Sustainability is increasing
concern in the food industry. According to the report published in the New Scientist which showed that
the food industry is lagging in the environmental performance compared to other
sectors. This is mainly because the food/drink industry plays a major role in environmental impact (1) as it accounts for:
To help tackle these challenges government have placed various environmental legislation and food industry itself adopting sustainability practices within their companies through lifecycle assessment to minimise the magnitude of pollution and to conserve non-renewable resources.
The
goal of sustainable development is to “enable all people throughout the
world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without
compromising the quality of life of future generations (DEFRA)”.(2)
This report on “sustainability in the Food Industry” will look at the most important UK & EU environmental legislation and key drivers that promote sustainable practices within the public and commercial organisations. Also, current examples on how the food industry is managing sustainability practices in the use of portable water, use of energy and improvement in solid/liquid waste management.
This will cover the most
significant UK and EU Environmental legislations that are being used to drive
sustainable initiatives in the areas of waste management and energy
conservation/carbon reduction.
These legislations are designed
to reduce or eliminate waste streams which are dispersed
into the environment by treatment, transporting, storage, disposal, etc.
European Union legislation
on waste management
United Kingdom legislation
on waste management
UK legislations on waste
management are derived from EU laws and transferred into UK law by statutory
instruments.
European Union legislation
United Kingdom legislation
The other key Drivers that promotes and encourage sustainable practices
within public and commercial organisations are Corporate Social
Responsibilities CSR, Non-Governmental Organisations NGOs, consumers,
collaboration and economics.
For public and commercial organisations NGOs, have become a valuable tool, as they help to minimise their environmental impact at the same time increases their value and it’s a key driver to encourage sustainable practices within the organisation.
Carbon Trust – set up with government funds and their mission is to increase the move toward low-carbon economy hence sustainable. Independent experts on energy saving and carbon reduction. Provide support for low carbon technologies. The trust can help the organisations to improve their energy efficiency in line with the goals of the energy white paper. (11) (2) Key services offer by the trust are:
WRAP – works with communities, governments and businesses to help improve resource efficiency by providing practical solutions and with the aim to increase the move toward sustainable and resource-efficient economy by (12)
Corporate Social Responsibility is
the responsibility of organisations for their impact on the environment and society; it is becoming a major driving force to encourage sustainable practices within the
organisation and to create shared value
for organisation and community. Sustainability is not just important
for our planet and people, but it’s
equally important to organisation success. CSR represents various
practices and policies which the organisation
commits to in order to create positive impact on the environment and society
includes community engagement and going above and beyond what is required to
ensure legal compliance such as environmental protection, equal opportunities,
employment, community work and health & safety to improve public relation (13).
The diagram above illustrates the main key driving forces for the CSR are the Government pressure, Consumer/investor Demands and Public Pressure. (13)
There are a lot of pressures to
go green and to be seen as environmentally responsible. There is also, an enormous amount of pressure from public opinion
and pressure groups these can have a large impact on the growth and value for
public/commercial organisations. Therefore,
corporate responsibility is a key driver for public relation. (21)
Consumers are a lot more eco-conscious these days, so there is
increasing consumer demand for green products and services. Consumers are more
likely to choose goods and services with green credentials. Exerting pressure
on businesses to invest in green products. (21)
For companies, there can be
economic incentives for being more environmentally friendly such as tax relief
or subsidised products, which can make a business more profitable and can give
a competitive advantage. (21)
Collaborating for
Sustainability – Governments and NGOs are continuously facing
sustainability challenges that are too costly and too difficult to be addressed
by individual organisations. therefore,
collaborative approaches are being used to solve sustainability challenges with
different models such as a company to
NGOs, company-company or multi-sector collaborations. The main aim of this is
to address social and environmental problems.
(15)
Economics Driver –
world marketed energy consumption is expected to increase by 53% between
2015-2035, this will lead to increase the energy prices in the long term and
has become a key driver for companies to
minimise their energy consumption through various energy saving and energy
management programs such as LED lighting – 16% reduction in energy bills, 95%
Electricity from renewable sources and Voltage Optimisation minimises the energy consumption at the same time reduces
their impact on the environment. (14)
According to gov.uk, UK can save
around twenty-three billion pounds a year and reduce their carbon emissions by
using the resources such as energy, natural material and water more
efficiently. (3)
Water is one of the most valuable
resources around the globe; it is regarded as being plentiful in the Europe,
but it is a limited resource in various part of the world such as Africa, India
and America. Due to the poor management of water and the impact of climate
change. The water crisis is one of the top risk identified by the World
Economic Forum (17).
