How Plastic Makers Are Decarbonizing the Production Side

Setting Targets That Are Grounded in Science

The starting point for credible production-side decarbonization is a target-setting framework that connects company goals to what climate science actually requires. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has become the gold standard for this. Corporate climate target-setting grew 40% in 2025 alone, and the SBTi reached 10,000 companies with validated targets globally in January 2026. Companies with validated targets report stronger market positioning, increased investor confidence, and improved strategic cohesion.

In a recent SBTi survey, 91% reported a positive overall impact on their business.

For example, ALPLA’s near-term targets were approved by the SBTi in 2024, with six defined decarbonization actions working toward a 42% absolute reduction in Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 51.6% reduction in Scope 3 GHG emissions per tonne of procured materials, both against a 2021 baseline and to be achieved by 2030.

Other major packaging manufacturers are moving in the same direction. Berlin Packaging received SBTi validation in 2025 and achieved a 23.3% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024 against its 2022 baseline. Crown Holdings had its net-zero targets validated by SBTi in August 2025. The movement toward externally validated, science-aligned targets is becoming the minimum bar for credible sustainability communication.

Reducing Emissions with Renewable Electricity

For many plastic converters, Scope 2 emissions (those generated by purchased electricity) represent the most immediately actionable part of the production carbon footprint. Transitioning to renewable electricity is often the most immediate impactful action available.

ALPLA increased the share of its electricity consumption coming from renewable sources to 38.9% in 2025, driven primarily by expanded procurement of renewable electricity across key regions, with particularly strong improvements in Poland, Mexico, and India. The company uses self-generation of renewable electricity, power purchase agreements (PPAs) that lock in stable prices over time, and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) that provide flexible, customer-specific renewable sourcing for facilities where direct generation or PPAs are not available.

Graphic Packaging, one of the largest fiber-based packaging producers globally, announced its first virtual PPA (VPPA) in 2024 to support solar projects in Spain, with the expectation of matching 70% of its European operations’ electricity demand with EACs once those projects come online in late 2025. Sonoco has highlighted solar installations and high-efficiency turbo blowers as part of its renewable energy investments.

Energy Efficiency Builds Over Time

While switching to renewable electricity addresses where electricity comes from, energy efficiency programs reduce how much electricity is needed in the first place. The two work together, and when manufacturers build annual efficiency assessment programs, the reductions build upon one another.

ALPLA conducts energy assessments across five to six plants every year, generating tailored action plans focused on the areas with the highest savings potential, with the most impactful measures continuing to come from machinery modernization and investments in high-efficiency equipment. In 2025, ALPLA's total energy consumption rose 3.0% to 2.48 million MWh as the company's operational footprint expanded, yet energy intensity still improved by 2.9% to 476.8 MWh per million euros of revenue, and electricity efficiency improved by a further 1.0% year on year. The annual assessment model allows the company to compound each improvement. Each year’s identified savings become next year’s baseline, and the program keeps moving.

The Role of Post-consumer Recycled Materials

While Scope 2 emissions can be addressed through energy procurement, Scope 3 is a different and larger challenge. Scope 3 includes the emissions generated upstream in raw material production and downstream in the processing of sold products. For ALPLA, Scope 3 accounts for 90.8% of its total 2025 carbon footprint of approximately 7.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The biggest single contributor within that figure is purchased goods and services, which accounts for more than 60% of total Scope 3 emissions. That means the carbon embedded in raw materials, particularly plastic resin, is the dominant factor in ALPLA’s overall footprint.

Post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials directly address this.

PCR materials can decrease product-level GHG emissions by up to 87% compared to virgin raw materials, making the transition from fossil-derived feedstocks to recycled content one of the highest-impact decarbonization decisions a plastic converter can make.

ALPLA has reached 23.7% PCR material share across its total volume as of 2025, up 1.8 percentage points from 2024, with 400,000 tonnes of installed and projected recycling output capacity, a 14.3% increase over 2024. The target is to double that capacity by 2030.

Supplier Engagement Extends the Program Beyond the Factory

Decarbonization goals shouldn’t stop at a company’s own facilities. A manufacturer’s Scope 3 emissions extend both upstream into raw material supply and downstream into how customers process the packaging. Addressing that footprint requires bringing suppliers into the program, not just reporting on what happens inside the plant.

ALPLA’s Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) program makes sustainability performance a condition of the supplier relationship. Key suppliers are required to accept ALPLA’s code of conduct, undergo EcoVadis assessments, provide GHG emissions data, demonstrate clear decarbonization actions, and participate in ALPLA’s Zero Pellet Loss program. The structure creates a direct business incentive for supplier sustainability performance. The higher a supplier scores on the SRM program, the more involved they become in ALPLA’s future growth path.

Transparency Closes the Loop

None of this work has meaning without public reporting and independent verification. ALPLA reports annually on its progress toward sustainability goals through its sustainability report, publishes its climate performance via the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and holds an EcoVadis Gold Medal with 78 points, placing it in the top 5% of companies assessed globally. The EcoVadis score benchmarks ALPLA well above the industry average for plastic manufacturers, placing it among companies with advanced sustainability practices.

The direction across the industry is toward greater transparency. Mandatory carbon reporting requirements in the EU and growing investor pressure in the U.S. are making sustainability disclosures a commercial expectation. Manufacturers who have built robust internal measurement systems, validated their targets externally, and published results consistently are establishing credibility with customers and partners.

The production side of plastic packaging sustainability can’t be ignored. It’s where the emissions are, where the investment is going, and where global manufacturers are building sustainable competitive differentiation.