Last updated: Oct 3, 2024
At the center of our investigation is the measurement and determination of our CO₂ footprint. For the year 2022, we measured emissions from our roastery for the first time. Now the results for 2023 are available.
- Where do emissions arise?
- Why do emissions arise?
- What alternatives exist?
- Where is it worth investing to bring about change quickly?
Our roasting volume in Basel increased to 67 tons of green coffee in 2023. This increased our absolute CO₂ footprint. However, because we became more efficient in our processes, emissions per kilogram of green coffee are lower than in the previous year.
How did we measure?
We collected our relevant data, assigned CO₂ equivalents using the Ecoinvent database, and had the entire dataset verified by carbotech. We put the dataset into a CO₂ calculator for roasteries. We are making this calculator available to you — please get in touch if you also want clarity about your emissions.
You'll find more details about our calculator in this article.
We reviewed and verified our data together with carbotech.
INFO: Who is carbotech?
Since its founding in 1987, the company has specialized in environmental matters. It offers analysis and consulting services for companies and organizations, measures pollutants in the air, and supports the remediation of buildings contaminated with pollutants. In addition, the company provides its customers with decision-making bases such as life cycle assessments or material flow analyses. It also accompanies international environmental projects and develops environmental and sustainability metrics for companies and authorities.
Data Assignment
Data is collected and assigned according to the GHG Protocol. Since we see ourselves as responsible for indirect emissions and all emissions along the value chain, it was of secondary importance to us in which "Scope" the emissions occur. Because where we do not directly cause emissions, we can influence matters through the choice of alternatives.
- Scope 1 includes direct emissions. In our case, this is the burning of gas when roasting and the burning of diesel in our vehicle.
- Scope 2 includes indirect emissions that we directly cause at our location. Such as heating and electricity consumption.
- Scope 3 includes emissions that are associated with the company but are not completely within our control. This is further distinguished into "Upstream" and "Downstream".
- Upstream emissions occur during the production of goods or services that a company purchases or uses.
- Downstream emissions occur after the production of a company's products or services during their use or disposal.
Calculation 2022
| Category | Scope 1 | Scope 2 |
Scope 3 |
| Area |
|
|
|
| Emissions CO2e |
5,281.40 |
1,107.51 |
15,733.09 |
Calculation 2023
| Category | Scope 1 |
Scope 2 |
Scope 3 |
| Area |
|
|
|
| Emissions CO2e |
6,686.46 |
481.15 |
20,505.45 |
Why We Don't Include Green Coffee
We deliberately do not include green coffee in our CO₂ calculation for the roastery, but instead consider our coffees separately. Cultivation can account for up to 90% of emissions; in the 2022 harvest from our Finca Santa Rita, cultivation accounted for over 62% (adding transport to our roastery, it was 84%). Therefore, we examine each of our coffees individually and anew each year.
Because not only is every coffee different, but so is every harvest. Different weather conditions affect the need for fertilizers and pesticides, as well as yield.
Where most emissions arise, we want to look more closely and not communicate an average value for our coffees, but instead publish these annually adjusted and newly calculated to make the differences transparent.
Even though, apart from Santa Rita, emissions are not in our hands, we buy and sell this coffee and thus the responsibility for the emissions lies with us.
For our Finca Santa Rita, for the 2022 harvest, we calculated a footprint of 1.57 kg CO2e per kg of export-ready green coffee. A frequently cited study* states 10.44 kg CO2e for 1 kg of conventional Brazilian green coffee. Another study**, which compares 116 farms with different cultivation methods ("Traditional polyculture", "Commercial polyculture", "Shaded monoculture", "Unshaded monoculture") averages 3.7 kg CO2e per kg of green coffee. Comparing different values per farm, figures between 3.3 kg and 18.8 kg CO2e / kg green coffee are cited.
This range is far too wide; a precise calculation is impossible. Instead, we are in exchange with farms, organizations, and companies that deal with calculating CO₂ footprints.
We also notice in our roastery emissions that fluctuations exist. Therefore, it is valuable to calculate and compare our emissions anew each year, so we can continuously improve.
Our company is growing and our emissions are growing with it.
We now look at, in the second year, the emissions that are directly related to our roastery. So everything relevant that happens between the delivery of green coffee and the shipment of roasted coffee.
Our CO₂ Footprint 2023
You can find the detailed calculation here.
Our coffee roastery's CO₂ footprint in Basel totaled 27.673 tons CO₂e in 2023, which is approximately 5.5 tons (8.3%) more than the previous year. With an increase in production volume of 17.2 tons of green coffee. This brings us to 0.42 kg CO2e per kg of green coffee. In 2022 it was 0.45 kg CO2e per kg, which is mainly due to increased production.
