Motorola’s consumer product arm cuts its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent last year, but missed its goal for carbon relative to sales, according to the company’s 2010 corporate responsibility report.
Last year Motorola Mobility’s total (scope 1, 2 and 3) emissions fell by ten percent, from 548,501 to 495,289 tons CO2 equivalent – down a total of 27 percent on the 2008 level of 678,505. The company said that since 2005 it has reduced its carbon footprint by 45 percent and its energy use by 33 percent.
But Motorola Mobility says it missed a 2010 goal of reducing its carbon footprint, relative to sales, by 15 percent from 2005 levels. The report blamed this on weaker sales.
The company’s newest sustainability goals include a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, normalized to floor space, by 15 percent by 2016, from a baseline.
Other goals, all with the same baseline and target year, include ten percent cuts in absolute GHGs, water use normalized to floor space, and total waste (hazardous and non-hazardous) normalized to floor space.
Motorola Mobility’s scope two emissions fell by 16 percent between 2009 and 2010, from 400,156 to 336,502 tons of CO2e, and use of electricity and natural gas fell by seven percent, from 866 million to 803 million kWh.
In 2010, Motorola integrated LEED-Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) standards into its green procurement guidelines, and says that is now rolling these guidelines out globally.
Renewable energy use rose by its biggest margin ever last year, from 15 percent to 23 percent of total energy use. Six percent of that was renewable energy available by default in the power grid, and 17 percent is from voluntary purchases, including RECs in the U.S. and direct hydro purchases in Germany and Denmark.
The company has committed to increase its proportion of renewable energy to 30 percent by 2020. Motorola Mobility ranks No. 50 on the EPA’s Green Power Partnership National Top 50 List, highlighting the largest green power purchasers in the U.S.
But scope three emissions rose by nine percent last year, from 115,128 to 125,438 tons CO2e. And scope one emissions increased by 0.3 percent, from 33,217 to 33,349 tons of CO2e.
In 2010, the company’s emissions of volatile organic materials dropped by four percent, from 25 to 24 tons. Since 2005, VOCs have dropped 52 percent, due to changes in cleaning and soldering processes.
Last year Motorola Mobility’s hazardous waste output fell by 0.8 percent, from 458 to 454, and recycling of non-hazardous waste rose from 75 percent to 84 percent.
Meanwhile, water use rose 9 percent, from 2.31 million to 2.33 million cubic meters. And electronic equipment received through take-back programs fell by 24 percent, from 5,162 to 3,904 tons. The report said that in 2010, the company’s take-back rate for mobile phones sold in 2008 was about three percent.
Since 2000, the company has reduced the average standby power of its chargers by at least 70 percent, and its latest wall chargers have standby power rates of 0.03 watts – 90 percent better than the current Energy Star standard, the report said.
In 2010, Motorola launched six mobile phones free of brominated-flame retardants, polyvinyl chloride and phthalates. It has also launched six products using a plastic recycled from water bottles, which it says takes 20 percent less energy to make than standard plastic.
