OTTAWA,
Ontario, Sept. 16, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – HEXO Corp. announced the company achieved
its goal to become carbon neutral by September 2021, offsetting 100% of its
2020 operational carbon emissions in addition to the personal emissions of its
1,200 employees.*
In
June 2021, HEXO embarked on a mission
to counteract its carbon footprint through a partnership with Offsetters, a
Vancouver-based organization that supports renewable energy and forest carbon
projects across the world. As a leading cannabis player in Canada, on the path
to becoming one of the top three global cannabis products companies, it was important
for HEXO’s offset investments to have a global reach. At home in Canada, HEXO
is helping reduce old-growth tree harvesting by supporting the GreatBear Forest Carbon Project. This landmark project balances human well-being
and ecological integrity through carbon finance and is the first carbon project
in North America on traditional territory with unextinguished aboriginal rights
and title. Globally, HEXO is supporting two other carbon offset projects—a
large-scale solar energy project in Asia and another forest conservation
project in South America.
To
achieve carbon neutrality, HEXO offset a total of 25,965 tonnes of carbon—19,610
tonnes of operational carbon emissions and 6,355 tonnes of its employees’
personal carbon emissions. If the top 100 Canadian companies pursued similar
sustainability initiatives, it would be a significant contribution to Canada’s
role in combatting climate change.
“At
the start of the summer, we pledged that HEXO would not only become carbon
neutral, but that we would also offset the personal carbon emissions generated
by every one of our employees. Today we are proud to say we have achieved our
goal, setting a new standard in sustainability for our industry,” HEXO CEO and co-founder
Sébastien St-Louis said. “Consumers and investors demand greater environmental
and social integrity from companies. We are proud to share our commitment to
sustainability and support our consumers’ ability to purchase products that
align with their values.”
In
addition to carbon emissions, HEXO is counteracting the use of plastic in its
packaging. Working alongside its primary packaging supplier Dymapak, in conjunction with Plastic Bank, HEXO has supported Plastic
Bank’s ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities, collecting and
reprocessing ocean-bound plastics for re-introduction to the global
manufacturing supply chain. In doing so, HEXO initially offset 63,000 kilograms
of plastic. By October 2021, HEXO will have supported the collection of an
additional 8,000 kg of ocean-bound plastic—making it a total equivalent of over
3.55 million plastic bottles stopped from entering the world’s oceans.
In
supporting environmentalism, HEXO will continue to monitor and report on its
carbon emissions and plastic production and seek opportunities to reduce both.
HEXO plans to emulate its success in the Canadian cannabis industry throughout
the United States.
HEXO
is committed to continuously improving its Environmental, Social and Governance
strategy which focuses on people, planet and product. For more information on
these efforts and how the company continues to develop its stakeholder
relations to make a positive contribution to communities globally, please
visit: https://www.forwardstartsatneutral.com/.
*Estimated
personal emissions based on the average Canadian’s emissions from heating and
powering their homes, driving and food consumption.
