The corporate carbon footprint (CCF) analysis was conducted in collaboration with the Swiss consulting firm Neosys AG, adhering to standard measurement practices established by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as well as recognised Swiss and other international emission criteria. The CCF, performed at the company’s headquarters in Uznach, Switzerland, uses verified data from 2024. With this corporate carbon footprint, Otto Hofstetter AG establishes a transparent benchmark for its future ESG- and CSRD-oriented reports. Furthermore, the CCF provides reliable data for customers and partners when they are required to provide emissions data for their supply chains. In Europe, such regulatory reporting and transparency requirements are steadily increasing.
The data at a glance
For the business year 2024, Otto Hofstetter AG produced a total of approximately 137,600 metric tons of CO2 equivalents. Of this total, less than one percent is attributable to direct emissions and purchased energy, and around four percent to upstream activities such as material procurement and logistics. The remaining 95 percent is attributed to the twelve-year usage period of the moulds. This high weighting results directly from the moulds’ designs, which are optimised for long service lives and high availability. In short, our moulds are used intensively and for many years. In the CCF accounting system, emissions from a product’s future usage are fully attributed to the manufacturer.
Customer challenges
By purchasing a mould, customers automatically incorporate its ecological footprint into their own CCF balance sheet. This “CO2 backpack” is gaining importance in the European context. First, the price in the EU Emissions Trading System has been around 70 to 100 euros per ton of CO2 for some time now, and second, the demands for transparency along the supply chain are increasing. This has implications for reporting and influences customers’ investment decisions. Otto Hofstetter AG takes this challenge seriously and has made its carbon footprint transparent and available to all customers.
Achieving the biggest impact
Otto Hofstetter AG is always mindful of its responsibilities to its customers, including in matters of sustainability. As a manufacturer, we have no influence on the emissions generated during the use of our moulds. Thus, our reporting focuses on the direct and indirect emissions we cause (Scopes 1 to 3a in the CCF reporting scheme). These amount to approximately 6,100 tons of CO2 equivalents. We found that the majority of emissions, around 50 percent, are attributable to the raw steel we use in the moulds. If the focus is limited to the carbon footprint produced from manufacturing to delivery (“cradle to gate”) of the mould, this figure rises to around 95 percent. This is precisely where the greatest opportunity for reducing greenhouse gas emissions lies, and where customers can directly benefit.
The switch to cleaner steel
In response to the new CCF report, Otto Hofstetter AG is gradually switching the two main types of steel it uses for its moulds, which account for more than 90 percent of the materials used. In future, we will use Climate+ steel, which is produced only with energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, and also contains a higher proportion of recycled steel scrap.
The new steels will reduce the CO2 footprint of the steel we use in our moulds by over 50 percent and will also lower the cradle-to-gate footprint of a mould by approximately 50 percent. For customers, this means they benefit from a reduced CO2 footprint right from the start of mould commissioning. Upon request, the steel manufacturer will provide a product carbon footprint certificate for these grades.
Same quality, same prices
Switching to Climate+ steels will not change the outstanding material properties of our moulds. Hardness, toughness, wear resistance and machinability all retain their high values, thus guaranteeing the dimensional stability and robustness of our moulds.
The result, for customers and for Otto Hofstetter AG, is a significantly reduced CO2 footprint for new moulds, without requiring any adjustments to the design, operation or manufacturing processes, and with no increase in prices. Moulds from Otto Hofstetter AG will continue to deliver the same high standards of quality and performance that have been valued by our customers for over 70 years.