The food industry around the globe
uses a large amount of Portable water
& Natural Waters each day from the public water supply. Therefore, the
industry contributes significantly to the demand being placed upon water
resources, which can affect local habitats and water quality. Therefore, the
food industry is required to minimise their water consumption through efficient water management system and to adopt
best practice without compromising food hygiene. Next part of this report will
cover some of the current techniques being used by Kellogg and Coca-Cola in
food manufacturing to minimise their overall water consumption. (2)
According to Coca-Cola CSR report
2015/2016, they have come up with various strategies to reduce the amount of
drinking and natural water used in their food manufacturing process by becoming
more water-efficient, treating and reusing their wastewater and by investing in
various water-saving technology. In 2015, Coca-Cola total water consumption was
8.24 million m3, approximately 16% less than 2007. (18)
Water saving technologies – As Coca-Cola can’t reduce the amount of water used in their products, they have invested around $543,000 in process optimisation and water-saving technologies to improve their water efficiency. The water saving technologies are: (18)
Coco-Cola is managing water
sustainability through water-reduction technologies at their manufacturing
sites, saved around 62,000m3 of water in the year 2015 and expected to save more in future.
Kellogg uses a mixture of external sources and internal
knowledge to define total water risk score for each of their manufacturing
facility. The internal information is built on site-specific
surveys which include local knowledge on
social, community and physical risk factors. The external sources referenced include three leading external datasets that
consider exposure to current conditions (quantity, quality, regulatory, social)
and projected changes in water quantity over time, based on indices such as population
growth and climate change. (19)
Based on the risk assessment, a site with the greatest level of water risk was
Michigan where a high level of well/natural
water was used for cooling process equipment
and flows into the creek. To minimise the
well water consumption, Kellogg introduced a new
closed cooler system with an outdoor evaporative spray, which reduced the well water by 500,000m3 per year.
Roughly 65% of water use at plant site and 3% global water use for Kellogg. (19)
Kellogg also saved a great amount of drinking water at India’s
manufacturing facility by installing 20 pressure compensating aerators in water
faucets in admin block which reduced the water flow
rate and minimise the water consumption. Also, treated wastewater used
for gardening. Overall reduced the water consumption by 8000m3 of
water in just 8 months in the year 2015. (19)
Kellogg is managing use of
Portable/natural water sustainability through risk assessment for each of their
manufacturing facility and installing new water reduction
technologies at the site with the greatest level of water risk.
Climate change is a long-term
change in earth average temperature or
shift in weather patterns. (20) Global
warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in earth average temperature. Increased carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases such
as nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbon, methane,
etc. are believed to be the primary source of global warming. According to the
recent research, earth average temperature could rise between 1.4 and 5.8oC
by the year 2100 which could lead to rising sea level and adverse weather
conditions. (21)
The DEFRA report 2016 shows that the food industry in the UK contributes around
30% of the total greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, urgent action is required. (2)
To tackle the climate change, a
global climate agreement (COP21 PARIS 2015) was signed by 200 countries on the need to cut greenhouse gas
emission and limit global warming to well below 2oC. To welcome the
agreement food/drink manufacturer such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg and many more
companies signed the Parris pledge, to reduce their carbon footprint by
introducing low carbon technology, increasing energy efficiency and minimising
CO2 emission throughout their value chain.
(21)
Coca-Cola has strengthened their commitments to reduce
greenhouse emission associated with food manufacturing. The company have
committed to reduce their total carbon
footprint by 50% and generate 40% of the energy
used in manufacturing operation from renewable and low carbon sources which include (18):
In 2015, Coca-Cola invested
around $70million in low carbon technologies. Achieved 52.6% reduction in the
Carbon dioxide emission g/litre of
product produced against their 2007 baseline, 32.8% of the energy used in 2015
came from renewable/low-carbon sources, saving more than 56962 tonnes of carbon
dioxide emission and 41% reduction in carbon footprint of their efficient Cold
Drink equipment all in their food manufacturing plant. They are well on their way to meet their 2020 target. (18)
Kellogg commitments for 2020
includes; increase the use of low-carbon energy
at manufacture site by 50% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy by
20% per tonne of food produced. Current and up to date example includes:
Finally, Food manufacturing sites
in the UK and around the world are managing sustainability in Energy use and
Carbon reduction by the use of renewable and low carbon energy sources, for example, CHP systems, Solar Panels, Fuel
cells plant, LED lighting, voltage optimisation and water turbine. These efficient and low
carbon sources have allowed the food/drink manufacturing sites to reduce their
total energy use and greenhouse emission to meet the current demand.
