Food companies continue to deliver genuine reductions in environmental impacts

7 December 2011

The food and drink industry, the UK's largest manufacturing sector, has continued to deliver significant reductions in CO2 emissions while increasing its production, says a report published today.

The latest Five-fold Environmental Ambition progress report published by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) reveals that its members have slashed their CO2 emissions by 25% and are well on track to meet their target of 35% by 2020. The report also highlights that FDF members have helped to reduce product and packaging waste in the supply chain by 6.9%, reduce water use (outside of that embedded in product) by 5.3% and save 163 million HGV road miles. Crucially companies have achieved these reductions while increasing production to meet growing demand.

In 2011 the Five-fold Environmental Ambition, FDF's flagship environmental programme, also began to address the sector's environmental impact beyond the factory gates by conducting research into sustainable supply chains, actively raising awareness amongst its members of the importance of biodiversity and ecosystems and developing its 'Every Last Drop' guidance on efficient water use for food and drink companies.

Andrew Kuyk, FDF's director of sustainability and competitiveness, said: “Decoupling environmental impacts from economic growth is key to meeting the sustainability challenges of the future and to our own and global food security. We are proud of our progress so far and we look forward to continuing this journey in 2012.”

Jim Paice, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, said: “Food and drink businesses have made great progress in reducing CO2 emissions, cutting down waste, and reducing water use. Of course, there's always more to be done, and I'm impressed by the challenging longer term ambitions set by the industry itself. We'll do all we can to help them be met.”

Notes:

1. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector. For more information about FDF and the industry we represent visit: http://www.fdf.org.uk/

2. FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition was launched in 2007 and sets out how the UK's largest manufacturing sector can make a positive difference to the environment across five key areas: CO2 reduction, water efficiency, transport miles and waste and packaging reduction. To see the full 2011 Five-fold Environmental Ambition report, please visit https://www.fdf.org.uk/environment_progress_report.aspx

For more information on 'Every Last Drop' guidance on water efficiency for UK food and drink manufacturers, please visit: www.fdf.org.uk/water

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