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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In this report
Last reviewed: 06 Dec 2012