Paints, coatings and specialty materials producer PPG announced a significant expansion in renewable energy efforts, resulting in an 18% reduction in GHG emissions within the company’s own operations of Scope 1 and 2. 

PPG completed an on-site solar installation at its Caivano, Italy facility that represents a CO2 emissions reduction of approximately 390 metric tons annually. When considered with a previously installed combined heat and power unit, the facility will realize a 15% reduction in annual utility costs.

The company announced that 41% of its sales are from sustainably advantaged products, such as the PPG ENVIRO-PRIME® EPIC200X solution, which enabled a customer’s facility to reduce CO2 emissions by 3,500 metric tons annually.

PPG also achieved a 6% reduction in value chain or Scope 3 emissions across purchased goods and services, customer processing of sold products, and end-of-life treatment of sold products. Additionally, 98% of its key suppliers were assessed against sustainability and social responsibility criteria.

“Sustainability is core to our purpose and a key enabler of our enterprise growth strategy,” said Peter Votruba-Drzal, PPG vice president, global sustainability, in a statement. “It is embedded in how we do business by supporting our customers’ success through sustainably advantaged solutions that deliver industry-leading products, improved performance and operational savings, resulting in reduced water, waste and energy use.”