Five-fold Environmental Ambition: Progress Report 2012

This report marks the fifth anniversary of FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition.

Our core ambitions
Introduction - Jim Moseley, FDF President
Foreword - Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Now five years old, the Five-fold Environmental Ambition has been pivotal in helping FDF members to drive improved environmental performance in their businesses. Against the backdrop of tough trading conditions not only are food and drink companies demonstrating their continued commitment to sustainabilit y but they are also helping others on the same journey .

Within the scope of the Five-fold Environmental Ambition, as established in 2007, FDF members have contributed to:

Removing the equivalent annual emissions of 168,000 new cars on the road
Preventing over 34,000,000 wheelie bins worth of food and packaging waste
Reducing the carbon impact of packaging to avert emissions equivalent to heating over 80,000 homes
Saving 2,400 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of water
Reducing road miles equivalent to travelling to the moon and back over 400 times.

Introduction

Jim Moseley, FDF President

Sustainability is the key to long term growth. And without long term growth in food and drink production, risks to our food security and the consequences of climate change could pose overwhelming challenges to our broader economic and social welfare.

This report marks the fifth anniversary of FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition. When we launched the Ambition in 2007, our central aim was to tackle the areas where our member companies could make the biggest difference in their own operations in the UK.

That we have done – and continue to do – on the basis that good environmental practice makes good business sense. But it has become increasingly clear that putting our own house in order is only part of the solution to a much bigger set of challenges in respect of resource use and environmental impacts across our supply chains, changes in demand and life-styles, and consumer expectations in relation to safe, nutritious and affordable food.

As a result of the review we carried out in 2010, we now have additional aims around the need to lead by example in extending best practice in our supply chain relationships, encouraging the development of life-cycle thinking and improving communication with consumers on how to minimise waste and make more sustainable choices.

We are also committed to promoting innovation and technology – getting smarter with science – to find new ways of producing more, from less and with less environmental impact to meet the twin challenges of food security and climate change in the next five years and beyond.

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Foreword

Owen Paterson MP - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I welcome the opportunity to provide a foreword for this document. The food and drink industry is a success story for the UK. It is worth £89.1billion, employing 3.7million people across the chain. It is a vibrant, growing, sector which already makes a significant contribution to the UK economy, having especial relevance for our rural communities.

The sector is highly innovative, which the excellent resource efficiency case studies make clear. Innovation is vital to help us produce more with less, to support our future food security.

As the largest UK production sector, the food and drink industry has shown that manufacturing can be a success. With that success comes a responsibility for leadership and influencing in the supply chain, so it is good to see that the Federation has embraced a whole food chain approach to sustainability and that it is determined to lead by example.

I welcome the industry's constructive approach to joint working with Defra and other organisations through the Green Food Project. This is looking at solutions to the challenges of increasing food production in a world of increasing pressure on natural resources.

I also welcome the Food and Drink Federation's 2020 Vision ambitions for sustainable growth. In return, the Government is working hard to create the conditions that will allow the sector to grow, for example, by removing or reducing regulatory burdens and encouraging exports and inward investment.

Finally I am pleased to see the Federation's enthusiastic support for the voluntary Hospitality and Food Service Sector Agreement to reduce food and packaging waste in those sectors.

I commend this report and encourage other food businesses to follow the Food and Drink Federation membership's example as they work towards sustainable growth.

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