Towards Zero, Together: The A-Gas Sustainability Pledge
For nearly 30 years, A-Gas has invested in its people, processes, and technology to recover and reclaim fluorinated gases for further use. The result of this effort is that today, we have successfully built the world’s foremost refrigerant lifecycle management company. At the same time, A-Gas has captured thousands of tons of gas that may otherwise have been released into the atmosphere – and we aren’t stopping there. Today, we are proud to announce that A-Gas is pledging to become a ‘Net Zero’ company by the year 2035.
Additionally, we are aiming to reduce our existing emissions by 50% by 2028; this not only aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement, but it brings our emissions reductions in line with those mandated by Science Based Targets (SBT). These are ambitious goals but achieving them only grows more imperative each day.
To support our journey towards Net Zero, we have launched a dedicated ‘Towards Zero, Together’ campaign where targeting Net Zero is the top of our agenda and will be incorporated within our existing ISO Safety, Quality and Environmental management systems. This campaign’s foundational principles are:
Targeting Zero - encompasses our dedication to stay safe, protect our environment and prevent emissions to the atmosphere.
Zero Harm – we strive for Zero Harm in all that we do so we can all go home after work in the same condition as we arrived in.
Zero Leaks – we are committed to targeting Zero Leaks to atmosphere to protect each other and the environment we all share.
Zero Carbon – we strive to work towards a Zero Carbon footprint at all our locations across the Group by reducing our emissions as much as possible and offsetting what cannot be reduced.
The A-Gas Journey Towards Net Zero
Knowing which way to go is difficult without first understanding where you are. To that end, A-Gas launched an internal Sustainability Task Force in early 2021. This group consists of multi-disciplined team members from across all the A-Gas regions who meet regularly to advance these efforts.
First and foremost is assessing our company-wide carbon footprint to measure and manage direct and indirect emissions (Scope 1 and 2) based on the widely accepted Greenhouse Gas Protocol accounting standards. All our measurements are independently verified and used as a benchmark to set the standard for continuous improvement.
Following this, we plan to measure our total value chain emissions (Scope 3) which will include product lifecycle assessments on our substantial range of circular economy sourced, reclaimed gases.
This measuring will not only highlight how important our work here at A-Gas truly is, but it will also show us where to improve.
Our Environmental Work
A-Gas’ unique offerings of recovery, reclamation and repurposing services are hallmarks of a circular economy; collecting waste and re-using it is both economically and environmentally efficient.
We use the most efficient, UN-approved technology to destroy materials that no longer have a use. Our ‘end-of-life’ service prevents the material from being vented and causing harm to our planet.
As a result of our reclamation and destruction efforts, we abated the equivalent of 7.7 million metric tons of CO2e in 2020 alone. That is equal to 1.6 million cars removed from the road for a whole year.
As the world transitions to the use of lower global warming products (LGWP), A-Gas will be a critical player in bringing these products to end users, while lifecycle managing all previous generations of gases.
Developing Bespoke Carbon Offsets
As part of our environmental services offering, A-Gas develops and issues customised carbon offsets from the recovery and reclamation of refrigerants. This displaces the need to produce virgin HFC refrigerants and successfully complements our near decade of experience in the production of compliance carbon offsets from the destruction of harmful CFCs, thereby lowering CO2e emissions.
The carbon offsets generated by A-Gas in-house go beyond what is regulated by government or industry; they undergo rigorous scrutiny which are third party verified, enabling the creation of the highest quality credits in accordance with leading carbon registries such as ACR, CAR and VERRA. Not only do our offsets represent the avoidance of emissions, but they also support a variety of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that enable end users to meet their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) obligations.
Through the generation of carbon offsets, A-Gas can help businesses worldwide reduce their carbon footprints.
Towards Zero, Together
The IPCC Report released in August 2021 clearly states the climate is changing because of human influence. There is no longer room for denial, we all have a part to play in protecting our planet. Achieving Net Zero by 2035 is a far reaching and ambitious target which we cannot achieve alone, but with our people, customers, partners and technology, Together, We Can.
Find further information on A-Gas’ environmental journey and our commitment to a sustainable future here.
