For the climate crisis, it is apparent that a short-term but imminent threat would be needed to rapidly escalate a more decisive reform. But by the time a climate crisis consequence becomes visible, it will already be too late. On a global scale, it’s always someone else’s issue. It is only when consequences become local that urgent changes will often be made. It is therefore the responsibility of policy and decision-makers to start incentivising and implementing decisive change with a greater level of urgency before ultimately the climate crisis creates global damage beyond repair.

Support for businesses embracing sustainability

Recently, the EU’s European Enterprise Network has begun issuing energy efficiency grants of up to €10,000 to SMBs with projects supporting energy optimisation. These initiatives must reduce the company’s overall energy consumption by more than five per cent. In essence, a needed reward for businesses that are adopting sustainability agendas and creating a greener footprint for their operations.

This is a small step in the right direction. After all, a financial incentive is a great way to encourage greener action. Yet more can be done on a government level to support larger sustainability changes before it is too late. Rewarding businesses can be a way to incentivise sustainable-thinking businesses, but a firm hand laying down sanctions is even more effective in ensuring businesses get in line, particularly with those neglecting their sustainability initiatives. Governments hold a responsibility to ensure that businesses start to fall in line on the road to net zero, especially when the climate crisis threatens to cause damage in the years ahead if left unchecked at all.

Crisis-ready plans or not

The UK Committee for Climate Change (CCC) has already stated the UK government has no credible plan when it comes to combatting and standing resilient against the increasing effect of extreme weather and the climate crisis. When it comes to government policy, urgent necessary action and impetus aren’t there. Unless there is a financial motive or a benefit to the national economy, the currently implemented policy doesn’t appear to be interested in investing in meaningful change for the sake of the environment – to the detriment of future generations that will be forced to suffer its consequences.

Summits like COP28 spark the discussion for meaningful climate reform, and most recently it was the source of an agreement signalling the “beginning of the end” for the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, equitable transition underpinned by deep emissions cuts. Global demonstrations of the power of unity in government are great wins, but action to ensure there’s legitimate follow-through across both governments and businesses is also key – otherwise, it’s all talk and no substance.

Targeting the offenders is key

The food industry, and particularly the food processing sector, is a key target needing scrutiny when it comes to the conversation around industry environmental impacts. Looking at how their current processes operate, many food processing businesses still cling to outdated, traditional processes although technology has advanced for several decades. Optimising processes, especially by embracing electrification and sustainability, is no longer just an option but a necessity for the future.

It’s time for government and policymakers to lead the charge in tackling these mounting climate concerns with meaningful action. Sustainable reform is needed across dairy supply and processing lines. Businesses must be concerned about their climate impact and carbon footprint when making decisions about upgrades to operations, making the effort needed to cut back on their emissions now more than ever.

Cutting back is key on a business-by-business basis. Of course, business leaders are more conscious than ever about making their agendas greener and upgrading to more sustainable technologies across supply and processing lines often also makes them more future proof in the long run. But if governments can support businesses and dairy lines, even more, to help them meet sustainability initiatives on the road to net zero, we can see global change on a macro level as the combination of everyone doing their part.

While urgent action would be the best-case scenario, ultimately it is more realistic to accept that net zero will be a long road – but the destination is worth the longer journey. All that is needed is for governments to steer businesses in the right direction where needed.

The post The time for green is now appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

I find myself reverting to my growing up years, when it was hot for months on end, and air conditioning wasn’t really much of a thing for our household. My father was a keen believer in proper ventilation, fans and the washcloth on the forehead to keep a person cool in the hot days of July and August. It helped that we lived on the water and that he was immune to children complaining.  

It was also National Ice Cream Day in the US. Although I now live in the UK, I thought it appropriate to celebrate what I consider a very quality holiday with an ice cream at the Independent Label Market at Kings Cross Coal Yard on Saturday (see photo) from Forest Hills Gelato (https://www.instagram.com/foresthillsgelato). Now, it is my better half who is the record collector, but I am happy to eat ice cream or gelato and listen to musicians while he shops. In fact, there are few days when I think it is not helpful to eat ice cream, even though it may not be hot out.  

