Food and drink firms cut CO2 by 17%

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| Sourced From Environmental |

Leading figures from the food and drink industry celebrated the one year anniversary of their commitment to cut their impact on the environment on Thursday. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) announced that members have slashed their CO2 emissions by 17% compared to 1990 levels as it announced the progress made on its Five-fold Environmental Ambition, launched last November.

At a special reception in London to celebrate the achievements made over the last year, Iain Ferguson, president of the FDF, said: “It is something which I think without doubt we can be proud of, but we mustn’t be complacent.

“We have a long way to go and we will be judged by our children as to what we do over the next few years.”

Environmental achievements by FDF and its members included:

# Cutting CO2 emissions by 17% - equivalent to 58,000 tonnes per year

# Preventing more than half a million tonnes of food waste being created

# Recycling or recovering 82% of the waste created in factories

# Establishing strategic partnerships with WRAP and FareShare to prevent waste going to landfill

# Doubling the number of FDF members signed up to WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment

# Launching the Federation House Commitment to cut water use

# Creating a Checklist and Clause for Greener Food Transport

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn praised the FDF’s progress so far and urged them to continue improving their environmental performance.

“What’s really important about what you are doing is showing what’s possible,” he said. “If we know you can do it, then the question for the rest of us is ‘well, why can’t we do it?’”

He added: “I have got to applaud you for what you have done. But you have got to even better in the future. I know you will.”

Fiona Dawson, chair of FDF’s Sustainability and Competitiveness Steering Group, said: “We still have a long way to go, but I know by working together, we will make a huge difference.”

More information on the Five-fold Environmental Ambition and a copy of the one-year progress report can be found .

By Kate Martin