Food industry's Environmental Ambition raises its targets

08-Dec-2010 - Last updated on 10-Dec-2010 at 11:58 GMT

Kuyk: Industry has wider responsibility

The Food and Drink Federation is raising its game on carbon dioxide emission reduction

Britain's food and drink manufacturers have made a "step change" in plans to reduce their environmental impact by raising its aim for carbon dioxide emission cuts from 30 to 35% by 2020 compared with 1990 levels and making this a "firm commitment".

The news emerges as the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) publishes the third set of results under its Five-Fold Environmental Ambition, launched in 2007. These show that it exceeded its 2010 targets of a 20% carbon dioxide reduction against a 1990 baseline. The new 35% figure is above the government's own interim carbon reduction target of 34% and higher than that made by any other business sector, claims the FDF.

Water reduction and biodiversity

At the same time, the FDF has recognised that it has to take account of the "bigger picture" as far as its impact on the environment is concerned and will begin working with others in the food supply chain to reduce the sector's impact in areas such as water reduction and biodiversity.

"Over the last couple of years, with the climate change debate and everything else, people are much more conscious of what happens elsewhere in the supply chain and clearly for carbon and water in particular the biggest impacts are not in manufacturing: they are on the farm and in the home," said the FDF director of sustainability and competitiveness Andrew Kuyk (pictured).

"But we recognise we have a wider responsibility to try to influence things either side of us in the food supply chain."

Other commitments under the Five-Fold Ambition include sending zero food and packaging waste to landfill from 2015 "at the latest"; making 'significant reductions' in the levels of packaging reaching households through support for the Waste & Resources Action Programme's Courtauld II Commitment; achieving 'fewer and friendlier' food transport miles; and using its Federation House Commitment to achieve 'significant reductions' in water use.

While the water target, which aims for a 20% reduction by 2020 against a 2007 baseline, does not include water embedded in products, the new targets recognise that the industry must also do more to address such issues even though they fall outside of its control, said Kuyk.

The FDF accepts that the whole life-cycle impact of products needs to be taken into account.