Meanwhile, here in the UK, the traditional Mr Whippy ice cream vans are being curbed as more places enact rules against idling diesel engines. This is good for the planet but bad for the soft serve ice cream machines on board, which don’t take kindly to being started up over and over again on hot days. (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curbs-on-idling-diesel-engines-cause-meltdown-for-mr-whippy-sellers) Like milk deliveries, they’re going to have to look at electric vehicles, but right now the benefits versus the cost of a new vehicle (£180,000, or €212,226) is probably well beyond most mobile vendors.  

Ed note: Last week, I mentioned my local café, but did not mention the actual name of it. It’s the Valley Café in Charlton, London. (https://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/cafes-tea-rooms/54464-the-valley-cafe, https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/358238/the-valley-cafe). Sorry for the oversight!  

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
  Keep in touch via email: suzanne@bellpublishing.com
  Twitter: @dairyindustries or LinkedIn: Dairy Industries International magazine.

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For agriculture and dairy in particular, the requirement to reduce greenhouse gases and try and alleviate the worst of the rise in global temperatures has been a much longer process. Back in 2008, the British dairy industry organisation Dairy UK released its first Dairy Roadmap, where it set out to not only reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, waste, and other pollutants but also improve the efficiency at which it consumes water and energy.

While other sectors of society were busy arguing whether global warming was an issue at all, the dairy industry was getting things together and getting started on helping to alleviate the problems they saw. On-farm and processing improvements on everything from wastewater to energy use have come into wide use in the UK, as well as in other countries.

Today, as Dr Dairy UK president Judith Bryans has noted, “The UK dairy industry is one of the most sustainable in the world, accounting for only 2.8% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. We as an industry have an impact, and over the last ten years we’ve worked hard to achieve a reduction of 24% in greenhouse gas emissions.”

Dairy is at the edge of climate change and will continue to be there. However, it’s not only us who will fall off if the world doesn’t succeed in holding back the increasing temperatures.

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
  Keep in touch via email: suzanne@bellpublishing.com
  Twitter: @dairyindustries or LinkedIn: Dairy Industries International magazine.

The post COP26 and dairy appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) has pulled together some key facts to highlight how little the UK dairy industry contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

The association asks individuals, key industry stakeholders, businesses, and organisations to push the messages within the industry and the wider public before, during, and after COP26.

The aim is to help inform everyone of the actual levels of greenhouse gas contributions coming from the dairy industry and dispel many of the current myths.

Matt Knight, RABDF managing director, says, “It is vitally important we come together as an industry and highlight what the UK dairy’s contribution is to greenhouse gas emissions.

“As an industry, we are working so hard to reduce the levels, but often this is pushed back in our face when inaccurate facts are published.

“The dairy sector, along with other areas of agriculture, is often used as a scapegoat when it comes to emissions, with ‘belching’ cows regularly hitting the headlines in the national press.

“We anticipate UK agriculture will come under the spotlight at COP26, so we must be ready to make our story known and shout about the good work we are doing to reduce emissions from what is already quite a low level.”

Knight continues, “If everyone can share just one fact on social media, in their company newsletter, to a friend or in a conversation, for example, then that is at least one extra person that is better informed about emissions from the dairy industry.”

The facts the RABDF is asking the industry to push include:

1. Less than 3% of total UK emissions come from UK dairy farming

2. 46% of dairy cow emissions Almost half of the emissions coming from the dairy cow is from their digestion – a perfectly natural process of ruminants

3. Producing milk efficiently It takes eight litres of tap water to produce one litre of milk or 158 litres of tap water to produce one litre of almond drink

4. UK milk emissions much lower than global average  The carbon footprint of a litre of British milk is around 1.25kg CO2e compared to a global average of 2.9kg CO2e per litre.

5. UK dairy cows are some of the most climate friendly in the world There are 278 million dairy cows worldwide. If they were all as efficient as UK dairy cows, we would only need around 78 million of them to produce the same amount of milk.

The RABDF has produced some draft social media posts, newsletter snippets, visuals and posters that are free to copy and paste from their website at www.rabdf.co.uk/emissions

Knight adds, “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to spread the good work of the dairy industry and reinforce the fact dairy products aren’t only good for human health, they are also good for the planet too.”

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Almost 80% of the world consumes dairy products, causing high demand — and a problem where action needs to be taken to reduce environmental impact. Here, rural energy operator Flogas provides an overview on what this booming industry is doing to make a change and tackle carbon emissions…

The Dairy Roadmap

Western food is one of the main reasons the industry has such a high demand. But with this demand comes the need to reduce carbon emissions too. Add to this, the legally binding commitment that the UK will reach net zero emissions by 2050, and means that reducing emissions becomes a race against time.

