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While 3M has made significant GHG emission reductions across our global operations, we realize we can make far greater contributions by helping our customers reduce their GHG emissions through the use of our products.
Goal: Help our customers reduce their GHGs by 250 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions through the use of 3M products by 2025.
Science for Climate.
Clean Air Asia.
In 2019, during Climate Week and the United Nations Climate Action Summit, we announced a new partnership with Clean Air Asia. 3M will collaborate with the international non-governmental organization on science-based air quality solutions for New Delhi, India, and Metro Manila, Philippines. To achieve this goal, we will spend the next five years assisting Clean Air Asia in its efforts to assess baseline air quality conditions, design capacity-building programs for air quality management, implement awareness and education campaigns, develop clean air action plans with selected city and district governments, and measure the resulting impact on air pollution levels.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution causes seven million premature deaths each year. The health impact of poor air quality is particularly notable in the South-East Asia Region, where people in 99% of cities are exposed to pollution levels that exceed WHO guidelines.1 This partnership aims to create healthier, more livable cities in Asia.
1 World Health Organization. https://www.who. int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1.
How we work 166 167 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Climate and energy
Our actions.
Energy management, inside and out 3M reviews its Strategic Energy Management Plan annually to prioritize programs and meet global goals. The plan uses input from stakeholders, including manufacturing directors, site managers, operations employees, and executive management. Goals of the plan include continuously improving results, leveraging engineering expertise and advances, driving site-level efficiency improvements, maintaining top management support, and protecting 3M’s reputation.
Public speaking engagements and partnerships are integral elements of the plan. In 2019, 3M experts spoke at several energy industry conferences, including the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Industrial Energy Technology Conference (IETC), National Association for EHS & Sustainability Management (NAEM), World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC), Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), and the Better Buildings Summit. We are also one of 30 businesses and organizations that have formed the Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition — which has formulated a clean energy vision for Minnesota.
In 2019, 3M introduced the safe and sustainable centrally coordinated investment fund to mitigate risk and facilitate energy efficiency via engineering to align with our Strategic Sustainability Framework. For more information, visit the Health and safety section.
A focus on energy from naturally replenishable sources.
In early 2019, 3M transitioned to which helped raise our total global renewable electricity usage to over 30% for the year. 3M became the largest company in Xcel Energy, Inc.’s service area across eight Western and Midwestern states to make a comparable achievement. 3M’s headquarters is a 409-acre campus with about 12,000 employees across 30 buildings and research labs.
In 2018, 3M’s 2025 goal of 25% renewable electricity was surpassed, and starting in 2019, a new interim goal of 50% was set.
Our renewable efforts don’t stop at our headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. Our sites actively seek alternative energy sources, including active combined heat and power, solar, wind, and other projects, such as utilized excess steam. For example, in 2019, the 3M IMPD site in California installed a new solar farm that provides 20% of the site’s total electricity, and 3M Canada’s headquarters in London, Ontario, installed a 10-kilowatt solar panel system on their rooftop. Read more about 3M’s commitment to RE100 in our feature story, “Flipping the switch on renewable energy.”
While 3M takes actions to help convert its operations to renewable electricity sources, the company continues to support the global renewable energy sector by producing solutions for customers that help improve the reliability and efficiency of renewable electricity, including solar and wind.
ISO 50001 and SEP™ certification.
The internationally recognized ISO 50001 standard and the DOE’s Superior Energy Performance (SEP™) certification program help 3M sites become attuned to recognizing and seizing opportunities to increase energy efficiency in site operations and move from delivering energy projects in a loosely organized fashion to a structured system of management. By integrating the systemic ISO-based framework of “plan-do-check-act” for the management of energy in on-site operations, our sites have seen savings in energy costs and consumption, expansion of employee engagement, and increased visibility to the tracking of site energy performance. 3M has been busy increasing its ISO 50001 and SEP-certified profile, with 31 sites certified globally and 10 working toward certification under these two programs.
renewable electricity at our headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, 100% 20,000,000 10,000,000 30,000,000 2016 2017 2019 2018 2015 2010 2005 0
200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 2015 2017 2018 2019 2016 2010 2005 0.
