Environment
FDF and our members have committed to making a real difference to the
environment. In October 2007 we launched an ambitious plan targeting the five
areas where
we feel we can have the biggest impact.
The goals outlined in FDF's environmental ambition are challenging. But we hope
that our leadership
in this area, and our
determination to make a positive
contribution to efforts to tackle climate
change,
will be seen as a sign of how
seriously we are taking society's growing
concerns about the environment.
This
is not a new issue for us – FDF members
have a
good record of reducing our
environmental impact in
recent years.
And
our
case studies show how much has
already been achieved. But given the
food
chain's
importance to the environment,
we accept that we have more
work
to do.
Working collectively, therefore, our members' five-fold environmental ambition
is to:
- Achieve a 20% absolute reduction in CO2 emissions by 2010 compared to 1990 and
to show leadership
nationally and
internationally by aspiring to a 30%
reduction by 2020
- Send zero food and packaging waste to landfill from 2015
- Make a significant contribution to WRAP's work to achieve an absolute reduction
in the level of
packaging reaching households by 2010 compared to 2005. And
provide more advice to consumers on how best
to recycle or otherwise recover
used
packaging
- Achieve significant reductions in water use and contribute to an industry-wide
absolute target [1] to
reduce water use by 20% by 2020 compared to 2007
- Embed environmental standards in our transport practices, including our
contracts with hauliers as
they fall for renewal, to achieve fewer and friendlier
food
transport miles. And contribute to an
absolute target for the food chain
to
reduce its environmental and social impacts by 20% by 2012
compared to
2002.
Our first progress report was launched on 27 November 2008. It shows that FDF
members are collectively making solid progress in key areas. In particular they:
- Reduced CO2 emissions by 17% in 2006 compared to 1990 – saving an average of 58,000 tonnes
of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 22,000 cars off UK roads each year.
- Prevented more than half a million tonnes of food waste being created in 2006
by, for example, ensuring that by-products from food production were used in
animal feed.
- Recycled or recovered 82% of the food and packaging waste that arose in 2006 –
and as regards the 17% of waste the goes to landfill, are now working with
Government best practice bodies to prevent it arising or divert it into uses
such as
anaerobic digestion.
- Doubled participation in the Courtauld Commitment over the past year and now
account for more than half the signatories working with the Government's Waste
&
Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to achieve an absolute reduction in packaging
reaching households by 2010.
- Are working with WRAP on waste prevention reviews as part of an initiative to
raise the food chain's performance overall.
FDF is also pleased to have made significant progress developing new policy
delivery mechanisms to achieve other important aspects of our Five-fold
Environmental Ambition. During the past year:
- We jointly launched the Federation House Commitment with Envirowise. This landmark agreement sets out five steps to success for
food and drink manufacturing businesses wishing to work in a systematic way to
improve water efficiency. 237 food and drink manufacturing sites across the UK
are
now working to save water under the Commitment.
- We launched our Checklist and Clause for Greener Food Transport to achieve fewer
and friendlier food transport miles. So far 47 FDF members with a combined
turnover of £17 billion have signed up to the policy.
More Information
Last reviewed: 26 Nov 2008