Promising signs are already filtering through, though. Companies such as Arla Foods, Müller, and Yeo Valley, are heading towards a greener future. In fact, the British dairy sector is ‘world-leading’ for sustainability, according to Dairy UK. This has been helped by the Dairy Roadmap, a sustainability scheme launched in 2008.

The Dairy Roadmap is always innovating and is now ensuring that dairy energy is becoming as clean as possible as a fuel source.

Saving water

Despite the reliance on water for processes, consumption is down nearly 24 per cent. They have also introduced a range of water-saving measures to decrease its environmental impact.

These measures include:

• Water mapping projects
• Rainwater harvesting to reverse osmosis
• Reduced freshwater abstraction
• Optimised Cleaning in Place (CIP) systems.

Recycling drive

Since 2008, dairy farmers have been increasing their efforts to recycle more. 65 per cent of waste was recovered or recycled in the same year, and the remaining 35 per cent was sent to landfill. Now, the dairy industry recycles or reuses 94 per cent of its waste, with the ambition to reach 100 per cent soon.

Climate change

When it comes to climate change, there’s been a 20 per cent increase in primary energy efficiency (kWh/tonne). Widespread use of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants has also been eliminated.

The next major milestone is for emissions to be reduced even further, with the adoption of cleaner fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG), necessary to reduce emissions by 30 per cent.

Plastic packaging

One major concern continues to be plastic waste. However, in the world of dairy, major changes have already been implemented. In fact, this industry uses some of the most recycled and reused packaging of all consumer products.

Reduced food waste

Reducing food waste isn’t a plain sailing task for any industry, never mind one so engrossed in food production. In 2016, most of the potential food waste (produce not meant for consumers) was used in a more environmentally friendly fashion. Just over 60 per cent was recovered for animal feed and redistribution. And a further 23 per cent was used for anaerobic digestion or biogas production.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is one way for improvements to be made. In Dairy UK’s 2018 biodiversity strategy, the organisation called for big changes to be made to improve their biodiversity status. Processors have started to engage in projects within their local communities to help reintroduce native species in opportune spaces around their processing plants.

As the industry continues to work on reducing its carbon footprint, it appears that a green future is on the horizon. By following targets set out in the Dairy Roadmap, the industry has proven that it can revolutionise its processes and, with future targets in place, we can expect more improvements to soon follow.

[Statistics source: The UK Dairy Roadmap, 10th Anniversary Report]

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Made from over 3,000 reused plastic milk bottles and upcycled wood, The Giving Bear was created at the end of 2019 as a symbol of climate change awareness and charitable giving over the festive season. This year, The Giving Bear is also serving as a reminder that it is more important than ever to be kind and thoughtful to others.

The Giving Bear encourages small acts of kindness through a fixed £3 charity tap donation point. Money raised will go to Our Frontline, a partnership between Shout, Mind, Samaritans and Hospice UK, that provides round the clock, one to one mental health support and other wellbeing resources for key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Veolia is encouraging Londoners who can safely do so, to visit The Giving Bear, take a selfie and share it on social media using the hashtag #TheGivingBear and tagging @VeoliaUK.

Julie Angulo, general manager Veolia Westminster, said: “The Giving Bear was positively received by the community last year, and we wanted to recreate that joy. This year, we hope he will also serve as a reminder that as the pandemic continues, it’s important to be there for each other in whatever way we can.

“Essential workers, including refuse workers continue to work hard, for the safety and good of the public. So we encourage people to come and visit The Giving Bear and donate to support the mental health of all key workers who continue to keep the city moving.”

James Lawley-Barrett, associate director of Place Management at New West End Company, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming The Giving Bear back to London’s West End and Mayfair after its huge success last year. Now businesses in the district have reopened, we are safely welcoming back customers and employees for the festive season and we hope The Giving Bear will be on everyone’s list along with the other Christmas illuminations in the area, celebrating our key workers and supporting their mental health as they work tirelessly on the frontline against coronavirus.”