Indexed global energy use.
MMBtu per MM $USD net sales Global energy use.
MMBtu.
Photo credit: Avangrid Renewables.
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• The 3M Singapore Tuas site won the Best Practices (Honorable Mention) in the prestigious Energy Efficiency National Partnership (EENP) Award 2019 for their outstanding commitment and achievements in energy savings.
Direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions providing a direct and immediate reduction of our carbon emissions. During this same timeframe, we have achieved a 68.1% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 location-based GHG emissions.
Since 2002, the 3M EHS Laboratory has calculated 3M’s GHG inventory in accordance with the World Resources Institute (WRI) / World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. The 3M EHS Laboratory maintains an accreditation to ANSI/ISO/IEC 17025 through A2LA — a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA).
Identifying ways to save energy.
Throughout the year, employees conducted energy walk-throughs, held energy Treasure Hunts, collaborated with the Corporate team or external partners, and integrated employee ideas at sites to find conservation opportunities. Globally, 3M sites identified approximately $7.6 million in opportunities over the next year and delivered $11.8 million in energy savings in 2019. Building, maintaining, and executing our energy project hoppers continues to be a priority at 3M.
Energy Excellence Awards.
The Energy Excellence Awards honor individuals and teams that incorporate the goals of the Corporate Energy Program in engineering projects. The nominated projects and individuals actively demonstrate their commitment to include energy efficiency in the design of projects, in equipment selection, or in the use of alternative energy supplies. The award is one of global recognition within the 3M engineering community. In 2019, out of a total of 29 projects, four awards were given to individuals from 3M Tuas, Singapore; 3M Alexandria, United States; 3M Woodlands, Singapore; and 3M Naju, Korea.
2019 Site Energy Award.
At the conclusion of each year, the Corporate Energy Management Team recognizes the top sites in our program for their results in achieving energy metrics. To qualify, these sites must demonstrate an active culture of energy management practices on site, as evidenced by their delivered project savings, their energy team assessment score, and the resulting improved efficiency in energy intensity on-site. Nine platinum awards, four gold awards, and seven silver awards were presented to sites with the most impressive results.
2019 Energy Recognition • 3M received the Award of Excellence in Energy Management, and 3M Canada received the Energy Management Insight Award from the Clean Energy Ministerial • 3M received the 2019 Corporate Energy Management Award from the Association of Energy Engineers® • 3M Energy Engineer Prasath Vinayagamoorthy was selected to receive the Association of Energy Engineers® Canada Region Energy Engineer of the Year Award for 2019 in recognition of outstanding work in energy • 3M Corporate Energy Manager Andrew Hejnar was honored to become a fellow member of the Association of Energy Engineers® in recognition for making significant contributions to the energy management and alternative energy industry.
Since 2002, 3M has 75.9% 2
4 6
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2017 2016 2018 2019 2015 2002 0.
Scope 2 location-based GHG emissions.
Scope 1 GHG emissions.
Greenhouse gas emissions, Scope 1 and Scope 2.
Million metric tons CO2 equivalents, absolute 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 0 2017 2016 2018 2019 2015 2002.
Indexed Scope 2 location-based GHG emissions Indexed Scope 1 GHG emissions.
Indexed greenhouse gas emissions, Scope 1 and Scope 2.
Million metric tons CO2 equivalents per MM $USD net sales.
Although it is not possible to put 3M’s GHG inventory methodology on the lab’s scope of accreditation, our calculation methodology has been improved by incorporating several quality system elements from the ANSI/ISO/IEC 17025 Standard, including: • Defined responsibilities and interrelationships of all key staff • Documentation of key personnel qualifications • Control over quality system documents and procedures • Control of records • Corrective and preventive action system • Internal audit program • Documented and approved calculation procedures.
