Reducing the impact of manufacturing on natural resources and our communities is integral to our sustainability vision. From the choice of raw materials and sources of the energy we use to make our products to the thousands of jobs we create and training we provide, we know manufacturing makes a difference. In turn, sustainable manufacturing provides our customers with packaging solutions that offer convenience, hygiene, food safety and the means to reduce food waste for millions of consumers every day.
Novolex has publicly shared Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHS) emissions data since 2018. In 2020, we announced our first timebound, numerical target for GHG reductions for our operations — 20% by 2025 against a 2019 baseline.
We have met our initial target, achieving a 20% reduction in GHG emissions per ton of production in 2021. As a result of this progress, in 2022 Novolex established a 30% reduction target for 2030 against the 2019 baseline as part of a Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework. This target covers 100% of global Scope 1 and 2 emissions resulting from energy and natural gas use in Novolex facilities. Our target and GHG inventory has been verified by an external third party. Link to document.
Novolex is committed to reducing waste at our facilities to promote operating efficiencies and reduce our impact on the environment. Fiber scrap from operations is baled and sent to recyclers for handling. Post-industrial plastic waste in many Novolex facilities is captured and processed on site and returned to the production line. At other locations resin scrap is sent off-site to be reprocessed into reusable material.
As a manufacturer of resin-based packaging and foodservice products, we understand our responsibility to keep plastic used in our manufacturing facilities out of the environment. To achieve this goal, Novolex participates in Operation Clean Sweep Blue, a worldwide initiative co-sponsored by the Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council to prevent the escape of plastic pellets, flake, and powder into the environment. Operation Clean Sweep has been in place for more than 25 years. OCS Blue builds on and enhances the management, measurement, and reporting of unrecovered plastic releases into the environment from resin-handling facilities.
Aligned with our commitment to reduce waste from operations, our Waddington Europe division achieved Zero Waste To Landfill certification from Valpak for its three manufacturing sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2020 and 2021. Employees worked with experts and market leaders to review processes and waste streams to ensure anything that could be recycled was being recycled. Items included recycling waste from offices, break rooms, and cafeterias, as well as recycling all the plastic waste produced by production lines and putting it back into the manufacturing process.
All Novolex facilities comply with federal, state, and local environmental regulations. We conduct internal and third-party site audits to review compliance with regulations, evaluate programs, and review processes. We incorporate audit findings into our policies, regularly updating them to reflect best practices to reduce the environmental impacts of our facilities. Additionally, waste diversion and recycling remain a hallmark of our approach to improve production efficiency and reduce manufacturing waste.