Cllr Andrew Smith, Westminster’s cabinet member for Highways & Environment, said: “This winter, The Giving Bear will be back in the heart of Westminster to help show our support for the countless essential workers who have been on the frontline this year, supporting our communities and keeping the city moving through thick and thin. We hope that people from all across the city and beyond will be able to enjoy this festive installation, donate if they can, and be inspired by the positive message it carries.”

To discover more about The Giving Bear, visit: www.veolia.co.uk/london/the-giving-bear.

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Chief executive of Dairy UK, Dr Judith Bryans, said: “We are strongly committed to tackling climate change and recognise the important work the Climate Change Committee is doing to this end. However, we are once again extremely disappointed that the role of dairy in nutrition, livelihoods, biodiversity and many more areas has been ignored. Dairy simply cannot only be viewed through the lens of greenhouse gas emissions or land use.

“Dairy products provide vital nutrition to consumers, such rich nutrition in fact that no one other product naturally matches the range of vitamins and minerals found in dairy. Encouraging or enforcing a reduction in dairy consumption could leave many consumers struggling to replace the valuable package of nutrients they get from dairy and paying higher food bills in the process.

“We surely do not want to see British consumers moving away from naturally nutrient rich and affordable foods towards taking supplements or to highly fortified and processed foods, and all without understanding fully the unintended consequences of such drastic dietary change.

“Through the Dairy Roadmap the dairy sector has for over a decade demonstrated its commitment to continuous environmental improvement, and its ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is no different. The UK dairy industry is one of the most sustainable in the world, accounting for only 2.8% of greenhouse gas emissions. We of course recognise that we as an industry have an impact, and over the last ten years we’ve worked hard to achieve a reduction of 24% in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Together, the UK dairy sector is coming together to determine the role the dairy can plan in delivering Net Zero whilst continuing to deliver benefits to health, livelihoods and communities across the UK.”

The post Dairy UK responds to Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

A new report titled Examining material evidence – the carbon fingerprint, commissioned by Veolia and published by Imperial College, has highlighted the importance of plastic as a material compared to alternatives when examining carbon emissions.

The report analysed over 70 life-cycle assessments to evaluate the environmental impacts of packaging alternatives over their lifetime, including impacts from mining, manufacturing, logistics, usage and end-of-life management covering recycling or disposal.

Although only a reported 2% of British people believe that plastic contributes the least greenhouse gases to the environment from its production, use and recycling, in the majority of cases the main alternatives for packaging including cardboard, glass, steel and aluminium emit more greenhouse gases than plastic. According to the new study, if all plastic bottles used globally were made from glass instead, the additional carbon emissions would be equivalent to 22 large coal-fired power plants producing enough electricity for a third of the UK.

The key to limiting environmental impact and carbon emissions, according to Veolia, is reduction, reuse, optimisation of recycled content and effective waste management to treat packaging at the end of its life. For plastics, it has reportedly been shown that recycling saves between 30% and 80% of the carbon emissions that virgin plastic processing and manufacturing generate. If all plastic were recycled, this could reportedly result in mean annual savings of 30 to 150 million tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to shutting between 8 and 40 coal-fired power plants globally.

Richard Kirkman, chief Technology and Innovation officer, Veolia UK and Ireland said: “As a company that is here to reduce human impact on society, it’s important that we point out the impact of using different materials on the planet. As we look to build the green recovery and achieve a net zero carbon world, this report helps to emphasise that plastic has a key role to play as a material, but only if it is responsibly minimised, produced, used and recycled.

“With only 9% of plastics being recycled worldwide, there is still a lot to do to improve things. We have done it for paper, metals and glass which are widely recycled, but plastic is a newer material and so we need the right policy drivers in place, backed by consumer and manufacturer awareness, to allow us to build the new recycling infrastructure. This provide new green jobs and deliver all the advantages that plastic can offer, whilst making significant cuts to global carbon emissions.”

Professor Nick Voulvoulis, professor of Environmental Technology, Imperial College London, added: “Plastics have a large and unacceptable impact on the marine environment, and potentially impacts to human and ecosystem health that are not fully understood, and cannot easily be incorporated into life-cycle assessments.

“We need to reduce plastics production, while ensuring that any alternatives do not contribute more to climate change. The findings of this study demonstrate that removing, reducing, reusing or recycling the plastic packaging placed on the market is an important part of the way forward, and a better option to replacing it with current alternative materials, or waiting and hoping for solutions not yet available.”

