Wyler Genève asked the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management in the UK to check the effects of its activities at the company's premises. The analysis was conducted using the methodology based on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas Protocol, considering the activities of Montres Wyler SA, located in Geneva on Rue de Moillebeau, as well as the
electricity and fuel consumption, use of company vehicles, company travel, commuting and waste disposal. The production process was not included in the evaluation, since it concerns several partners and will require separate evaluation in the near future.
The company's direct emissions are calculated at 31 tonnes of CO2 per year. To offset these emissions, Wyler Genève participates in two projects through the UK's Carbon Neutral Company. The first is a reforestation programme in the commune of Querrien in the Brittany region of France, involving 22 hectares of land: 30,000 trees (chestnut, beech, oak, ash and pine) will be planted, absorbing more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 over a period of 99 years. The second project involves capturing methane from a disused coal mine in Pennsylvania, USA. Methane is 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas, but the quantities remaining in the closed Gateway mine are not enough to generate electricity. Therefore, a compressor was installed to convey the methane to a flame where it is burned. Burning one molecule of methane produces two molecules of water and one molecule of CO2, thus reducing the environmental impact by a factor of 21. This project was made possible by advance funding from CarbonNeutral Company and will generate emission reductions of 133,000 tonnes of CO2 between 2006 and 2010.
Wyler Genève's commitment is part of a long-term strategy to consider all environmental aspects across the entire spectrum of activities. Another example is the 2007 Paris-Beijing journey, which celebrates the anniversary of Itala's victory in the original race held in 1907. As sponsor and official chronograph of the event, Wyler Genève asked the organisers to consider counterbalancing emissions for their 16,000 km-long journey, which was then carried out according to the Italian Zero Impact scheme, supporting a reforestation project in Costa Rica.
