Testing body Bureau Veritas has certified vegetable-based tannin producer Tanac as a carbon-negative company, writes Leatherbiz.

It found that a forestry expansion programme and an increase specifically in its planting of black wattle trees has meant that for every tonne of CO2-equivalent of greenhouse gas that Tanac emits, its forests are removing seven tonnes.

In celebrating its achievement in removing seven times more CO2 from the atmosphere than it emits, Tanac has explained that earlier analysis it had carried out showed that it was sequestering a little over six tonnes of CO2-equivalent for every tonne emitted.

When it later asked Bureau Veritas to carry out its assessment as an independent party, it was delighted to find the higher figure and to be able to confirm that it removes seven times more CO2 from the atmosphere than it emits. It attributed the increase to its efforts to grow more black wattle trees.

Bureau Veritas’s analysis covered scope-one and scope-two emissions, the first covering all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s own operations and the second the greenhouse gas emissions generated in producing the electricity the company consumes. It also covered scope-three emissions resulting from the activities third-party companies carry out on behalf of Tanac.