For more information on Veolia, visit: www.veolia.co.uk.

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The report, Halving food loss and waste in the EU by 2030: the major steps needed to accelerate progress, analyses the EU’s progress on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) and sets out guidance for governments, industry, researchers and NGOs on how to reach this target. In the last few years, the EU has taken important steps to reduce FLW, and the Commission has announced further work in its Farm to Fork Strategy. But WWF and WRAP believe progress is still too slow and that a pace change is needed.

The report identifies key interventions with high but still untapped potential to significantly reduce FLW along the whole supply chain. WWF and WRAP believe such action needs to be boosted in the next decade, and accompanied by a more conducive EU policy framework. The main recommendations from the report in this regard are:

1. MEASUREMENT: Ensure the most consistent and robust measurement of FLW across EU Member States, to establish an accurate and reliable baseline of food waste levels for the Union.
2. TARGETS: Stimulate action by Member States with the announced setting in 2023 of EU targets for food waste reduction, which must be at least as ambitious as SDG12.3 and aim to halve food loss and waste from farm to fork and from bait to plate by 2030.
3. BUSINESSES: As part of the initiative to improve the corporate governance framework, establish a requirement for businesses over a certain size to measure and report their company’s food waste figures.
4. AGRICULTURE: Work closely with Member States and provide them with tailored recommendations so that Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds are allocated to FLW prevention actions at farm level and early processing stages.
5. VALORISATION: Provide funding support to research and innovation in FLW, with a specific focus on the safe and efficient valorisation of waste streams into processed food, animal feed, chemicals or other materials.

Ester Asin, director at WWF European Policy Office, said: “Reducing food waste seems to be a no-brainer, but we continue to put an impossible strain on our seas and land to produce food that never gets eaten. Such a leaky food system will never be sustainable. The EU must use all levers at hand to make sure that every actor in the food chain gets engaged and takes action.”

Richard Swannell, director at WRAP Global, said: “There is a real opportunity to make food waste reduction one of the key ways we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put our food system on a trajectory to a more sustainable future. But time is running out – we must all do our bit, and we must act now.

“The EU is implementing policies that will help, particularly by putting measurement at the heart of the strategy. The key next step is to support Member States to act quickly so as to hit the goal of halving food waste by 2030. This report outlines approaches that are proven to work and which will deliver rapid progress. ”

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As different as the participants were, they were unanimous in their wishes. Appreciation has long been at the forefront of what farmers hope for from society, and dairy farms are no exception. If the appreciation were reflected in a fair price, so a family can live on without fear of the future, it would be a great relief, they say.

Behind the term “appreciation” there are also intangible things, such as understanding (eg, unusual working hours), recognition and respect (eg, ensuring the food supply), but also acceptance (eg, smells and noises).
Many dairy farmers have noticed that the general public has become more aware of the value of food, but the idea of what is needed to produce it is still missing. The work effort is usually not related to the profit. “Being a farmer” is not a profession, but a vocation, an attitude to life, the dairy farmers think. There are no regular working hours, no fixed free time. They are always on duty as long as there is work.

The Rhineland-Palatinate dairy farmers also discussed the worries that they have. For example, how do EU policies, measures in climate, environmental and animal protection, globalisation or regionalism and food trends affect their work and prices? What impact does climate change have with droughts, tornadoes or heavy rain? Has the concept of family-run, peasant agriculture outdated and will there still be dairy farms in Rhineland-Palatinate as we know them in a few years?

Unusual topics also came up, including:

• The desire for more objectivity in the discussions between livestock farmers, consumers and politicians, and decision-making for solutions on a scientific, not emotional basis
• Making the profession more attractive: there are no employees
• Buy regional and seasonal groceries – and learn how to keep them
• See that a farm delivers more than food. Namely eg, a home for animals, birds, insects and several generations of people. It is a natural biotope
• Honour farming’s social performance, such as the preservation of the cultural landscape.

The post Milag asks farmers what they want from consumers appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

“Sustainable product innovation is at the heart of SIG’s commitment to go Way Beyond Good for society and the environment,” said Klaus Andresen, senior vice president, Global Technology at SIG.

“We already offer customers some of the most sustainable aseptic packaging solutions on the market. But we want to go further and that’s why we’re partnering with Nestlé and others to drive progress towards the sustainable packaging materials of the future.”

