to increase our renewable energy through the use of their Solar Share program and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).

Our vehicle fleet contributes 53 percent to our Scope 1 and Scope 2 total CO2e emissions. We are actively engaging our fleet supplier to investigate transitioning our fleet to lower emission vehicles. We will be taking advantage of appropriate fleet vehicle replacements with lower emissions in 2021 and will take advantage of future lower emission vehicles for our fleet as they become available.

In both 2019 and 2020, we recycled more than we sent to landfills. Our 2020 recycling amounted to 215 metric tonnes as compared to 192 metric tonnes in 2019, an increase of 12.1 percent. Our recycling metric tonnes per million dollars revenue for 2020 was 0.60 as compared to 0.47 in 2019, a 25.5 percent increase. Our 2020 landfill usage amounted to 162 metric tonnes as compared to 122 metric tons in 2019, and increase of 32.7 percent, due to greater manufacturing output. Our landfill usage metric tonnes per million dollars revenue for 2020 was 0.40 as compared to 0.34 in 2019, an 18.6 percent increase.

Our 2020 water usage amounted to 1347 thousand gallons as compared to 1447 thousand gallons in 2019, a 6.9 percent decrease in water usage. Our water usage thousand gallons per million dollars revenue for 2020 was 3.3 as compared to 3.7 in 2019, a 9.9 percent decrease.

We will continue to implement programs to increase our recycling and decrease our water and landfill usage. We will be analyzing usage by business process and implementing targeted programs to meet this objective. 

ENVIRONMENTAL 2020 2019
Greenhouse Gases Total GHG Emissions Metric Tonnes CO2e 3115 3124
GHG Scope 1 Metric Tonnes CO2e 1981 2058
GHG Scope 2 Metric Tonnes CO2e 1133 1066
Scope 1&2 emissions / $million revenue Metric Tonnes / $million revenue 7.7 8.6
Electricity Used Megawatt Hours 2458 2349
Fuel Used - Natural Gas Thousand Cubic Feet 6115 6368
Waste Waste Recycled Metric Tonnes 215 192
Waste Recycled / $million revenue Metric Tonnes / $million revenue 0.60 0.47
Waste Sent to Landfills Metric Tonnes 162 122
Waste Sent to Landfills / $million revenue Metric Tonnes / $million revenue 0.40 0.34
Water Total Water Use Thousand Gallons 1347 1447
Total Water Use / $million revenue Thousand Gallons / $million revenue 3.3 3.7
Note: 2019 and 2020 Landfill Metric Tonnes - Louisville, KY location actual, all other locations estimated

 

Moving Forward

  • Lower our GHG emissions through conservation and increased use of alternative energy options.
  • Transitioning our fleet to lower emissions vehicles.
  • Actively seek new opportunities for reduction in landfill usage and increased recycling.
  • Focus on lowering our water usage through conservation measures and changes in business process.