June 18, 2024

Ake Zondervan, Global Energy Procurement Manager

As a global material solutions provider, we recognize our responsibility to care for the world we live and work in. Over the last year, Trinseo has reached significant milestones for our decarbonization strategy. Our ongoing Scope 1, 2 and 3 projects are focused on combatting climate change in alignment with our 2030 Sustainability Goals. These projects were recognized by the American Chemistry Council with a Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Award with exceptional merit.

Our work to reduce our Scope 2 emissions focuses on three pillars: developing the resources to achieve carbon excellence, understanding the Trinseo’s renewable energy options, and implementing clean power electrification to support a long-term impact.

Trinseo's Scope 2 Journey

Trinseo has set a goal to increase our share of electricity from non-fossil sources to 30% by 2030, including from nuclear, solar, hydraulic, wind and tide energy. This ambitious yet achievable goal would result in an approximately 7% reduction of our company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions globally. This reduction can also help our customers’ goals of reducing their Scope 3 emissions.

Green energy certificates have helped us move the needle on our Scope 2 emissions, with several of our European sites having a portion or all of their emissions compensated; in 2023, our team began securing green energy certificates at several of our sites in the United States and China. While purchasing green certificates is a first step that enables us to make an immediate impact in our carbon emissions, our ultimate goal is to make a lasting difference through renewable energy supplies. Through our green energy certifications, Trinseo has been able to achieve a 29% share of our electricity from non-fossil sources.

This milestone well positions us as we advance toward our Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions sustainability goal, and we begin to pivot our green energy certificates to renewable energy sources, where possible. Onsite installations that provide direct access to our own renewable energy sources, as well as energy storage systems for our assets, will help us switch from compensating to eliminating Scope 2 emissions. To that end, we are conducting feasibility studies at each of our sites to determine compatible renewable energy projects that can help reduce our Scope 2 emissions.

Our Hamina Solar Installation

As a result of these assessments, we identified an opportunity for an onsite solar panel installation at our Hamina, Finland, facility. This project is in partnership with Finnish electricity supplier Helen Oy for a 10-year energy consumption commitment from the installation of 1,800 solar panel modules, which went live earlier this month. This activation is projected to offset the site’s power consumption by approximately 20% annually and will also help the facility reduce its CO2 emissions by approximately 122,878 kg per year.

This progress marks an important step toward achieving our 2030 Climate Change Goals. The Hamina installation builds on Trinseo’s existing site-level renewable energy projects, including solar panels at our Terneuzen, the Netherlands, site and a windmill in Tessenderlo, Belgium. The Company plans to continue conducting feasibility studies to determine more opportunities for similar projects, which are expected to come to fruition in the next few years.

Following the activation of the Hamina solar panels, I find myself more optimistic than ever about the future of Trinseo’s decarbonization strategy. These exciting developments go beyond our sustainability goals – they are directly contributing to our core company culture and identity. Advancing sustainability is an essential part of who we are, and that pursuit goes beyond a sustainable product portfolio.