Together, the corporate partners have committed to provide 5 million Swiss francs over 10 years. The funding will support a new chair for sustainable materials research within EPFL’s Institute of Materials.

The chair, to be appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor, will be responsible for developing and implementing a new research programme on sustainable materials at EPFL, one of Europe’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan science and technology institutions.

Research areas of interest will address critical questions such as the overall environmental impact of materials, the exploration of bio-based, bio-degradable and recyclable materials, including high-performance paper-based barrier materials, that could help to address environmental concerns about plastic packaging.

Stefan Palzer, Nestlé’s chief technology officer, said: “Tackling plastic pollution is a top priority for Nestlé. We continue our efforts to pilot novel approaches for re-use packaging, while also evaluating new recycling technologies and sustainable packaging materials. The development of high performing, environmentally friendly materials requires a fundamental understanding of material structures and properties, which is why we are collaborating with our innovation partners to invest in sustainable material research at EPFL.”

Beverage cartons are fully recyclable and have a much lower environmental footprint than many alternatives for long-life food and beverages such as milk, juice or soups. They are made mainly from renewable paperboard, but small amounts of polymers and aluminium foil are usually needed as barrier layers to contain and protect liquid food products, and for caps and closures.

SIG is already offering an aluminium-free aseptic packaging for dairy products, known as combibloc EcoPlus, and its Signature Pack solution uses a mass balance approach to link the polymers used in the carton to 100% renewable, forest-based feedstock. The company is now working to create an aseptic pack made out of 100% renewable materials – without mass balancing or aluminium – that can be used for a range of products, including juices that are more sensitive to light and oxygen.

Supporting research into more sustainable, high-performance barrier materials, SIG says, will help the company drive progress towards this goal as it works in partnership with customers to bring food products to consumers around the world in a safe, sustainable and affordable way.

To find out more about SIG’s ‘Way Beyond Good’ commitment, visit: www.sig.biz/en/responsibility/way-beyond-good.

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The billionth pack was filled by DMK Group. As an early adopter of combibloc EcoPlus, DMK Group has played a decisive role in the success story of SIG’s low-carbon aseptic packaging solution for the dairy market.

Aseptic beverage cartons already offer a significantly lower environmental footprint than alternative types of packaging due to their high proportion of renewable materials and their lightweight and efficient design.

Combibloc EcoPlus cuts environmental impact even further by using an innovative composite structure to protect contents without the need for aluminium foil. The pack is made up of 82% renewable paperboard, sourced from FSC-certified sustainable sources, which results in a 28% lower carbon footprint than a conventional SIG carton in the same format, as shown by an independent lifecycle assessment by the independent Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU).

Combibloc EcoPlus showcases SIG’s commitment to sustainable innovation as it drives progress towards its Way Beyond Good ambition. The innovative aluminium-free structure also forms the basis for SIGNATURE PACK 100, the world’s first pack aseptic pack linked to 100% renewable materials.

“Combibloc EcoPlus works for customers and for the planet,” said Frederic Faber, marketing account manager D-A-CH at SIG. “It combines environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness like no other aseptic carton pack available on the market. This unique combination has made combibloc EcoPlus appealing to SIG customers across a broad market spread, from premium brands to private labels“.

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“We fully endorse the European Commission’s objective to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. Today, the EU demonstrates their leadership on climate change, and presents another opportunity to foster greater innovation, green jobs and reduce harmful emissions that negatively impact our society” said Annick Carpentier, director general of ACE.

“We now encourage the EU-co-legislators to go a step further and increase the ambition of this proposal by addressing the climate impact of materials and to strengthen the link between climate, the circular economy and the bioeconomy.

“Several reports acknowledge that production and use of materials account for a substantive share of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why the substitution of high carbon materials with low carbon materials, such as sustainably-sourced renewables, is key to reach climate neutrality and reduce the need for fossil-based resources. We look forward to working constructively with the EU institutions to have this more clearly reflected in the Climate Law.”

By using recognised science-based targets, sustainably sourced materials and internationally recognised standards, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), ACE members remain committed to contributing to a low carbon circular economy.

The post The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) responds to EU Climate Law appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

The company also reached a 2.8x net debt/EBITDA one year ahead of plan. Its proposed dividend, €2.10 payable in cash, is up 8% from the previous year.

