Jospak, a manufacturer of patented, fiber-based cardboard trays, wanted to find out the carbon footprint of the trays. Their goal was to have a carbon footprint calculator that would support both sustainability work and sales.   

OpenCO2.net team built Jospak a customized, browser-based calculator that allows the Jospak team to calculate the carbon footprints of all their products. The calculator considers not only the materials needed for packaging, but also the different shipping options, both by sea and by road. 

"We have been really happy with the calculator. It allows us to calculate the cradle-to-gate emissions of our trays, and it's easy to use," says Petra Katajisto, Sustainability Specialist at Jospak. 

For Jospak's customers, carbon footprint information is important. With the calculator, Jospak's sales team can show customers that their trays’ emissions are less than those of a traditional plastic tray. For example, Petra receives requests from the sales team to calculate the emissions of a particular size of tray on a particular transport route. When the customer orders the trays, an even more accurate calculation is made with the final data. 

Easy, customized carbon footprint calculator for company's needs 

According to Katajisto, the customized carbon footprint calculator is very easy to use. "The calculator guides you well on where to find what, and it's clear where to fill in the data. In particular, the fact that the calculator has default weights for certain items according to the materials used, makes it easier to use." 

Katajisto has also used the calculator more extensively in her work. "The calculator has helped us to identify the biggest sources of emissions, and we now know where we could reduce emissions a little more," says Katajisto. When the company switched from district heating to geothermal heating, the carbon footprint of one tray dropped by 9g CO2e, which is a big change for a small tray. "The emissions from one tray are really small, but when you order a million trays, even a small change in emissions from one tray makes a bigger difference in total." 

In the Jospak team, the calculator has been used by two people. "If you understand the structure and materials of a product, even a person who has no experience in carbon footprint calculation can use a customized calculator. It's also easy to use because you can add your own bases to the calculator, which are simple to modify. Just add dimensions, sizes, materials and transport distances." 

According to Katajisto, the calculator has met the expectations set for it as a tool for sustainability and sales development. The calculator has also helped to identify waste in manufacturing and to discuss how to reduce waste in production. "The customized carbon footprint calculator has also confirmed that the emission reduction measures we have chosen are the right ones and has enabled us to improve our sustainability work." 

We implement customized carbon footprint calculators for companies on top of our OpenCO2.net carbon footprint platform. Interested in a customized calculator? Contact us. 

OpenCO2.net is a carbon footprint platform developed by experts that provides all the tools for companies on their emissions measurements and reductions. We also offer a comprehensive set of tools for consultants. Our service is suitable for calculating the carbon footprint of a single product or a whole company. As an OpenCO2.net license holder, you will have access to company and product-specific calculators, the most comprehensive emissions database in Finland, an emissions monitoring tool, an emissions scenario tool, and a carbon handprint calculator.

Picture: Jospak Oy