Cummins reports key accomplishments in meeting 2030 environmental goals.

In 2021, Cummins Inc. made significant progress toward its 2030 environmental goals, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from both its products and facilities, as well as reducing water use and waste production.

The global energy technology leader also made progress toward its goal of reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from painting and coating operations and completed fundamental work on its life cycle planning goal to develop a plan for every part: use less, use better and use again.

These findings are included in the company’s recently released 2021 Sustainability Achievement Report . The report includes the first update on the 2030 goals in PLANET 2050, Cummins’ strategy for environmental sustainability.

Under PLANET 2050, the company has set nine goals, timed to 2030, ranging from reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions from facilities and operations by 50 percent from the 2018 baseline to net benefits from water use that exceed the company’s annual water use in all Cummins regions. .

PLANET 2050 also includes a commitment to ensuring customer success solely through carbon-neutral technologies that improve air quality, ensure near-zero pollution in facilities and operations, and design waste into products and processes – all by 2050.

Here are some highlights of 2021:

• Cummins reduced greenhouse gas emissions at plants and facilities by 31% compared to 2018. The completion of solar projects in India played a key role, as did the company’s continued support of a wind farm expansion in northern Indiana that sends enough renewable energy to the grid to roughly offset all the energy Cummins uses across the state from traditional energy sources.
• The company continued to work with customers to reduce Category 3 greenhouse gas emissions from the products they use. Cummins achieved a cumulative reduction of 26.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2021, compared to a 2014 baseline. Cummins’ goal for 2030 is a cumulative reduction of 55 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
• Cummins recorded a 12.7 percent reduction in water consumption compared to 2018, as the company aims for its 2030 goal of reducing water consumption by 30 percent compared to Cummins’ baseline year.
• The company achieved a 4.1 percent reduction in waste as a percentage of revenue compared to the 2018 base year. Cummins’ goal is to reduce waste by 25 percent as a percentage of revenue compared to 2018.
• Cummins achieved a 45% reduction in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in 2021 compared to 2018. The company’s goal is to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

Cummins also took an important step toward the company’s 2030 goal of net water benefits in the communities it serves that exceed Cummins’ annual water use. In 2021, the Company introduced Cummins Water Works, which partners with leading water experts around the world to invest in and participate in high-impact water projects.

The company’s 2030 goals continue where Cummins’ 2020 environmental goals left off. While 2030 may seem like a long way off, the company’s environmental department knows from experience that the end of the decade is fast approaching.