Swiss Re purchases carbon removal credits from O.C.O Technology
An agreement between O.C.O Technology and Swiss Re has seen the Swiss company purchase 1,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits.
One of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, Swiss Re is well-known for its commitment to sustainability.
O.C.O Director, Stephen Roscoe, said: “Swiss Re is regarded as a significant, pioneering buyer of carbon credits and O.C.O is extremely pleased that the quality of our carbon credits has been recognised by such a high profile business and recognised market leader.”
Funded by the Carbon Steering Levy, Swiss Re purchases a mixture of high-quality carbon removal and avoidance certificates which it uses to compensate its remaining in-scope1 operational emissions.
In deciding where to buy carbon certificates, Swiss Re follows external guidelines set down by organisations including, among others, the Core Carbon Principles2 of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. Swiss Re assesses key quality aspects such as integrity, durability and scalability.
Phil Singleton, Head of Strategy and Transformation Procurement for Swiss Re, visited O.C.O.’s new £10 million operation at Wretham in Norfolk, UK, where he spent time with the senior management team, finding out how its carbon removal processes work.
Afterwards, he commented: “It’s great to see the carbon removal process brought to life in my local area. Swiss Re is keen to support its partners in this growing industry.”
Stephen Roscoe adds: “We were delighted to have welcomed Phil to our showcase facility in Wretham, enabling him to see how our innovative processes work in permanently locking up CO2.
“It is our patented technology that sets our carbon credits apart from nature-based carbon credit offerings. As an engineered and fully-certified CO2 removal process, we can guarantee the permanent capture of CO2 and thereby demonstrate a direct impact on limiting climate change.”
O.C.O’s Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) uses carbon dioxide gas to treat waste materials, predominantly Air Pollution Control residue (APCr) from the Energy from Waste (EfW) sector.
The manufacturing process chemically alters the waste, permanently locking up the CO2 by transforming it into an artificial carbon negative limestone aggregate, in demand from the construction sector as a sustainable building material.
For each tonne of manufactured limestone (M-LS) produced, 49.1kg of CO2 is removed – a figure verified with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
In 2023, the company recycled over 200,000 tonnes of waste materials from EfW facilities that was otherwise destined for landfill, producing over 500,000 tonnes of manufactured limestone and permanently capturing over 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – figures that are increasing all the time.
The carbon storage associated with the carbon negative aggregate has allowed O.C.O to work with carbon removals specialist Puro.earth. Together, they have developed a monitoring, reporting and verification process that has enabled the registration of O.C.O carbon credits on the Puro platform, from where businesses such as Swiss Re are able to purchase the credits. Funding from the carbon credits programme enables O.C.O to support aggregate sales and further invest in its growing business, both in the UK and overseas markets. It already has four operations in the UK and is involved in projects worldwide, including Asia, Australia and Europe.
