Customer case

BIRN: Scaling Product Carbon Footprints Across Foundry Operations

June 4, 2025

BIRN Group is one of Northern Europe’s largest foundry groups, supplying iron cast components for industries such as automotive, energy, and industrial machinery. With deep technical expertise and a strong focus on quality, BIRN serves as a trusted supplier to major OEMs and manufacturers across Europe. As customer expectations shift toward climate accountability, BIRN is taking the lead on carbon transparency.

Use Case: BIRN Group wanted to offer verified, product-level carbon footprint data (PCFs) across its entire product portfolio to meet growing customer demand for Scope 3 emissions transparency. ReFlow helped implement a scalable system to automate and standardize these calculations, now featured in BIRN’s 2024 Sustainability Report. Find how this was possible by reading more below.

Customer Overview

  • Company Name: BIRN Group
  • Industry: Foundry and Metal Components Manufacturing
  • Location: Denmark

Challenges: Meeting the Demand for Product-Level Emissions Data

The Push for Climate Clarity

BIRN faced growing pressure from customers seeking verified, product-level carbon footprint data to meet internal ESG goals and regulatory expectations. While BIRN had strong internal processes and data systems, it lacked the tools to deliver Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) in a standardized, scalable way across its large and diverse product portfolio.

Problem Statement

Without a reliable way to calculate and communicate the carbon footprint of its products, BIRN risked losing competitiveness and transparency in key customer relationships, especially as Scope 3 data demands increased in downstream reporting.

Solution: Building Product Carbon Footprints with ReFlow

Product/Service Used

Implementation

BIRN partnered with ReFlow to build a scalable system for generating Product Carbon Footprints across all product lines, making them one of the first foundries in Europe to offer PCFs on every product by default. The initiative was also featured in BIRN Group’s 2024 Sustainability Report, where ReFlow was recognized as a key technology partner in enabling PCF documentation and lifecycle analysis.

The system integrates:

  • Primary production data from ERP and CRM systems
  • Supplier-specific emission data
  • ReFlow’s LCA engine aligned with ISO 14040 / 14044 standards

The platform enables both:

  • Indicative PCF estimates for quick customer quotes
  • Full PCF reports for detailed ESG and lifecycle assessments

BIRN’s goal: Roll out this model group-wide by the end of 2026, across its Danish companies, including TASSO and ULDALL.

Results: From Transparency to Competitive Advantage

Quantitative Results

  • PCFs now available for all products produced at BIRN Holstebro
  • Internal workflows established for integrating LCA into quoting and product documentation
  • Project framework scalable across other BIRN companies

Qualitative Results

  • Demonstrates climate transparency leadership in the foundry sector
  • Supports customers with Scope 3 emissions data
  • Enhances competitive positioning in procurement and climate-driven tenders
  • Contributes to long-term decarbonization goals with a lifecycle-focused mindset

Customer Quote (Sustainability report) 

“We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to document each product’s carbon emissions. BIRN in Holstebro therefore became one of the very first companies in the sector to offer several flexible Product Carbon Footprint documentation solutions that match the various needs we see among our customers,”
“Product Carbon Footprint is a strategic priority for us, in part because customer demand is increasing for documentation of carbon emissions for individual products and components. We have the advantage of being one of the very first companies in the foundry sector to offer it. This is clearly a position we must exploit in relation to the roll-out to the entire group.”

- Emil Husted Brodersen, Group Sustainability & Energy Manager, BIRN Group

Conclusion: Carbon Transparency, Powered by Lifecycle Data

Summary

By partnering with ReFlow, BIRN Group has created a robust and standardized framework for delivering carbon transparency across its product portfolio. This future-proof approach positions BIRN not just as a supplier, but as a sustainability partner, helping customers reduce Scope 3 emissions and meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations.

We provide your CO₂ data

ReFlow was founded to transform environmental performance with data-driven life-cycle analysis, empowering better climate decisions.
Join our newsletter!
Get the latest news from the green maritime transformation
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
© 2025 ReFlow ApS. All rights reserved.
CVR: 39843870