News article
11 December 2012
Celebrating five years of leadership in reducing the environmental impacts of food production
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The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), representing the UK's largest manufacturing
sector, is celebrating five years of success in reducing the environmental
impacts of food production, while also increasing production to meet growing
demand,
here and in export markets.
Launched in 2007, the FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition sets a range of
targets for cutting CO2 emissions, promoting more efficient use of water, reducing packaging and
transport and eliminating food waste to landfill. More recently, the Ambition
has been
expanded to look at impacts across the whole food chain.
The fifth Five-fold annual Progress Report, published today, shows continuous
improvement across the industry, clearly demonstrating the business case for
sustainability, even in difficult economic circumstances.
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 supply chain food and packaging
waste
- Averting the emissions equivalent to heating over 80,000 homes by reducing the
carbon impact of packaging
- Saving 2,400 Olympic-size swimming pools worth of water
- Reducing road miles equivalent to travelling to the moon and back over 400 times
Over the past year, FDF has continued to extend the reach of the Five-fold
Environmental Ambition beyond the factory gates and into the supply chain. One
key
output has been the publication of a new guidance entitled “Sustainable
Sourcing: Five Steps towards Managing Supply Chain Risk”. This simple step by
step guide
is designed to help companies large and small identify and manage supply chain
risks as part of an integrated approach to sustainable sourcing.
Andrew Kuyk, FDF's Director of Sustainability said:
"FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition has come a long way in the last five
years. Not only has it demonstrated that good environmental practice makes good
business sense, but it has also shown the value of voluntary and collaborative
action across the UK's largest manufacturing sector, contributing to the
sustainable
growth which is essential for economic recovery, as well as future food
security
in the face of a range of risks including climate change.”
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said:
"The Food and Drink Federation's members are leading the way in showing how
growth can contribute to a healthy environment. There's a really exciting
opportunity to rethink the way our food production works from farm to fork. I'm
right
behind the food and drink industry as it uses technology and innovation to
increase
production while improving the environment.”
Note to Editors:
- The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink
manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector. For more
information
about FDF and the industry we represent visit: www.fdf.org.uk
- 2. FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition was launched in 2007 and sets out how
the UK's largest manufacturing sector can make a positive difference to the
environment across five key areas: CO2 reduction, water efficiency, transport miles and waste and packaging reduction.
To see the full 2012 Five-fold Environmental Ambition report, please visit http://www.fdf.org.uk/environment_progress_report.aspx
-
For more information on “Sustainable Sourcing: Five Steps Towards Managing
Supply Chain Risk” please visit http://www.fdf.org.uk/sustainable-sourcing.aspx
More information
For media enquiries, please contact:
Avni Raval or 020 7420 7131
Email: Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk
Rebecca Wilhelm or 020 7420 7140
Email: rebecca.wilhelm@fdf.org.uk
Anna Taylor on 0207 420 7118
Email: anna.taylor@fdf.org.uk
Nicki Hunt on 0207 420 7132
Email: nicki.hunt@fdf.org.uk
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