Sustainable, ethical, collaborative: AFGC launches Sustainability Commitment

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) launched its Sustainability Commitment yesterday at Coca-Cola Amatil in Northmead. The AFGC says the Sustainability Commitment represents a major step towards reducing industry’s footprint and enhancing its approach to sustainable practices.

The Sustainability Commitment sets clear objectives, targets and metrics on water, energy, packaging and sustainable sourcing. AFGC CEO Gary Dawson said 80% of AFGC members have signed up to the Commitment, which he calls a “cornerstone of industry’s commitment to sustainable business practices”.

Below, we outline the targets and the real results the Sustainability Commitment seeks to achieve.

Water

Targets:

• To reduce water consumption per tonne of production by 20% by 2020, relative to a 2010-2011 baseline.
• To progress towards greater measurement and tracking of water by industry members.
• By 2015, 50% of AFGC members to have water reduction targets.
• Form partnerships to reduce water use across the supply chain, in particular, with the agriculture sector.

For 2010-2011, the food industry used 3.13 kilolitres of water per tonne of production. The Sustainability Commitment targets would see water consumption reduced to 2.5 kilolitres per tonne of production by 2020.

Waste

Targets:

• To reduce waste to landfill per tonne of production by 40% by 2020, relative to a 2010-2011 baseline.
• To progress towards greater measurement and tracking of waste by industry members.
• Develop partnerships with retailers and consumers to reduce food waste.
• Investigate waste to energy opportunities at an industry level using the aggregated waste generated by members.

The total waste sent to landfill in 2010-2011 was 7.17 kg per tonne of production. The Sustainability Commitment targets would see waste to landfill reduced to 4.30 kg per tonne of production by 2020.

Energy and emissions

Targets:

• To reduce carbon emissions per tonne of production by 20% by 2020, relative to a 2010-2011 baseline.
• To reduce energy usage per tonne of production by 10% by 2020, relative to a 2010-2011 baseline.
• To progress towards greater measurement and tracking of energy and emissions by industry members.
• By 2015, 50% of AFGC members to have energy and emissions reduction targets.
• Partnerships to reduce energy and emissions across the supply chain.
• Projects and initiatives that promote new technology such as waste to energy.

In 2010-2011, the food industry consumed 2.94 gigajoules (GJ) of energy per tonne of production. This energy came from electricity, natural gas, transport fuel and coal. The Sustainability Commitment targets aim to reduce the amount of energy utilised to 2.65 GJ per tonne of production.

In 2010-2011, the food industry’s total emissions were 0.27 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) per tonne of production. The Sustainability Commitment targets aim to reduce emissions to 0.22 tonnes of CO₂-e per tonne of production.

Packaging

Targets:

• All AFGC members committed to the actions of the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) to improve the sustainability of packaging.
• AFGC members to review all existing packaging against the APC Sustainable Packaging Guidelines by 2020.
• Label products adequately to improve recycling and reduce propensity for litter.
• Increase the recycling rate of packaging to 70% by 2015, trending to 80% by 2020.
• Reduce packaging litter by 20% by 2020.

In 2010-2011, about 72% of of APC signatories from the food and beverage industry had policies and procedures for evaluating and procuring packaging using the APC’s Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.

Social and sourcing

Targets:

• All AFGC members to have a sustainable sourcing (or equivalent) policy in place by 2015.
• AFGC members to develop and adopt a national tuna traceability scheme by 2013.
• AFGC members to commit to using sustainable palm oil by 2015.

AFGC members to use sustainable or plantation products by 2015.

Targets relating to palm oil will recognise the three Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) supported methods of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), Segregation, Controlled Mixing or Book and Claim (Green palm certificates).

According to a 2010-2011 AFGC survey, 50% of respondents had a sustainable sourcing or equivalent policy in place. About 60% of the respondents were certified by a third-party accreditation scheme which involved and independent assessment declaring the ingredients and the final product have met high quality and sustainability standards.

Stop, collaborate and listen

The Commitment is unique in its call for collaboration between individuals in industry to improve the food and grocery sector’s sustainability overall.

“An important component of the AFGC’s sustainability work, and indeed the Sustainability Commitment, is the contribution of industry members in developing a fact-based response to sustainability challenges, supported by meaningful performance measurements, targets and initiatives, as well as contributing insights and ideas,” said Dawson.

As part of the launch, several AFGC members demonstrated their willingness to collaborate with industry, giving presentations on their company’s approach to sustainability and achievements they’ve made by taking steps towards becoming more sustainable.

David Grant from Coca-Cola Amatil explained that the company has made investments of around $100 million in the last five years, including installing two large underground rainwater tanks and three blow-fill lines. By manufacturing PET bottles in-house, rather than transporting them in, the company now produces 22% less carbon per bottle, Grant said, as well as saving the company significant amounts of water and money.

Ferrero’s Derek Lath described the company’s trigeneration system that was installed in April at its Lithgow plant and outlined the company’s waste to landfill and water use reductions. Ferrero plans to use 100% sustainable cocoa and palm oil by 2015.

Having recently been purchased by Mars, Wrigley has adopted Mars’ ‘sustainability in a generation’ policy, said Homan Ching. The company achieved zero waste to landfill in 2012 and uses a bioreactor to create energy at its Asquith site, Ching said. The company also uses rainwater harvesting and energy-efficient lighting.

Armineh Mardirossian from Woolworths discussed the company’s sustainability targets, which include 40% less emissions by 2015 and sourcing only RSPO certified palm oil by 2015. Mardirossian echoed the AFGC’s call for collaboration, saying that no one company can make all the changes we’d like to see in the world, but by coming together, companies can make a significant difference.

For more information on the AFGC’s Sustainability Commitment, visit the AFGC’s Sustainability page.