Every year, 3M calculates our GHG inventory according to approved internal procedures that are updated as needed to agree with current calculation methodologies. However, whenever a methodology change is implemented, 3M will, wherever possible, recalculate prior year’s GHG inventories to assure that past and current-year GHG inventories are comparable. Where this is not possible, 3M will either call this out or assure that the difference is not material. These quality system elements and procedures, coupled with a robust internal and third-party review of our emissions, help assure that 3M’s GHG inventory is aligned with the core principles of relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, and transparency.
GHG emission reductions are achieved through a variety of methods: improving process and equipment efficiency, upgrading equipment, reducing our demand for energy use, increasing our use of renewable electricity, and implementing and maintaining pollution control technologies. These methods, and more, are integral to the company’s overall success and assist us with the challenge of helping to address global climate change concerns.
reduced Scope 1 GHG emissions by.
For methodology, please refer to the About report section: base year and other adjustments, and greenhouse gas metric table.
For methodology, please refer to the About report section: base year and other adjustments, and greenhouse gas metric table.
How we work 170 171 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Climate and energy
GHG emissions attributable to our suppliers and customers (Scope 3) 3M has been developing our Scope 3 GHG emissions inventory since publication of the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard in September 2011. We place a high value on decision-making based on sound science. When the complexity of the supply chain does not allow for direct calculation, an input/output model calculation method is used.
Due to our diverse manufacturing operation, 3M was not required to calculate Scope 3 categories 9–12. The methodology did not exist. However, we were determined to understand our complete Scope 3 profile. In 2019, we developed methodologies around Scope 3, categories 9 (downstream transportation and distribution), 10 (processing of sold products), 11 (use of sold products), and 12 (end-of-life treatment of sold products). Due to the new extensive calculations, quality assurance processes are being developed in 2020. From these efforts, we can better understand opportunities to reduce our downstream GHG emissions and to consider the establishment of new goals. Calculating Scope 3 categories 9-12 is a challenging task and will complete our map of Scope 3 relevant categories. Our 55,000-plus products are heavily diversified across a large variety of use cases. We look forward to reporting these values in the 2021 Sustainability Report.
For more information, see our feature story, “Taking inventory of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Evaluating customer GHG emissions reductions.
To track progress toward our 2025 GHG customer goal, 3M has a process in place to develop reasonable estimates for avoided emissions associated with use of select 3M products. This estimation procedure is based on the ISO 14064-2 standard for determining GHG emissions reductions. It provides a framework for the estimation of emissions from the 3M product scenario (referred to as the “project scenario”) in relation to a baseline scenario.
We start by defining the boundary of the 3M product scenario as extraction from nature through the end of the product use phase (product end-of-life or disposal is included where reliable information is available). The GHG emissions for this scenario are then estimated using high-level estimates and average data. For example, manufacturing emissions may be determined based on the average energy use per pound of all products produced at a manufacturing site, rather than by determining the emissions through detailed calculations using product-specific information.
The same boundary is then used for the estimation of GHG emissions for the baseline scenario. Because the data sources may be different than the 3M product scenario, we apply conservative assumptions as needed, where conservative is defined as a choice that results in the minimum GHG emissions for the baseline scenario. For example, if emissions data is not available for the production of a material included in the baseline scenario, we assume the emissions for this material to be zero.
In some cases, there is no equivalent to the 3M product. In these cases, the baseline scenario is the absence of the 3M product entirely. The result is a comparison that conservatively estimates the potential impact of the 3M product.
Due to the estimated nature of the data used, the uncertainty for these studies is plus or minus 50%, which approximates data of fair to good quality as defined in the WRI/WBCSD Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard Quantitative Inventory Uncertainty Guide.
According to our calculations, in 2019 alone, through use of select 3M product platforms as calculated in accordance with ISO 14064-2 and 3M developed procedures.
Since 2015, this has resulted in an through use of select 3M product platforms. This avoidance represents only a portion of our product portfolio. Various films and food safety products are examples of the select products included in this evaluation. In the future, the list will likely expand as a result of the new Sustainability Value Commitment.
Air quality management.