According
to waste and resources action programme (WRAP), food and drink industry produces more than 15m tonnes of food and packaging waste each year. Therefore, good waste management is required as it can
have a severe impact on the environment.
Moreover, disposing of waste to landfill
is getting expensive due to increasing landfill tax. (27)
The waste management is often arranged in a hierarchical manner to reflect their desirability. The first
priority is “reduction at source” or “clean technology”, the next priority is
to maximise reuse or recycling, once the possibility of waste prevention has
been exhausted then the next option is treatment and the final choice (least desirable) is to dispose of the
waste either to the air, water or land.
WRAP is helping the food and
drink industry in all part of it sector, by creating an efficient circular economy which helps
to deliver competitive industry, that creates sustainable growth. (28)
Circular economy covers the entire product life cycle from production to use to
waste management to the secondary material. An efficient circular economy helps
to reduce the waste & (zero waste to landfill), minimise the environmental
impact and drive greater resource productivity. (29)
There are many innovative waste
management technologies are being used in the food manufacturing to manage
solid/liquid waste by converting it into valuable products such as fertilisers,
animal feed and renewable energy. Leading toward “zero waste to landfill” and
circular economy. Innovative technologies include:
Composting is an aerobic treatment where micro-organisms, in
the presence of oxygen decompose the organic fraction of solid waste. The final
solid product consists of minerals and humus (complex organic material). It
closely resembles soil and can be spread on land or used in gardens. (21)
Anaerobic Digestion: has
grown in popularity, particularly for the processing of agricultural waste. The
use of microbial organisms, in the absence of oxygen,
to convert organic material into methane and carbon dioxide. (21)
Below are some of the current
example on how the food manufacturing companies have managed to improve their solid and liquid waste, achieved zero waste to
landfill and also the circular economy.
McCain Foods have placed
innovative waste management techniques in all areas of the supply chain, and
they have ensured it is fully integrated at all sites to minimise waste, or
convert it into valuable products. (26) These include:
The
introduction of innovative waste management techniques such as anaerobic
lagoon and reverse osmosis plant has
allowed McCain to use their Potatoes more efficiently and enabled them to reach “Zero waste to landfill”.
100% of their organic waste food recycled into renewable energy, animal feed
and fertiliser. (25)
The company have used the strategic methodology to waste management at
Stockport site. Currently, employs 1 waste contractor, who focused on the
re-use of waste packaged food product on site into a component such as plastic, cardboard and food. (24)
The idea includes:
In 2015, 50% sites of Jordans
& Ryvita in UK, achieved zero waste to landfill while the other are constantly working towards the zero-landfill
target. 76% of the waste generated in the year
2015 were recovered for beneficial purposes (circular economy). (23)
Finally, according to 2016 FDF
progress report, all the members have sent zero food waste to landfill by the
use of innovative waste management techniques such as composting, anaerobic
digestion, incineration, liquid treatment plant and jet shredder. This has
allowed the food manufacturing sites to convert the waste to a useful product such as biogas providing
renewable energy. (22)
This report on “sustainability in the Food
Industry” covers the most important UK
& EU environmental legislation and key drivers that promote sustainable
practices within the public and
commercial organisations. Also, current examples on how the food industry is
managing sustainability practices in the use of portable water, use of energy
and improvement in solid/liquid waste management.
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12. What we do | WRAP UK [Internet]. Wrap.org.uk. 2017 [cited 17
March 2017]. Available from: http://www.wrap.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do
13. Strategic CSR Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability
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http://www.csrquest.net/default.aspx?articleID=13133
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Available from:
http://www.corporateecoforum.com/collaborating-sustainability-8-best-practices/
16. Cite a Website – Cite This For Me [Internet]. Bmpa.uk.com.
2012 [cited 17 March 2017]. Available from:
http://www.bmpa.uk.com/_attachments/533_S4.doc
17. CSR report [Internet]. Cokecce. 2015 [cited 17 March 2017].
Available from:
http://www.cokecce.com/system/file_resources/277/CCE_Factsheets_Complete.pdf
18. Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report 2015/2016
[Internet]. Coca-Cola Enterprises. 2016 [cited 18 March 2017]. Available from:
https://www.cokecce.com/system/file_resources/426/2015-2015_CRS_Report.pdf
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