How to calculate the carbon footprint of TEQOYA air purifiers?
The carbon footprint calculation of TEQOYA air purifiers
From the top: resource acquisition
The raw materials and components used to manufacture the most powerful TEQOYA air purifiers represent around 80% of the total CO2 emissions (expressed in kgCO2eq) from the manufacturing process. It's then crucial to reduce the number of raw materials used in an electrical appliance as much as possible, especially if they aren't recycled. The intermediate manufacturing stages, transportation, and assembly, on the other hand, have a much lower impact. Local manufacturing and the very low carbon emissions from French electricity contribute significantly to reducing the overall carbon footprint!
Graphic showing the footprint emissions from different phases of manufacturing the ALANA™ and TEQOYA 450 models:
Among the components and raw materials used, electronic supplies represent the majority of carbon impacts. It's indeed difficult to produce French and low-emission electronic components. These components are essential for the operation of any electrical or electronic device: televisions, smartphones, and air purifiers...
For instance, here are the main CO2 emitting materials of the ALANA™ and TEQOYA 450 air purifiers in the graphs below:
To minimize the carbon footprint, TEQOYA ensures that all components of its air purifiers are as eco-friendly as possible. The packaging is 100% recyclable, the aluminum is composed of 40% recycled material. And TEQOYA has a close collaboration with its partners to raise the share of recycled plastic. Almost 100% recycled is currently the plastic waste from the molding process of plastic parts! 😀
Manufacture: the locally made
Regarding the impact of the manufacturing processes, TEQOYA's partners are located within 500 km of the main factory (in the Bordeaux region). This proximity greatly limits the environmental impact, not only for the transportation of raw materials but also in terms of the energy impact of France and Spain compared to other countries.
To illustrate: the plastic injection machines, located near Angers (France), exclusively use nuclear energy - which significantly reduces CO2 emissions.
Here is a summary of the different CO2 emissions from electricity by country:
The energy mix in France is composed of 40% nuclear and only 2% coal. Spain's mix consists of 21.4% nuclear energy and 0.6% coal. The share of coal in the Chinese and German energy mixes is 57.6% and 18.3%, respectively. So the advantage of manufacturing TEQOYA air purifiers in France or Spain rather than in China or even Germany is undeniable from an ecological standpoint!
Thus, for the new air purifier ALANA™, the manufacturing processes step (plastic injection and aluminum extrusion) represents only 3.5 kgCO2eq, or 8.58% of the total product manufacturing emissions. As for the TEQOYA 450 model, this step represents 2.68 kgCO2eq, or 11.5% of the total manufacturing emissions.
What is kgCO2eq?
"CO2 equivalent" is a unit created by the IPCC to compare the impact of greenhouse gases in terms of climate warming. An emission equal to 1 kgCO2eq means that 1kg of that material has a global warming potential once as high as 1kg of CO2 over a period of 100 years. [2]
Assembly and Distribution: low transport impact
The assembly stage of TEQOYA purifiers is very low. Our partners are located in France and the Basque Country of Spain. For the ALANA™ and TEQOYA 450 models, the CO2 impact share during assembly represents respectively 3.74% and 0.6% of the total product impact, that is 1.5 kgCO2eq and 0.15 kgCO2eq and 0.15 kgCO2eq for the two products.
Regarding the transportation of the raw materials, TEQOYA once again ensures that they are sourced near the main manufacturing plant in France. The wood used is French beech and the components only travel between the factories in France and in Spain (within 500 km of the main factory). This limits the distance each component travels. As a result, only 2.6% of the emissions from the new air purifier ALANA™ are due to transportation (1.1 kg CO2eq). And for the TEQOYA 450, transportation accounts for 4.44% of the product's emissions (which is 1 kgCO2eq).
Which method to use for the carbon footprint calculation of our products?
To identify the main sources of carbon emissions of TEQOYA air purifiers, we used the databases of ADEME (Carbon FootprintⓇ and Life Cycle Impact AssessmentⓇ) that provide the CO2 equivalent of many raw materials, manufacturing processes, and transport. We identified each raw material of our products and modeled their geographical journey to obtain the CO2 equivalent of each of these parts. In case of the absence of information concerning the manufacturing processes, we evaluated the average consumption used for the elaboration of the component and calculated the carbon footprint according to the cost of electricity. We added to the carbon emissions from raw materials extraction, those from the manufacturing process, and those from transport and the impact of assembling each part. A pragmatic life cycle analysis, we developed our model with a view to efficiency (quickly identifying the most carbon-emitting steps) and scalability (updating the model with each evolution of our products) - while using the most objective and recognized quantitative information on carbon emissions information as objective and recognized as possible.
The summary of our carbon footprint calculation
The manufacture of the new air purifier ALANA™ emits about 40 kgCO2eq, equivalent to 184 km by car, or the production of 1.3 smartphones. The production of a TEQOYA 450 would have an impact of 24 kgCO2eq, equivalent to 110 km by car, or the production of 0.8 smartphones. TEQOYA air purifiers have a long lifespan (between 5 and 10 years), much longer than that of a smartphone. The carbon footprint averaged over the lifespan of TEQOYA air purifiers is therefore about 50% lower than that of a smartphone.
TEQOYA has succeeded in significantly reducing the carbon footprint of its air purifiers, thanks to its efficient technologies and the localization of its supply sources and factories. To further reduce its impact, TEQOYA uses more recycled and low-carbon footprint raw materials.
Discover here the behind-the-scenes of the manufacturing of TEQOYA air purifiers!
Sources
[1] TEQOYA. "L'empreinte écologique de la purification de l'air"
[2] Connaissance des énergies. "Gaz à effet de serre : qu'est-ce que l'« équivalent CO2 » ?"
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