Papermaker YFY joins RE100, pledges to achieve net zero by 2040

YFY is joining the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative. The Taiwan-based paper manufacturer and its affiliates, Chung Hwa Pulp, YFY Packaging, and YFY Consumer Products, aim to use renewable sources for 60 percent of their electricity consumption by 2030, 80 percent by 2035, and 100 percent by 2040. These goals comport with the goals of the RE100 initiative, a corporate pact that includes 400 businesses that have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

“We are delighted to welcome YFY to RE100,” said Climate Group Director of Energy Sam Kimmins. “YFY is…the first pulp and paper company in the worldwide membership base. This sends a powerful message that renewable electricity makes good business sense, and we encourage others to follow”.

In a press release issued on September 5, the company said that papermaking is ideally suited to circular economic models that rely on sustainable energy.

“This circular process facilitates the development of a renewable energy cycle,” the company stated. “It involves converting process residues into alternative fuels for power generation and utilizing anaerobic systems in water circulation treatment to produce biogas for electricity generation. This makes it a unique and self-sustaining circular model in the manufacturing sector.”

In the last three years, YFY’s conservation efforts have saved more than 45.5 million kilowatts of energy, reducing carbon emissions by almost 24,000 metric tons.

Chung Hwa Pulp, for example, has built the only lignin-based biomass power generation system in Taiwan in the island’s east coast city of Hualien. The company has obtained 150 million kilowatts of green energy certificates, which help support other industries’ efforts to achieve net-zero emissions. ce/jd