Carbon Emissions

Creating products with less impact on the environment starts with understanding the full cycle of their lives

A top priority for us in designing for impact is on higher social impact and less of an environmental one. Picking a more sustainable package was a top priority. Validating its impact comes from an analysis called an LCA (Life Cycle Analysis). The goal is to provide information about the environmental impacts across the life cycle of making JUST water’s packaging compared to other forms of packaging.

This analysis is a scientific method for making deeper evaluations of the environmental benefits and tradeoffs for the entire “life” of the JUST water system, from raw material extraction to disposition at the end of its useful life or recycling.

This baseline is useful in our decision-making as we strive towards greater improvements next year. Our product Life Cycle Analysis was performed Franklin Associates a division of ERG.

What is it made of and what does that do?

Comparing weight vs. impact is a key component to understanding the importance of renewable and recycled materials in everyday goods.

Paper is 53% of the weight but only 20% of the CO2 impact

Global warming potential

At JUST climate change from man-made emissions is a central part of looking at our business. Studying the potential CO2 emissions of our first product comparatively was crucial.

Global Warming Potential assessment is an index that describes the radiative characteristics of well mixed greenhouse gases (Water vapor (H2O) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Nitrous oxide (N2O) Ozone (O3) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)), that represents the combined effect of the differing times these gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in absorbing outgoing infrared radiation.

The Global Warming Potential index approximates the time-integrated warming effect of a unit mass of a given greenhouse gas in today’s atmosphere, relative to that of carbon dioxide.

Definition from the glossary of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report – Climate Change 2001.

Global Warming Potential Compared

Measured in kilograms of CO2

( 1,000 Liters Water Delivered )

The JUST water carton represents a 50% reduction in global warming potential compared to an average weight 100% PET plastic bottle.

The life cycle stages included and explained:

Phase 1. Material Production: Covers all processes from the extraction of raw materials through the production of materials in a form ready for conversion steps (fabrication into a carton for the PET systems and conversion into roll stock for the JUST water systems). Production of material inputs for the molded top of the JUST water carton is also included in this stage.

Phase 2. Converting: For the JUST water carton, this step includes conversion of all of the materials into roll stock ready to be sent to the filling location. For the PET carton, this step includes injection molding of the preform and subsequent stretch blow molding into a carton. It is assumed that the preform and carton are produced at the same location in this analysis.

Phase 3. Filling: For the JUST water carton, this stage includes converting the rollstock into cartons, molding the top and joining it to the carton base, filling the carton with still water, and putting the closure on the carton. For the PET carton, this step includes filling the carton with still water, and putting the cap and label on the carton.

Phase 4. Transportation: For the JUST water carton, this stage includes transport of the rollstock to the filler, and the transport of the completed carton to retail. For the PET carton, this stage covers transport of the PET resin to the converting/filling location and subsequent transport of the finished carton to retail. Transportation steps also occur throughout other life cycle stages of the containers.

Phase 5. Closure (Life Cycle): This stage includes all life cycle steps relevant to the closure (material production, converting, disposal and recycling).

Phase 6. Label (PET Carton Only, Life Cycle): This stage includes all life cycle steps relevant to the PP label for the PET carton (material production, converting, and disposal).

Phase 7. End-Of-Life Disposal: End-Of Life (EOL) disposal covers steps related to the consumer disposal of the primary body of the containers in the average U.S. municipal waste stream. Both waste-to-energy (WTE) combustion and landfilling are considered.

Phase 8. Recycling: This stage includes processes required to recover the material so it is suitable for a subsequent useful life. The processes included in this stage are dependent on the recycling allocation method applied (System expansion versus cut-off).

This JUST water LCA was conducted in accordance with the following voluntary international standards for LCAs:

ISO 14040: 2006, Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework
ISO 14044: 2006, Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines

Want to understand what the ISO is:

What can we do to improve?

Reducing Emissions

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions for ourselves and customers is central to our mission at JUST.

Renewable Energy

Energy efficiency and generation is a top focus for us. Developing an efficient mix of inputs from renewable sources is something we are striving for. Solar, wind, geo and hydro are all on our roadmap to push our operations closer to zero emissions and ultimately a net energy producer.

Organic Packaging

Traditionally, plastics used in packaging comes from Petroleum (OIL) – a fossil fuel. But there are other way to make plastic. Sugar cane, corn, soy, and switchgrass are all plants that can be converted into plastic with the same functionality but with a much lower carbon footprint. Derived from plants, these plastics are from renewable sources meaning, they can grow back. We are actively moving away from petroleum-based plastic to plant-based plastic.

Hydro Electric Power

Water is one of the first sources of energy harnessed in human history and works the same way today. In our business, we have water moving from place to place each day that we see as potential energy. Moving water can turn tiny turbines that can create storable energy to help us further reduce our footprint.