An important component of 3M’s Sustainability strategy is our commitment to improving air quality globally.
As a company that uses many solvent-based materials, 3M inherently releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from many of our manufacturing processes. Because of this, many of our sites require permits with rigorous VOC tracking requirements. Even where tracking is not required from a regulatory perspective, 3M voluntarily tracks VOC usage and emissions from major sources of emissions in order to identify further opportunities for reduction. 3M has developed internal programs to minimize its VOC emissions. We track and report emissions based on raw material usage, engineering estimates, and stack test data.
58 avoidance of over metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions million 17 our customers avoided emitting nearly metric tons CO2 equivalents million.
We place a high value on decisionmaking based on sound science.
How we work 172 173 3M 2020 Sustainability Report #improvinglives Climate and energy
For many 3M manufacturing processes, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and particulate matter (PM) are emitted as products of combustion. These pollutants, which are listed on many environmental permits for specific site operations, are tracked and reported externally, where required by federal, state, or local regulations for individual sites. 3M internally tracks all fuel usage and calculates the combustion emission rates using accepted emission factors.
Main VOC by source type • 3M’s VOC emissions are primarily attributed to coating lines • Reactors and mixing are also significant sources of VOC emissions.
VOC by sites • 90% of our sites emit less than 100 tons per year VOC • 34% of our sites emit less than 1 ton per year VOC.
Implementing and maintaining pollution control 3M has made significant progress in reducing air emissions — at the source and by improving process efficiencies. Where emissions cannot be reduced within the process, 3M installs and maintains air emission control equipment as required by federal, state, and local regulations. We evaluate all equipment options, select those that are the most environmentally effective and cost-efficient, and strive to properly operate emission control equipment. Technologies include thermal oxidization, solvent recovery, carbon adsorption, biofiltration, electrostatic precipitators, baghouses, scrubbers, and cyclones.
Ozone depleting substances.
The Montreal Protocol is the first worldwide agreement designed to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. The agreement identifies the list of ozone depleting substances (ODS) that are targeted for control practices, reductions, or total phaseouts and provides a phaseout schedule. In addition, some countries have established regulations regarding the management of refrigeration appliances.
3M has set forth requirements in order to provide a framework for how 3M operations are to manage their refrigeration appliances containing ODS in the context of applicable international protocols, local regulations, and current and future economic impacts. These requirements include conformance to the Montreal Protocol when applicable.
We believe that climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face as a society and now is the time to lead and take action — for our climate and our communities. Our Strategic Sustainability Framework directs our efforts to areas where we can make the biggest impact.
Within the Science for Climate pillar of this framework, we will continue to focus on innovating to decarbonize industry, accelerating global climate solutions, and improving our environmental footprint. We’ll continue to drive climate solutions in our operations, in our products, and in communities around the world.
In our operations, we will continue to advance toward 100% renewable electricity at all global sites. Specifically, we will continue to evaluate what will improve additional aspects of energy efficiency, what organizations can help us move to a total renewable electricity portfolio, and what partnerships with utility companies can help us reach our ultimate destination.
For our customers, we will develop and launch products to help them reach their Sustainability goals by improving energy efficiency, increasing renewable electricity, reducing emissions, and more.
For our communities, we will continue to partner with others to help drive climate solutions globally.
Get updates and learn more about our ongoing work aligning to the 3M Strategic Sustainability Framework.
0.10 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.05 0.15 0.20 2015 2017 2018 2019 2016 2010 2005 0.00 An important component of 3M’s Sustainability strategy is our commitment to improving air quality globally.
Global volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.
Metric tons per MM $USD net sales.
Looking forward.
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Our commitment.
Each step in the supply chain includes benefits (like employment and community-building) as well as the potential for negative impacts (such as pollution or unsafe or unfair labor practices). Our commitment, from top leadership down, is to maximize the positives and mitigate the potential negatives by aligning our supplier expectations with our own corporate values. We expect our suppliers to be transparent about their environmental and social practices, provide improvement ideas, and work with us to transform our shared value chain.