Challenge
Grupo Bimbo is the largest global baking company with a significant commitment to sustainability. In order to measure and report their carbon footprint more comprehensively, the company asked Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), its American division, to expand its proprietary software program for environmental management. This robust software tool provided Scope 1 (direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions) information for all USA-located Bimbo facilities. It did not, however, include measurement of the emissions from transportation of materials, products, waste or employees, defined as Scope 3 in the GRI reporting system. BBU needed to develop measurement and reporting capability in the areas of distribution and logistics and then expand the tool to include Bimbo’s international facilities.
Project Description
iSpring, in collaboration with the Enterprise Systems Center at Lehigh University, worked with BBU to identify the appropriate components of the distribution system to be included in the Scope 3. For that purpose, iSpring mapped the company’s distribution network to determine which elements were under BBU control for inclusion in the new Scope 3 boundaries.
iSpring also investigated the components of carbon footprint calculations relative to truck fleets and distribution networks and identified several possible types of carbon footprint equations that could be applied to the project. In addition, source data and collection methods were investigated to determine the cost involved in collection versus the value to the reporting. This information formed the basis for BBU decisions on which metrics best served their reporting goals.
Once having determined the appropriate boundaries for the data collection and the location and availability of the specific data necessary to do the CO2 calculations, the software modifications to the environmental management tool were completed by Bimbo’s software development partner company. iSpring completed a final review of the factors to be used in the CO2 calculations for the Scope 3 expansion into distribution and logistics and a review of the conversion factors for indirect emissions generated based on the sources of purchased electricity for Scope 2 inclusion.
Results
The project team achieved the following results:
- System map for BBU distribution and logistics function
- Choice of appropriate metric for reporting of GHG from company vehicles
- Identification of sources of data for Scope 3 GHG computation
- Effective collaboration with BBU and software development partner company in expansion of environmental management tool for GRI-defined Scope 2 and 3 reporting and addition of international data to U.S.-based tool