Making real progress across all five pillars

Since it was first published in 2007, the Food and Drink Federation's Five-fold Environmental Ambition has defined the leadership role our industry will play in shaping the future of sustainable, global food production.

John Sutcliffe As we work towards realising a low-carbon future, it is clear that good environmental practice also makes good business sense. The efficient use of energy and water combined with waste reduction all contribute directly to cutting costs and increasing the efficiency of our commercial operations.

The benefits that accrue from making a real difference to the environment are doubly important at a time when the economy remains under pressure and we face the growing challenge of finding ways to meet steadily rising world demand for safe, affordable and nutritious food.

In that context, FDF member companies have demonstrated continued progress under the auspices of the Five-fold Environmental Ambition:

FDF members reduced their CO₂emissions by 19% in 2008, the latest data available under our Climate Change Agreement with Government, compared to a 1990 baseline – well on the way to our 20% target by 2010

FDF has worked with WRAP to conduct 13 detailed waste prevention reviews in food and drink manufacturing sites – promoting best practice across the sector to support our efforts to send zero waste from factories to landfill by 2015

23 FDF members have now signed the Courtauld Commitment to reduce the amount of packaging reaching households and 15 member companies have joined a labelling scheme to provide consumers with standardised on-pack information in relation to packaging recyclability

45 companies, with a combined turnover of £17bn, are promoting greener food transport through the use of FDF's best-practice checklist that is designed to promote 'fewer and friendlier' food miles

The first 36 signatories to the Federation House Commitment on water efficiency reported savings of almost 500,000 cubic metres of water in the first year of operation of this valuable initiative

This report marks the end of the second successful year of our work to deliver our Five-fold Environmental Ambition. These two years have given us valuable insight into the contribution we can make towards delivering a long-term sustainable food manufacturing industry in the UK. However, we recognise that as the debate continues to evolve our approach needs to be reframed within the context of many new policy developments, initiatives and programmes.

In particular, we will review our Ambition in light of developments as diverse as the outcomes of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen; the emergence of a new post-2010 Courtauld Commitment on packaging; Defra's Food 2030 strategy; the increasingly important discussions on 'water footprinting'; and the implications of Government's efforts to establish a single resource efficiency body under WRAP.

Therefore, we will carry out a review in 2010 to ensure the Ambition remains true to its objectives. We will engage with our members, Government, best practice bodies, supply chain partners and key opinion formers to help us to build on the successes of the past two years and collectively evolve the Ambition towards even greater effectiveness.

Common to meeting both our climate change and food security objectives is the need to improve efficiency of resource use across the entire food chain. Many of the biggest environmental impacts in our sector occur either on-farm or in-home, rather than in the food manufacturing process itself.

Therefore, the use of proper evidence-based life cycle analysis is key to shaping the future regulatory environment in which our businesses operate. While as an industry we will collectively work to engage with environmental issues, it is vital that we have a sufficiently flexible regulatory framework to remain competitive in international markets.

As you read the examples on the following pages, it is important to consider the diversity and scale of the UK food industry and, therefore, the importance of an aligned platform from which to address the many serious environmental issues our society currently faces.

The Five-fold Environmental Ambition is far more than a showcase of industry best practice. It is a road map for the positive combined activity of the UK food industry to address a new and, in some respects, uncertain future.

John Sutcliffe is Chief Executive of the Grocery Division of Associated British Foods and chairs FDF's Sustainability Steering Group, which is responsible for driving forward FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition.

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