The partnership, announced this week, is part of Mars’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2040.
The electricity will be provided by Eneco’s 20 turbine wind farm in Moy in the Highland region of Scotland.
Mars’s chief sustainability and health and well-being officer Barry Parkin said the deal would benefit both the manufacturer and the environment.
‘Reducing our carbon footprint’
“We’re proud that the brands that we make here will now be manufactured using renewable electricity, and that we are reducing our carbon footprint in the UK and around the world,” said Parkin.
“The Moy Wind Farm is part of our innovative and long-term approach to achieving our goal to be a successful and sustainable business for generations to come.”
A statement from Mars said the company was “committed to buying electricity through Eneco UK for the next decade”.
Mars green energy – the basics
- Carbon-free by 2040
- 100% of the electricity need for all UK sites
- 340,000 UK households worth of power
- 20 wind turbines at Moy site
Country director of Eneco UK, Zoisa Walton said the project was “very special” to the company. “It brings together all the elements of our strategy; a renewable generating asset, a like-minded partner in Mars, and the opportunity to deliver real benefits to the local community”, she said.
The energy generated by the wind farm could power 34,000 average UK households. According to Mars this would “make enough Maltesers to fill 166 Olympic-sized swimming pools”.
Entire US operations
A similar deal agreed in April 2014 saw the launch of a large-scale wind farm in Lamesa, Texas that generates 100% of the electricity required to power the manufacturer’s entire US operations.
Mars said it had achieved its global 2015 goal to reduce greenhouse gas emission from operations by 25% from a 2007 baseline.
The multinational confectionery maker is one of many companies looking into greener manufacturing processes.
Ice cream manufacturer Makies of Scotland has been sourcing power from wind turbines since 2005.
The UK produces 34.1M MWh of power through onshore and offshore wind turbine sites, according to the UK Wind Energy database. The electricity generated is enough to power 8.3M homes, it said.
Lean and Green webinar
Greencore’s group technical director Helen Sisson told the Food Manufacture Group’ recent webinar that lean and green food manufacturing was more than just “switching off the lights and lagging the pipes”. There's still time to listen to the free, one-hour webinar, first broadcast on April 26. Once registered, you can listen at anytime, any number of times, over the next few months.