Sustainable Converting
Identifying opportunities to help decarbonise the packaging industry
Jodie Eaton, CEO of Shell Energy UK, examines the complexities of decarbonising the diverse packaging sector.
ArcelorMittal, a customer of Shell Energy in Spain, set aside €67 million in funding last year to invest in an electric arc furnace for steelmaking and Encirc has announced plans to develop an ultra-low carbon hydrogen-powered glass furnace at its UK site in Cheshire. The routes being taken vary from industry to industry, with glass, plastics, paper and metal all embarking on subtly diff erent routes to decarbonisation.
TARGETED INITIATIVES O
ptimising operational energy effi ciency remains high on the agenda for major energy users. After all, with energy prices remaining volatile, businesses are increasingly looking towards solutions to drive down costs, reduce overheads and stay competitive; the packaging industry is no exception.
According to The Packaging Federation, the sector’s annual sales exceed £14 billion, with 85,000 people employed across numerous roles, representing 3 percent of the UK’s entire manufacturing workforce. At this scale, it is an industry which encapsulates many of the most intensive energy users, including pulp and paper, plastics, metals and glass producers. Technological advances in packaging manufacturing are certainly helping to alleviate carbon intensive processes. For instance,
The Food & Drink Federation recently called on its members to explore fl exibility as an option to manage energy costs. In October, it encouraged members to participate in the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) that allows them to earn money for shifting electricity usage outside peak demand hours, enabling the Electricity System Operator (ESO) to manage supply through periods when margins are tight.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has identifi ed paper production as a sector with high heat and water demand, putting it among the top fi ve energy-intensive industries globally, accounting for approximately 6 percent of global industrial energy use and 2 percent of direct industrial CO2 emissions.
Innovations to reduce the amount of water required for paper manufacture, as well as increased on-site waste heat recovery and co-generation, can increase energy effi ciency and signifi cantly reduce emissions. Novel uses of heat pumps are also being explored to reuse the latent heat from paper drying to produce steam for drying.
THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE Steel is used to pack food and drink items, paint, health and beauty products, and various household items. The steel packaging recycling rate has reached over 90 percent in some countries and steel is Europe’s most recycled packaging material. This comes at a cost, however, as processing and recycling steel is carbon and energy intensive. To combat this, technologies including carbon capture and hydrogen-based production are being explored with a view to developing at scale in the longer term. Considerable progress has been made across the sector, including the deployment of low-emission heating technologies such as industrial heat pumps, like SSAB’s steel plant in Oxelosund which has signifi cantly cut its CO2 emissions by adopting heat pumps. However, the IEA reports out that eff orts must accelerate to get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, where emissions must decline by 6 percent per year to 2030, compared to 1.6 percent on average over the past decade.
A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH When it comes to fi nding effi ciencies and reducing carbon, the packaging industry faces many challenges. Working in partnership with suppliers, such as Shell Energy, can bring fresh insight to help deliver the progress needed. Packaging industries can benefi t hugely from being able to better understand the potential return on investment of the diff erent routes available. Technological advances are often in their infancy and businesses are keen to establish their short, medium and long-term choices, and how they can be fi nanced in a way that will ensure solutions are commercially viable. The packaging industry’s journey towards sustainability is steadily progressing, but it is a complex challenge that requires the collective eff orts of manufacturers, retailers, consumers and policy makers. Shell Energy draws on its global expertise and capabilities to support manufacturers in the packaging sector as they look for eff ective ways to navigate pathways towards decarbonisation.
42
October 2024
www.convertermag.com
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