Berry Plastics – Leah Thill – 2016

Goals 

Berry Plastics has made significant strides in its efforts to set ambitious goals for energy, water, waste and GHG emissions reductions. Wanting to go further, the manufacturer set out to improve data capture for better performance tracking and reporting. Having recently gone public in 2012, increasing transparency and aligning reporting with other sustainability leaders is a critical, but daunting task. For help, Berry Plastics enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Leah Thill. 

Solutions

Leah worked closely with Berry Plastics’ Director of Sustainability on auditing utility data to ensure completeness and accuracy, as well as conducting both a GHG Inventory and a Water Risk Analysis. Having more concrete data, Leah assisted in reporting to CDP’s Climate Change and Supply Chain programs as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Questionnaire, which Berry Plastics was invited to participate in for the first time.

Leah then transitioned her work to focus on supporting the transition to sustainability reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, and fostering a culture of sustainability within the company. She initiated a Materiality Assessment to identify key issues that impact Berry Plastics and its stakeholders, which included an employee survey, created energy-related communications for employees and explored renewable energy opportunities. 

Potential Impact

Leah broadened Berry Plastics’ understanding of sustainability risks and opportunities. The implications of water scarcity on operation and business strategy alone was shared with all 100+ manufacturing facilities. Meanwhile, improved data accuracy will enable better targeting of outliers for energy efficiency and water saving projects. Moving forward, by following Leah’s roadmap Berry Plastics can bolster its 2016 reporting according to the GRI framework and increase the internal efficiency of reporting to customers.