CHALLENGE #4 – Tasso A/S
A sustainable cast-iron bar specialist
Challenge and background
Civil society in Denmark – and elsewhere – are increasingly aware and concerned by CO2 emissions’ consequences on global warming. This issue is not only a primary concern for individuals, it is also an agenda that Danish companies now must deal with. Vestas has announced a vision to be CO2 neutral in 2030 and high CO2 footprint reduction from the total supply chain. Tasso A/S, who is tier three supplier to Vestas, is now looking for strategies and solutions on how to play into Vestas vision of being CO2 neutral in 2030 and reducing the carbon footprint from the total supply chain.
Project Mission
Tasso A/S is considering Carbon Offsetting as a complementary way to improve their sustainability policy. However with limited time to evaluate and implement offsetting projects, Tasso A/S challenged us to deliver insights on Carbon Offsetting in general and investigate:
- What would be the requirements and certifications needed
- How could it be applied to Tasso A/S sustainability strategy?
- What would be the costs and feasibility of the different options for Tasso A/S?
- How to communicate on Tasso A/S offsetting efforts?
Throughout Tasso A/S work on reducing their CO2 emissions and incorporating more sustainable practices into their business operation, they have been conscious of a need for communication, while being concerned of being associated with any kind of “green-washing”.
Carbon Offsetting
Initially, we proposed a solution focused on idle time reduction in the forging process. However, this turned out to be too complex for this project. Therefore we investigated different possibilities to offset the unavoidable emissions from Tasso A/S. In discussions with the CEO of Tasso A/S we also came up with unique ideas such as investing in solar park.
In order to compare these strategies we developed a financial model to calculate different scenarios on the development of the electricity price and the influence on the cost that this would have for Tasso A/S. The financial model can be used to evaluate the ideas and get a grasp for the magnitudes.
Human Outcomes
In a second workstream we focused on the human part of Vesta’s vision and looked into various options for Tasso A/S to further improve in this respect to get closer to the goal of becoming their preferred supplier.
It is believed that Tasso can manage to integrate ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety) since they have not had any problems integrating the other ISO certificates and that they are already making some good initiatives for example with Birn strategy 2020 (Vald. Birn is the parent company of Tasso). Besides that, Tasso would like to work strategically with the UN 17 SDGs towards 2030. ISO certificates can be used as a tool because each certificate shows how they contribute to SDGs. The certificate will be an investment and enhance the image of Tasso for any stakeholders.
Communication
During the project we developed recommendations towards the communication activities of Tasso A/S.
When employing initiatives such as Carbon Offsetting it is imperative to be aware of the reputational risks that might follow. Therefore, it is important to invest in structural and communicative initiatives that can support the general work on sustainability within Tasso and to communicate these steps into the future in relation to past achievements. By being aware of which tools are used by ones stakeholders and implementing these in one’s own company, you secure that you are already communicating in the same language and the foundation for partnerships is thereby strengthened. As sustainability does not stand for environmental aspects alone, but is holistic, the external and internal language about sustainability in Tasso should be involved.
Final Remarks
The project work for Tasso A/S was very interesting and educational for us. Our recommendations are only the tip of the iceberg and build on the very large foundation Tasso has already set up.
Tasso A/S are much more aware of their emissions than most other companies we dealt with in the our period of study. Additionally, they already started to investigate various initiatives to reduce those emissions, including district heating, solar panels on their roof and energy efficient lighting in their facilities.
We want to thank Tasso A/S for their challenge and support during our work!
Team
The project was done as part of the MSc. Course Consulting for Sustainability with Kristjan Jespersen, Assistant Professor, PhD, by the team of four students from Copenhagen Business School:
- Pauline Gault
- Nick Heinzel
- Karen Lothsen
- Trine Reese Ptak