Energy and Emissions

To fulfil our purpose to protect and beautify the world, we recognize the need to continually reduce our environmental impacts. We are committed to:

• Reducing our annual energy consumption through implementation of innovative energy solutions
• Increasing our use of renewable energy across our global footprint to meet our customer requirements
• Ensuring reliable supply of energy and contingency measures in the event of a power failure or gaps in renewable energy generation
• Replacing technologies that use fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, with those that use electricity as an energy source

To enable these actions, we are focused on developing an energy-conscious culture throughout PPG. We build awareness through frequent communication, developing energy management best practices for our facilities,  rewarding continuous operational improvements and focusing our resources primarily on locations with the highest energy use.

Energy management 

Most of our coatings are produced at ambient temperatures and pressures, and most of our production processes are not energy intensive. We focus on identifying the processes that require the most energy and making them more efficient. For example, we are working to improve the efficiency of the milling process, where ingredients such as pigments are broken down to the correct particle size for use in our paints and coatings, by improving production processes and upgrading technology in our facilities. We also work to shorten cycle times, and increase the efficiency of those processes that may require heating or cooling.

At our most energy intensive facilities, we establish energy management requirements based on the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard. We regularly update and improve these requirements based on feedback from our facility managers, to support continuous improvement throughout the organization. Key aspects of these energy management requirements include:

• Identification and characterization of energy usage
• Documentation of and compliance with all regulatory requirements for energy usage
• Documentation of operational practices to reduce energy consumption, including identification of equipment with high energy use, a written preventative maintenance program and energy reduction processes
• Training on energy use and minimization
• Documentation and records of energy usage on the site

We utilize an internal portal for sharing energy management performance data. The portal provides management with timely information on our sites' energy performance compared to goals, previous years and similar facilities. This allows us to identify areas of high energy use and evaluate the impact of efficiency improvements as they are implemented.

We regularly conduct full-scale audits at our facilities that consume the most energy and make efficiency improvements based on these findings. We are undertaking these improvements over time to optimize the impact, focusing on the projects with the greatest improvement opportunities for the resource investment required. Efficiency improvements may include: 

• Process changes to reduce the energy required to manufacture our products
• Upgrading outdated equipment such as boilers, chillers and air compressors
• Switching to LED lighting
• Electrification of processes that use fossil fuels

We also use our energy audit process to look for opportunities to implement renewable energy generation on site at our facilities, including rooftop and freestanding solar panels.

Downstream, we collaborate directly with our customers to reduce energy intensity from product application. We model the process of applying and curing PPG products at customer locations and use the results to promote existing PPG products that require less energy to apply and cure. Our ability to help customers identify and adopt less energy intensive curing approaches, such as electron beam curing vs. UV curing, helps to lower overall energy consumption in our value chain.

Renewable energy sourcing

Most power generation still relies on fossil fuels, which are not renewable and release greenhouse gases. We work with external suppliers to increase the percentage of our electricity that comes from renewable sources. We source renewable energy through a variety of means, including direct investment in solar installations at our facilities, power purchase agreements (PPAs), renewable energy certificates and green tariffs.

Much of our renewable energy is sourced through PPAs, which allows us to purchase electricity at a fixed cost for anywhere from 10-25 years, and helps developers build renewable energy infrastructure. These agreements are key in supporting our decarbonization commitments.

We reduce air emissions globally through improved operating practices, product reformulations and, where necessary, emissions control equipment. Our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction efforts are grounded in lowering operating costs and maximizing resource efficiency.

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions

Our GHG emissions reduction efforts are guided by our company-wide 2030 target of achieving a 50% reduction in GHG emissions from our own operations (scope 1 and 2 emissions). This target has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The sources of our emissions vary by facility due to the different sources of energy used across our operations. We take a facility-level approach to reducing our emissions, focused on the sites with the highest scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Our approach to reducing scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions is closely tied to our energy management efforts, which focus on improving energy efficiency across our operations and enhancing our sourcing of renewable energy. Beyond improved environmental outcomes, improving energy efficiency also increases our operational efficiency.

To meet our 2030 goals, PPG partnered with EnelX to implement PPG’s renewable energy sourcing strategy that puts us on a path to achieving a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions. The key components of the renewable energy roadmap include on-site and off-site renewable energy installations and the purchase of renewable energy via power purchase agreements.

Our global engineering group identified PPG's largest energy saving opportunities at our global manufacturing sites and began installing energy monitors to better assess energy efficiency and to identify opportunities to reduce usage at sites. We are taking a two-pronged approach to identify process and utility equipment that is inefficient and at end-of-useful life and take the opportunity to upgrade and retrofit these assets to bolster energy efficiency.

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions

Scope 3 GHG emissions are generated from sources that PPG does not own or control, including the extraction or production of raw materials, use of sold products, and product end-of-life. By 2030, we are committed to reducing our absolute scope 3 emissions by 30% from a 2019 baseline across the following categories, as defined by GHG Protocol's Corporate Value Chain (scope 3) Standard: 

• Category 1: Purchased goods and services, including raw materials and PPG-manufactured packaging
• Category 10: Customer processing of sold products
• Category 12: End-of-life treatment of sold products 

We selected these three categories because they account for more than 80% of our scope 3 emissions and we are positioned to influence reductions in these areas.

In working with raw material suppliers, we focus on evaluating alternative innovative sources, lower carbon feedstocks, compliant bio opportunities, and key emissions ‘hot spots’ in the supply chain. We use the information on ‘hot spot ‘activities to identify priority actions for resources and partner with suppliers to reduce upstream GHG emissions. We have identified the primary levers of scope 3 reductions to be customer innovations that lower energy use, circular solutions, value chain energy transition and solvent emissions.

Downstream, we partner with customers to promote the use of existing products that require less energy to apply and cure and develop new products that further improve this. Our technical service teams play an important role in assisting our customers to maximize productivity through sustainable benefits. We also focus on developing new products that require less energy, generate less waste, use less water, fewer raw material inputs and release fewer GHG emissions at end-of-useful-life. These efforts help reduce our customers’ GHG emissions, reduce PPG’s downstream scope 3 emissions and position PPG to capitalize on emerging opportunities from climate-related economic transitions.

Our category 1 and 12 emissions are calculated based on the actual substance breakdown of our purchased raw materials and their quantity, instead of the spend based method. PPG has modeled its tens of thousands of raw material substances using literature or database data to improve the accuracy of category 1 and 12 carbon emissions.

Beyond partnering with suppliers and customers, we continue to embed circular economy principles across our operations. We are able to reduce both our value chain GHG emissions and raw material costs by limiting waste, reusing materials and extending product life-cycles.

Other air emissions

We work to reduce the air pollutants released by our operations, particularly those that are regulated by government agencies, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter. In the United States, we measure and report U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from our facilities.

We use a range of solutions to reduce our air emissions, including technological and process improvements in our facilities. Air pollution controls vary based on the production processes at each facility, but include baghouse filters to remove particulates and thermal oxidizers to control VOC emissions. We also consider air emissions in our product development process, and reformulate products to reduce harmful compounds for customers, including those designated as HAPs and VOCs.