Like cost cleansheets, resource cleansheets can help identify savings opportunities—in this case, CO2 reductions. When we analyzed an ordinary painkiller’s packaging, we found that raw materials had a larger CO2 footprint than the production process for the packaging. This suggested opportunities to reduce emissions—and costs.
Resource cleansheets increase transparency by breaking down CO2 emissions into value-stream subcategories.
CO2 footprint of medication package, kilograms of CO2 per 100 pieces
A total of 4.12 kilograms of CO2 includes 0.02 kilograms for Electricity and 0.01 kilograms for Overhead.
Material components: 2.61 kilograms of CO2
- Blister packacking is 1.12 kilograms of CO2 which is 43% of the CO2 footprint
- Box is 1.11 kilograms of CO2 which is 42% of the CO2 footprint
- Leaflet is 0.39 kilograms of CO2 which is 15% of the CO2 footprint
Production components: 1.48 kilograms of CO2
- Leaflet is 0.07 kilograms of CO2 which is 5% of the CO2 footprint
- Box is 0.22 kilograms of CO2 which is 15% of the CO2 footprint
- Blister packaging is 0.59 kilograms of CO2 which is 40% of the CO2 footprint
- Packing machine is 0.60 kilograms of CO2 which is 41% of the CO2 footprint
Notes
Note: Figures may not sum to listed totals, because of rounding.
Source: Resource Cleansheet by McKinsey
McKinsey & Company
To read more, see “Design cost-effective, carbon-abated products with resource cleansheets,” September 28, 2020.