Dairy figures

Danone’s Essential Dairy & Plant-based (EDP) posted net sales growth of 1.1% in 2019 on a like-for-like basis, while margin improved by +13bps to 10.2%.

In the fourth quarter, net sales were up by +1.5% on a like-for-like basis, including a +2.4% increase in value, and a -0.9% decline in volumes. The acceleration vs. previous quarter was driven by a general improvement in Essential Dairy and a continued strong growth in Plant-Based.

Europe went back to growth in 2019, with plant-based Alpro brand confirming its double-digit growth trend in Q4 and Essential Dairy progressively stabilizing, supported by the deployment of new brands to address new consumer tribes. North America improved to slightly positive growth in Q4, on the back of a better quarter for Yogurts in the US. Top-3 brands in the region – International Delight, Silk, and Horizon – delivered strong growth while protein powder brand Vega posted another quarter of steep double-digit decline.

In the rest of the world, CIS registered a low-single digit decline, similar to Q3. Latam posted strong growth and Morocco delivered another double-digit growth quarter, closing a year of recovery that brought the business back to market leader position.

Climate change goals

Danone has also reported that it reached its peak of full-scope carbon emissions last year – five years ahead of the company’s 2015 plan.

However, Danone’s chairman and chief executive officer, Emmanuel Faber, conveyed that the company still wants to further its environmental efforts in the coming years: “we are convinced that there is an urgent and significant opportunity to put climate actions even more at the core of our business model, truly joining people’s fight for climate and nature with the power of our brands.

“To this effect, we announce a €2 billion climate acceleration plan today, which in the next three years will further transform our agriculture, energy and operations, packaging, and digital capabilities so that we will leverage fully our climate action to generate resilient growth models for our brands.”

Danone will also act to enhance the recyclability of Essential Dairy and Plant-Based cups, targeting zero polystyrene worldwide by 2025 and zero polystyrene in Europe by 2024, starting with its Alpro brand by 2021. Those initiatives will be supported by the launch of a dedicated fund to explore next generations of packaging materials and models.

The post Danone reports on positive growth in 2019 figures appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

“The dairy sector takes its commitment to continuous improvement in the area of environmental sustainability very seriously and we firmly believe that agriculture can move to net zero.

“We fully agree with the need to reduce food waste and its impact on the environment, and happy to see the Committee’s report recognise the need to create a supportive environment for farmers to help them in making changes going forward. It is key that any changes asked for are based on consistent and strong scientific data.

“However we do not agree with the recommendation to cut dairy consumption by 20%. Dairy forms and important part of UK diets, beyond the mere provision of protein. It provides a range of vitamins and minerals which could not be easily substituted, leaving many consumers struggling to replace the valuable package of nutrients they get from dairy.

“The scale of change being requested by the Committee could result in the unintended consequence of micronutrient deficiencies resulting in negative health outcomes. We don’t want to see British consumers moving away from naturally nutrient rich foods towards taking supplements. It would also be inappropriate to encourage consumers to move away from dairy products towards alternatives, when the unintended consequences of doing so are not yet fully understood. This could see consumers having to navigate incredibly complex areas such as nutrition and sustainability when trying to complete their weekly shopping, without the sufficient knowledge to do so.

“It’s worth remembering that in the UK, milk production accounts for 2.8% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions and that as a sector we are continuing to work hard to further reduce the impact of dairy foods. Over the last decade we’ve already achieved a reduction of 24% in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we’ve made strides forward on water efficiency, biodiversity and food waste. Our ambition is to continue to build on those successes as well as taking other measures to improve the overall footprint of dairy.

“We are ready to work with the Committee on Climate Change to help ensure our industry plays its part in addressing climate change, and can be a part of a sustainable food system in the UK.”

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To build the database, Arla’s 9,900 farmer owners, 2,300 of which are UK based, will input externally verified data from their farm covering everything from herd size and housing, to milk volumes, feed, energy and fuel usage on farm and renewable energy production. This information will then give the farmer an overall environmental score and help identify areas they can further reduce their on farm carbon emissions.

Ash Amirahmadi, managing director Arla Foods UK said: “Sustainable foods must not only minimise environmental impact, but also be nutritionally adequate, remain affordable and support biodiversity ecosystems. Arla is working towards all this in the production of its dairy products. And with Arla farmers producing around 14 billion litres of milk a year, on farm changes could have significant impact to the cooperatives overall emissions.”

