Q - What is Cranswick doing to minimise its impact on the environment?
A – Several of the Cranswick processing sites have initiated projects which have reduced the impact that they have on the environment, however we recognised that this work needs to be co-ordinated so that best practice can be highlighted and the resulting benefits shared across the Group. To facilitate this we have established an Environmental Project Team which has been working with the Carbon Trust and other energy specialists in establishing a carbon action plan, and with Envirowise in evaluating group wide waste solutions, packaging reduction and recycling initiatives.
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Q - What are the Cranswick environmental targets and how do we measure our performance against these?
A – Taking 2007 as our bench mark year we have identified a number of environmental objectives and targets against which our future performance will be reported on at board level. To provide a reliable measure of future performance we have set our environmental targets based on reduction`s per tonne of product despatched.
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Q - Do we have an Environmental Policy?
A – One of the first priorities of the Environmental Project Team was to review and update the Groups Environmental Policy which now clearly confirms our commitment to the environment and sets out our environmental objectives. A copy is available on our web site.
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Q - Do we have a strategy to reduce the amount of packaging we use?
A – In addition to the Environmental Policy we have also established a Group Packaging Policy which commits the food group to minimising the use of non renewable resources in our primary and secondary packaging, as a result we have removed in excess of 700 tonnes of virgin raw material from the business and which is under pinned by the commitment to target a 20% reduction in packaging weight per unit of measure of product produced, by site, by the end of 2010/11 financial year.
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Q - What are we doing to reduce the amount of water we consume in producing our products?
A – We are the first company in the meat sector to sign up to the FHC (Federation House Commitment) to reduce the amount of processing water we use by 20% by 2020. As part of this work we have calculated the water mass balance for each site so we have a benchmark figure against which we can monitor future performance.
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Q - Do we know what our carbon foot print is and what are we doing to reduce this?
A – Using the internationally recognised GHG Protocol we have calculated the carbon foot print for each of our processing sites. Our Carbon Action Plan is designed to reduce our comparative Group carbon foot print by 20% measured as tonnes of CO2 per tonne of product produced by the end of the 2010/11 financial year and is one of the environmental KPI`s that will be monitored at board level.
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Q – What are Cranswick doing to reduce landfill?
A - Over the last 12 months we have made significant reductions in landfill tonnages – on one site, over 1000 tonnes of material per year has been diverted from landfill to a local incinerator converting waste to energy. Projects are underway to reduce the percentage of waste that goes to landfill on all sites, with recycling of viable waste a high priority.
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Q - What major energy projects are being undertaken?
A – All our sites have high and relatively constant energy base load for refrigeration, making them ideal for the development of wind energy. One site in particular has been chosen for a large wind turbine feasibility study. Options for anaerobic digestion to reduce waste and generate energy at the abattoir are under investigation, and the installation of specialised voltage reduction equipment to improve energy efficiencies should all help to reduce our carbon footprint.
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Q - Are any of our processing sites certified to a nationally recognised environmental management standard?
A – Currently two of our largest manufacturing sites Preston (near Hull) and Valley Park (near Barnsley) have held certification to ISO 14001 , the Internationally recognised standard for environmental management, for 3 and 5 years respectively, and within 2008 we anticipate adding Delico (near Milton Keynes) to this list of certified sites.
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Q - What resource is available to assist our sites in achieving their environmental targets?
A – The Carbon Action Plan agreed with the Carbon Trust gives us access to environmental expertise and funding support over the next 3 years, in addition Cranswick have entered into an Energy Management Agreement with EMTAC which provides the Group with specialist support which can be used to support group wide initiatives, and to work with sites on individual projects.
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Q - How do we know what energy/waste savings can potentially be achieved within the business?
A – Each of our processing sites has had an energy and waste reduction plan prepared by industry specialists commissioned on our behalf by the Carbon Trust and Envirowise. These plans highlight where further reductions can be achieved and estimates the investment costs involved and calculates the likely payback period.
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Q - Do we benchmark our environmental performance against like for like businesses?
A – As part of the Carbon Action Plan agreement we have asked that the Carbon Trust seek out like for like comparisons so that we can benchmark our environmental performance. We would hope to be able to provide more details as the project moves forward.
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Q - How is Cranswick ensuring it remains current on the environmental debate?
A – The working relationships we have established with the Carbon Trust, Envirowise & EMTAC and our membership of advisory bodies such as the BMPA, BPEX & CCFRA, coupled with feedback from industry stake holders and the major UK Retailers will ensure that we remain aware of and contribute to the current debate.
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