Environmental Report Demonstrates British Dairy Industry is a Global Leader
The British dairy industry has issued the Dairy Roadmap Report 2013 demonstrating that it is a global leader in terms of environmental sustainability. Nowhere else in the world has the whole dairy supply chain – farmers, food manufacturers and retailers – come together to agree such a broad programme with hard, time-bound environmental sustainability targets.
The Report can be viewed on a new website www.dairyroadmap.com alongside a selection of video case studies, plus further detail on what farmers, dairy manufacturers and retailers are doing to make the dairy supply chain more environmentally sustainable.
Some examples of activities that have taken place:
* A Somerset farmer has installed ground-mounted solar panels which supplies 50% of power for his dairy unit, three buildings and neighbouring poultry unit
* Over the last 5 years, one plastic milk bottle manufacturer has developed a bottle that is not only 20% lighter, but will incorporate 30% recycled materials by 2014
* A group of Scottish farmers working with a global food manufacturer have reduced their carbon footprint and water usage as well as investing in biodiversity.
* A creamery inC ornwall has reduced its carbon footprint by 20,000 tonnes per year by installing a biomass boiler system.
Kate Allum, chair of the Dairy Roadmap and chief executive of UK dairy co-operative First Milk, comments: “Looking internationally, we know that there are individual cases of companies around the world undertaking supply chain projects, or focusing on the environmental performance of their sites. However, in Britain we recognised that in order to achieve real change we need the whole dairy supply chain to work together from farmers through to retailers.”
She continues: “We started out with the Roadmap in 2008 and this is this now the fourth report. With each report, the ambition and reach of the industry has grown and this is reflected in the way the Dairy Roadmap has developed. In addition to the environmental progress we have made, people who consume British dairy products have added reassurance from the Red Tractor scheme which certifies that food has been produced to independently inspected standards right along the food chain – from farms to manufacturing facilities.”