Current measurements show Arla farmers already producing milk with less than half the average emissions per litre compared to global dairy production. However, the data captured will provide bespoke data for each farmer on what level of carbon emissions they produce per litre of milk and identify where there is room for improvement. Average reductions on each farm of 3% per year would see Arla on track to hit its on farm carbon reduction targets of 30% by 2030. With farmers who participate in the programme being paid more for their milk, it is expected at least 90% of Arla’s farmer owners will do so – meaning this new initiative could have a huge impact on emissions overall.

Farmer owner David Christensen, based in Oxfordshire, said: “Farming is a long-term business with long-term investments and most farmers are working to pass their farm onto the next generation in a better shape than when they took it over. Caring for the world around us plays a huge part in that and having the science based targets to help us keep on improving will ensure Arla’s farmers go even further with their efforts. I’m very proud to think we are trying to improve the countryside whilst making a living producing milk.”

The announcement marks the latest in a serious of sustainability measures taken by Arla and its farmer owners. These include participating in the development of a global and scientifically approved way to measure carbon sequestration, Arla’s own research to evaluate ways methane emissions might be reduced through feed choices and experimenting with ways to increase biodiversity on farm.

Ash Amirahmadi added: “Whilst there is a lot of negative comment about the impact of food production to the environment, farmers are, in reality, the caretakers of the countryside and inextricably linked to many positive natural process that are critical to caring for the world around us. This initiative shows the commitment of Arla farmers to care for Britain’s countryside and play their part in tackling our climate emergency.”

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This new commitment aims for a 56% reduction on Elopak’s 2017 level of emissions by the year 2030. The paper-based packaging company has also committed to a continuous supply of renewable electricity, and to reduce emissions from its value chain by 16%. It follows on the company’s decision in 2018 to use science-based targets to guide its sustainability work.

Elopak sustainability director Marianne Groven said: “We concluded that the right thing to do was to set our targets according to the new methodology, aiming to keep the global average temperature increase below 1.5°C. Originally, the Paris Agreement aimed to keep temperature increase below 2°C, however, a recent study show that this would not be enough to give us a real chance of battling climate change.”

Packaging by Nature is the core of Elopak’s business and the company has chosen to focus on reducing emissions, as well as sourcing sustainable and renewable raw materials. Elopak reached a key milestone of becoming carbon neutral in 2015, while continuing to reduce emissions.

Elopak CEO Thomas Körmendi said: “It wasn’t easy to make this commitment, as we have already made significant cuts over many years. But we went in depth on the problem, looking through options until we found a viable solution. Now comes the hard work of executing to meet the challenge”.

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A newsletter from the European Milk Board shared an article by Frank M. Mitloehner, Professor of animal science and air quality extension specialist at the University of California, ‘Yes, eating meat affects the environment, but cows are not killing the climate’ showing that this claim is wrong. He says that avoiding meat and meat products won’t fix climate change in the way we might think.

Mitloehner states that livestock don’t emit the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions – 2016 data from the US Environmental Protection Agency showed that all of agriculture amounts to 9% of all emissions and less than half of this (3.9%) from animal agriculture. Meanwhile, the data showed the largest producers were in fact electricity production (28%), transportation (28%) and industry (22%). A big difference.

The author claims that the misconceptions about livestock emissions came from an FAO study in 2016 that stated livestock produced 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all of the world transportation combined. The claim was corrected by the report’s co-author Henning Steinfeld.

Mitloehner states the mistake was that analysts used two different methods to determine emissions from livestock and transportation giving distorted results. A revised report from FAO estimated that transportation and livestock amounted to 14% and 5% of emissions respectively.

The article also says that removing animals from US agriculture would lower national greenhouse gas emissions by a small amount, but it would need to replace it with other products to fulfill consumer’s dietary requirements – for example vital vitamin B12 can only be found in animal products. According to the study at the University of California, if the practice of Meat-free Mondays was adopted by all Americans, it would give a reduction of only 0.5%.

Excerpt from the article: ‘Yes, eating meat affects the environment, but cows are not killing the climate’ by Frank M. Mitloehner, Professor of Animal Science and Air Quality Extension Specialist, University of California, Davis, October 25, 2018.

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