Arla Foods UK has kicked off its 2008 environmental agenda as the UK's first dairy company to be awarded energy efficiency accreditation from The Carbon Trust.
The accreditation, which is in recognition of Arla Foods response to tackling climate change in 2007, is a welcome boost to the business which has demonstrated that reducing its carbon emissions to maximise efficiency and minimise waste remain central to its environmental strategy.
Over the past two years Arla has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by over 13,000 tonnes in addition to reducing its packaging weight of its milk bottles by over 300 tonnes in the past year alone.
Arla Foods 2007 environmental report published in December clearly demonstrates Arla's positive environmental performance. Since 2004 Arla has made significant reductions across the whole dairy supply chain:
- 16% reduction in energy consumption
- 15% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
- 20% reduction in water consumption
- 14% reduction in effluent volume
- 42% reduction in landfill waste
Arla Foods has also invested significantly to further improve its carbon footprint by developing on-site plastic blow moulding facilities at two of its dairies, progressing with trials to improve the food grade recycled content in its milk bottles and trialling the use of sustainable bio-fuels in its distribution vehicles.
George Plemper, Arla Foods head of work environment, said: "We see excellent environmental performance as a prerequisite for a successful and sustainable business and the reductions we have made clearly demonstrates that we are committed to continually improving our carbon footprint and environmental impact across the whole of the supply chain."
The environmental savings made by Arla can also be credited to the implementation of Energy Desktop, a companywide waste audit that involved Arla employees considering Arla's impact on the environment, as Simon Hayes, engineering project manager for Arla Foods explains:
"The Energy Desktop programme has involved employees at all levels throughout the business assessing Arla's impact on the environment and developing ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
"Teams are now monitoring and controlling what materials we are using and benchmarking usage against companywide figures. Champions at each of our processing sites across the UK have ensured that monitoring our impact on the environment is a way of life and this understanding will help to continually improve on our carbon footprint," added Simon.
The Carbon Trust is the UK's only independent award that recognises achievements in reducing energy use. To achieve accreditation organisations must show that they are making real and sustained energy savings through management commitment, investment and energy efficiency measures.
As Simon explains, accreditation by the Carbon Trust is only the start for Arla: "Working with our major retail customers we are continually looking to improve what we are doing. We want to take responsibility for our area of the supply chain and drive further savings wherever we can.
"We need to keep on top of the environmental savings we have made and carry on the good work across our sites. This year we are aiming to streamline our production facilities and further invest in energy efficient plant and equipment to show continual reductions in our carbon emissions," added Simon.