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.

Mark Kalhøj Andersen is now the new CEO. Until now, he has been CCO of the company.   

“Mark Kalhøj Andersen has a profound insight into both Lyras’ markets and product. He has a deep technical understanding of raslysation. He has previously been employed in a strong tech development company and been part of scaling a company from a few million to just under a billion in five years. Adding to that, he has excelled in his time as Lyras’ CCO, where he has improved our sales activities as well as operational and administrative efficiency. He possesses the entire toolbox, from development to operations and sales to scaling. His unique combination of technical knowledge and business insight positions him perfectly to guide Lyras through our ongoing growth and development phases,” says Mads Storgaard Mehlsen, chairman of the board at Lyras.  

In his previous position as Lyras’ CCO, Andersen has played a decisive role in establishing the company’s global sales and marketing strategy. His areas of responsibility have spanned from establishing international sales offices in, for example, The Netherlands, France and Spain, for the development of distributor networks and cooperation with engineering and OEM partners.  

“It is a great honour to be given the responsibility of driving Lyras further towards strategic growth and innovation. I step into the role of CEO with great humility and expect a steep learning curve, but I have a strong group of owners and board as well as a fantastic organisation which I am sure will support me in the process. I will especially prioritize organizational development by gathering and engaging employees across the organization. In addition, I will continue to focus on commercial scaling of our sales platform,” says Andersen.   

Lyras’ founder, Rasmus Mortensen, also enthuses, “It is with peace of mind that I now pass on the baton to Mark. His loyalty to Lyras’ values and growth strategy is a driving force that I value highly in his professional handling of our common goal of growing Lyras quickly. In addition to finding a new CEO with the right skills, it has also been important for me to find a person with the right vision and solid integrity. I now look forward to my new role as chief vision officer (CVO), where I can continue to work towards achieving Lyras’ vision and goals by identifying future opportunities and working with customers.”  

Andersen has previously been, among other things, technical director at Desmi Ocean Guard. Here he drove the expansion of the organisation’s technical capacity and promoted both international development and results. He has a Master of Science in chemistry degree with a specialisation in environmental engineering from Aalborg University, supplemented by an HD degree in organization and management with a specialisation in marketing, also from Aalborg University.  

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Founded in 2017, Lyras was built on three years of research into sustainable pasteurisation processes and the development of its Raslysation technology alongside public health experts, academics and figures in the dairy and juice industries.

Raslysation is a non-thermal treatment that uses UV light at a specific wavelength to pasteurise opaque liquid food and non-food products, including dairy, juice and enzymes. The liquid is directed past the light source in a controlled movement so that everything is illuminated to inactivate bacteria and other microorganisms.

Lyras’ approach reduces energy use by 60-90% and water use by 60-80% while reducing operational costs and heightening product quality when compared to traditional techniques which require the product to be heated and cooled again.

By creating its Raslysation technology and bringing it to market, Lyras is enabling the processing industry to achieve a reduction in the usage of energy and water in the pasteurisation process, and ultimately accelerate the global reduction of CO2 emissions created by the industry.

Lyras recognises the UK and Ireland as leaders in the liquid food production market, particularly for dairy products, and the importance of the food industry reducing its carbon footprint.

Rasmus Mortensen, CEO at Lyras said: “For the past 150 years, pasteurisation has been a process focused on heat. At Lyras, we have invented a technology that uses light to remove pathogens from liquid products. This is a much gentler approach to processing opaque liquid products, which not only maintains standards but enhances the quality of the product at the end of the process by causing less impact to the nutrients and taste.

“Lyras is quite literally shining a light on an industry that has been a source of high levels of water and consumption, as well as a significant producer of CO2. Our goal is to support the processing industry to reduce energy and water consumption and usage, and ultimately create a better, more sustainable way to produce products that millions of people use and consume every day. This is especially important during the energy crisis, plus an increased focus on the shelf life of food products.

“Bringing our innovative technology to the UK and Irish markets is a significant step forward, and we’re excited to see the positive impact that we can have to improve the sustainability and quality of liquid products being produced here.”

Lyras’ core systems, the Raslysation Sirius and the Raslysation Spica, are both easily installed solutions that are scaled and customised to industry specifications. The Sirius system operates using specially designed light filters to treat bacteria and spores in light-sensitive food and non-food liquids such as dairy products, wine and juice. The system saves enough CO2 to travel around the world by car 164 times. The Spica system operates on the same principles as the Sirius but is designed to treat low transparency liquids that are not light-sensitive, including tap water, brine and non-food liquids.

Lyras’ technology has already been sold to companies in the US, Australia, Spain, Sweden and Denmark that operate within the dairy, juice and industrial fermentation industries. In the spring, the method was chosen to secure one of the world’s most expensive dairy products, namely the protein lactoferrin, which is used, among other things, in infant formula. Its team of 68 is based in North Jutland, Denmark and recently won the EY Future Impact Award 2021.

For more information, visit lyras.com

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