Food firms told saving energy is a moral responsibility

10-Aug-2014 - Last updated on 11-Aug-2014 at 12:26 GMT

Saving energy is a moral responsibility, said Jes Rutter. Sign up for our free webinar on Thursday September 18

Saving energy is a moral responsibility, which new EU legislation will force some food manufacturers to take more seriously, according to the md of the company sponsoring Food Manufacture’s free, one-hour webinar dedicated to the subject.

The new rules – set out in the Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) – will require large firms to undertake mandatory energy audits, said md of energy specialist JRP Solutions Jes Rutter. See the end of this article for more details about the online seminar to be staged at 11am GMT on Thursday September 18.

“Having worked in manufacturing environments throughout my long career as an energy specialist, I am only too aware that while some organisations take energy efficiency seriously, there are still huge opportunities to significantly reduce energy consumption,” Rutter told FoodManufacture.co.uk. “And I have been frustrated by the lack of commitment demonstrated by far too many businesses.

‘Frustrated by lack of commitment’

“I am the first to recognise and understand the conflicting demands placed upon often very limited resources. But it seems almost immoral to continue wasting energy in the way that some businesses do.”

Businesses with more than 250 employees will be obliged to complete an energy audit before December 15 to identify energy savings, as part of the ESOS scheme. However, implementing savings identified by the audit will not be compulsory.

The Food Manufacture Group has teamed up with JRP Solutions – ahead of the September webinar – to gauge how well prepared businesses are to comply with legislation. Please take a few minutes to complete our online survey here. We want to uncover the scale of the challenge facing food and drink manufacturers in gearing up to conduct the audits before the December 2015 deadline.

Arm delegates

Meanwhile, the Food Manufacture Group’s latest webinar – Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme: switching onto savings – will arm delegates with all the information they need to comply with the new rules. Also, it will help smaller firms – unaffected by the legislation – to identify savings that could save thousands of pounds.

Martin Adams, ESOS team leader, Energy Efficiency Deployment Office, said the legislation could save British businesses more than a billion pounds. “If ESOS participants reduce energy consumption by an average of 1% it would lead to net benefits to the UK of £1.6bn over the next 15 years,” he said.

Joining Adams and Rutter on the webinar panel will be representatives from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and a food or drink manufacturer. The full list of speakers includes:

• Martin Adams, ESOS team leader, Energy Efficiency Deployment Office

• Steve Reeson, FDF head of climate change and energy policy

• Jes Rutter, md JRP Solutions

• A representative of a food or drink manufacturing firm

Reserve your free place here. The webinar will conclude with a question and answer session and you can put your question in advance to our expert panel by emailing Michael.stones@wrbm.com.