86% of the roastery's emissions fall into 3 categories:
- Business travel (41.7%)
- Coffee packaging (23% - with shipping packaging it would be 28.1%)
- Process gas (21.3%)
Business Travel
In 2023 as well, flights and associated business travel were the largest emission factor for our roastery. Two trips to Brazil, including domestic flights, served to expand our partnership with APAS, get to know farmers' coffee, and visit the IFES University and Lucas Lousada's research center. In addition, one person traveled to Nicaragua to taste the new harvest from our farm and visit other farms.
Building and maintaining relationships is an important aspect of our work. Good things can flourish from healthy relationships. We stay in regular contact with our partners, but to build long-term partnerships, maintain them, align values, and strengthen trust, personal meetings are necessary. Our partners visit us, or we are on site — many ideas emerge from these encounters and we develop common visions together. Therefore, we will continue to undertake business trips, but will limit them as much as possible.
Coffee and Shipping Packaging
Coffee packaging causes the second-highest emissions when looking at roastery emissions. If we also add shipping packaging, then packaging in 2023 accounted for more than a quarter of the roastery's footprint.
In 2022 we switched to mono-PE bags (here's the article), but had to return to the previous bags due to quality issues. This increases the assigned emissions both overall and proportionally.
However, the values are misleading, because when you consider the entire life of a coffee bag, approximately 2.7 kg CO2e/kg of packaging*** must be considered for thermal recycling. This nearly doubles the emissions.
Additionally, it should be noted that the underlying data refers to emissions for the production of the films for our bags. Adhesive, paint, zippers, and valves are considered in proportion to mass, but the manufacturing of bags with these extras is missing.
In particular, the manufacture of block-bottom bags requires high energy consumption and very large manufacturing facilities. Depending on the manufacturing location, printing, and color choice, the value could be up to 1 kg CO2e/kg of packaging too low.
In addition, there are the cardboard boxes in which we ship the coffee bag. These do not include the boxes with which we send the coffees to your home. (These boxes are generated at our shop and are therefore not included.)
Process Gas
This refers to the gas we need for roasting to operate the roaster. This consumption is naturally tied to roasting volume. The more we roast, the more consumption increases. We roast with 100% biogas. Even though we pay for biogas and biogas is calculated for emissions calculations, we know that we are not burning biogas. With its contribution, you pay so that the amount used is fed into the grid.
What Do We Do With the Result?
In relation to the entire chain, the roastery's CO₂ footprint is of minor significance. If we put the roastery in proportion to cultivation, the share is approximately 15% based on the Santa Rita harvest (calculated per kg of roasted coffee). However, the investigation also made clear to us how much we can also improve here.
It should be emphasized that only 30% of this again falls into Scope 1 & 2. Too often companies focus on communicating Scope 1 and 2 — but these are compared to Scope 3 "low hanging fruits": emissions that can be changed quickly through a conscious decision.
Since 2023, EU companies with more than 250 employees are required to record and report their emissions. This does not apply to us and presumably to very few nano to meso roasteries.
But this is not the driving factor for us. We want to learn as a company and prepare ourselves for the future. We want to show, together with other socially and ecologically conscious and forward-thinking companies, how the coffee industry itself can advance the reduction of the CO₂ footprint.
From the results, we derive action goals. We mark simple, achievable goals and start projects to tackle the larger challenges of our industry. This includes, for example, emissions-reduced coffee packaging.
Small Improvements from 2022
- We now give coffee grounds and silver skin to Ratschaft, a cross-departmental association that makes compost from it.
- We use sturdier shipping boxes that we can send back and forth between our German and Swiss locations and reuse.
- Shipping boxes that are no longer needed are given away
- Coffee sacks are offered for upcycling projects
Large-Scale Efforts (Notes 2023)
One major project is developing the most sustainable possible coffee packaging. We will publish further articles on this.
We are currently examining the implementation of a solar system on our roastery roof with structural engineers and the city.
Note 2023
The "major project: The best of all coffee packaging" is in its final stages. In 2025 we will have new packaging. It is not sustainable packaging, but more sustainable packaging. We have tested, measured, tasted, and reduced as much as we can. And we know it is just one of many steps. We must continue to look around, question critically, and try to understand. Only then can we improve quality and sustainability.
As announced in 2022, our roof has been adorned with a solar system since January 2024, which can cover our electricity consumption in good weather and still feeds power into the grid. Once we have more data, we can estimate how much of our electricity needs can be covered.
Critique of CO₂ Considerations
The focus on CO₂ emissions can be criticized because other environmental impacts are disregarded. For example, high CO₂ emissions can also lead to water and soil pollution. And other environmental impacts, such as reduction in biodiversity or emission of other pollutants, are not taken into account in CO₂ considerations.
A comprehensive environmental assessment should therefore consider various environmental categories and examine the life cycle of a product. Only in this way can a well-founded statement be made about the actual environmental impact. In the future, we will therefore repeatedly use the method of ecological scarcity**** to draw attention to areas that are not apparent with pure CO₂ considerations.
Sources
** HAL - Carbon footprints and carbon stocks reveal climate-friendly coffee production
*** DIW - Recycling
