Crown turns to renewable power in US and Canadian beverage can plants

It says it is the first metal packaging manufacturer to achieve this milestone, as a result of a 15-year wind power Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with Longroad Energy.

With Crown's manufacturing facilities in the UK taking similar steps, 27.5% of the company’s global operations now use renewable energy. Crown wants to use 100% renewable electricity by 2050, with interim targets of 60% in 2030 and 90% in 2040.

'Major milestone'

Relying on a wind farm in Knox County, Texas, the VPPA generates more than 440,000 MWhs of electricity. This is the equivalent of taking 67,000 passenger vehicles off the road for one year, preventing more than 310,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

The renewable power offsets all energy used by Crown's US and Canadian beverage plants.

John Rost, Ph.D., Vice President, Global Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs at Crown, said: "This VPPA, which makes us the first in our industry to complete an energy transition for all US and Canadian beverage can manufacturing facilities, is a major milestone on our journey to utilize 100% renewable electricity by 2050 and will play a critical role in reducing GHG emissions from our operations. ​

"Making a pledge to the RE100 initiative, setting science-based emission reduction targets and now implementing wind power across our US and Canadian beverage plants—these are all actions we view as critical for driving measurable progress against climate change for our planet."​

Crown's Twentyby30 sustainability program also wants to decrease Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within its global operations, targeting a 50% combined reduction in absolute Scope 1 (fuel) and Scope 2 (electricity) emissions.

Crown is also part of the RE100, a global initiative of businesses all committed to 100% renewable energy.