Last Update: Oct. 3, 2024
At the core of our investigation is the measurement and determination of our CO₂ footprint. For the first time, we measured the emissions of our roastery in 2022. Now, the results for 2023 are available.
- Where do emissions occur?
- Why do emissions occur?
- What alternatives exist?
- Where is it worthwhile to invest to bring about rapid changes?
Our roasting volume in Basel increased to 67 tons of green coffee in 2023. This raised the absolute CO₂ footprint. However, because we have become 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 process verified by carbotech. We then fed this dataset into a CO₂ calculator for roasteries. We are making this calculator available to you, so please feel free to contact us if you also want to know your emissions.
You can find more details about our calculator in this article.
We checked and verified our data together with carbotech.
INFO: Who is carbotech?
Since its foundation in 1987, the company has specialized in environmental issues. It offers analysis and consulting services for companies and organizations, measures pollutants in the air, and supervises the remediation of contaminated buildings. Furthermore, the company provides its clients with decision-making tools such as life cycle assessments and material flow analyses. It also accompanies international environmental projects and develops environmental and sustainability indicators for companies and authorities.
Data Assignment
The data is collected and assigned according to the GHG Protocol. As we also take responsibility for indirect emissions and all emissions along the value chain, it played a minor role for us in which "scope" the emissions occurred. Because where we do not directly cause emissions, we can influence them by choosing alternatives.
- Scope 1 includes direct emissions. In our case, this is the burning of gas during roasting and the burning of diesel in our vehicle.
- Scope 2 includes indirect emissions that we directly cause at the site. Such as heating and electricity consumption.
- Scope 3 includes emissions related to the company but not entirely within our control. This is further divided 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 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 do not include green coffee
We deliberately do not include green coffee in our CO₂ calculation for the roastery but consider our coffees separately. Cultivation can account for up to 90% of emissions; for the 2022 harvest at our Finca Santa Rita, cultivation accounted for over 62% (if transport to our roastery is added, 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 influence the need for fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the yield.
Where most emissions occur, we want to look more closely and not communicate an average value for our coffees, but publish these annually adjusted and recalculated to make the differences transparent.
Because even if, apart from Santa Rita, the 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 exportable green coffee. An often-cited study* shows 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 the different values per farm, numbers between 3.3 kg and 18.8 kg CO2e / kg of green coffee are mentioned.
This range is far too broad; a precise calculation is impossible. Instead, we are in exchange with farms, organizations, and companies that deal with the calculation of CO₂ footprints.
We also notice fluctuations in our roastery's emissions. Therefore, it is valuable to recalculate and compare our emissions each year to continuously improve.
Our company grows, and our emissions grow with it.
For the second year, we are now considering the emissions directly associated with our roastery. This includes everything relevant that happens between the delivery of green coffee and the delivery of roasted coffee.
Our CO₂ footprint 2023
You can find the detailed calculation here.
The CO₂ footprint of our coffee roastery in Basel totaled 27.673 tons of CO₂e in 2023, which is about 5.5 tons (8.3%) more than in the previous year. This is 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, air travel and related business trips were again the largest emission factor for our roastery. Two flights to Brazil, including domestic flights, served to expand our partnership with APAS, get to know Farmerscoffee, and visit 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 thrive from healthy relationships. We are in regular contact with our partners, but to build long-term partnerships, nurture them, align values, and strengthen trust, personal meetings are essential. Our partners visit us, or we are on-site - many ideas emerge from these encounters, and we develop shared visions. Therefore, we will continue to undertake business trips, but limit them as much as possible.
Coffee and Shipping Packaging
Coffee packaging causes the second-highest emissions when considering roastery emissions. If we include shipping packaging, then packaging accounts for more than a quarter of the roastery's footprint in 2023.
In 2022, we switched to mono-PE bags (Click here for the article), but due to quality issues, we had to return to the previous bags. This increases the attributed emissions both in total and proportionally.
However, the values are misleading, because if one considers the entire life of a coffee bag, approximately 2.7 kg CO2e/kg of packaging*** must be considered for thermal recovery. This almost doubles the emissions.
Additionally, it should be mentioned that the underlying data refers to the emissions for the production of the films for our bags. Adhesives, colors, zippers, and valves are considered based on mass, but the manufacturing of the bags with these extras is missing.
Especially the production of block-bottom bags requires high energy consumption and very large production facilities. Depending on the production site, printing, and color choice, the value can be underestimated by up to 1 kg CO2e/kg of packaging.
Added to this are the boxes in which we send the coffee bags. These do not include the boxes we use to send the coffees to your home. (These boxes are used in 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 linked to the roasting volume. If we roast more, consumption increases. We roast with 100% biogas. Even if we pay for biogas and calculate biogas for emissions, we know that we do not burn biogas. Because with one's contribution, one pays for the consumed amount to be fed into the grid.
What do we do with the result?
In relation to the entire chain, the CO₂ footprint of the roastery is of little weight. If we compare the roastery with cultivation, the share is about 15% based on the Santa Rita harvest (calculated per kg of roasted coffee). However, the investigations also made it clear to us how much we can improve here as well.
It should be emphasized that only 30% of this falls into Scope 1 & 2. Too often, companies focus on communicating Scope 1 and 2 - but these are "low hanging fruits" compared to Scope 3: emissions that can be quickly changed through a conscious decision.
Since 2023, EU companies with more than 250 employees have been obliged to record and report their emissions. This does not affect us and probably very few nano to meso-roasteries.
But that 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 socio-ecological and future-oriented companies, how the coffee industry itself can drive the reduction of its CO₂ footprint.
From the results, we derive action goals. We identify simple, achievable goals and initiate projects to address the larger challenges of our industry. This includes, for example, an emission-improved coffee packaging.
Small Improvements from 2022
- We now give spent coffee grounds and silver skin to Ratschaft, an animal welfare association that turns it into compost.
- We use more stable shipping boxes that we can send 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.
Major Efforts (Notes 2023)
A major project is the most sustainable coffee packaging possible. We will publish further articles on this.
We are currently examining the implementation of a solar system on the roof of our roastery 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 possible. And we know it is just one step of many. We must continue to look around, critically question, and try to understand. Only in this way can we improve quality and sustainability.
As announced in 2022, a solar system has adorned our roof since January 2024, which can cover our electricity consumption in good weather and still feed into the grid. As soon as we have more data, we can estimate how much of our electricity demand can be covered.
Critique of CO₂ Consideration
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 further environmental impacts, such as the reduction of biodiversity or the emission of other pollutants, are not taken into account in the CO₂ consideration.
A comprehensive environmental assessment should therefore consider various environmental categories and the life cycle of a product. Only then can a well-founded statement about the actual environmental impact be made. Therefore, in the future, we will repeatedly refer to the method of ecological scarcity**** to draw attention to areas that are not apparent from a pure CO₂ consideration.
Sources
** HAL - Carbon footprints and carbon stocks reveal climate-friendly coffee production
*** DIW - Recycling
