Environment
Limiting our impact on the planet
At Northern Foods we are working continuously to reduce the impact of our operations on the environment, and we have set ourselves high targets, in excess of our legal obligations. Our headline aims are to:
- Reduce energy consumption by five per cent year-on-year
- Reduce production waste by five per cent year-on-year
- Reduce water consumption by three per cent year-on-year
Our philosophy is that using fewer energy-related resources, and wasting less, means we extract more value form the resources we use. Quite simply, what’s good for the planet is also good for the company and for everyone associated with it.
Historically, our business has used a lot of water and energy in processes such as washing, cooking, chilling, and freezing, and has created a lot of waste materials and effluent. Now we are making excellent progress in reducing the environmental impact of all of these processes.
Eight production sites in the group have achieved the standards to be awarded permits in Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, which means we monitor and report our own progress in reducing emissions and waste and conserving energy. Four sites have achieved the international quality standard ISO14001 for Environmental Management Systems, and all other sites are working towards the standard.
We work closely with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Our Environmental Affairs Controller, Dr. Gus Atri, chaired the waste stream of Defra’s Food Industry Strategy, which made a number of key recommendations for the whole of the food industry. We work closely with Business in the Community, which records the performance of companies in corporate social responsibility, and has noted that Northern Foods is one of the companies showing the most improvement in its environmental scores.
In practical terms, as we strive to make our operations more efficient we are embracing the latest production methods and technologies, which invariably help us to use less energy and water, and produce less waste. But we are going much further than that by promoting behavioural change in the organisation, which can have an even bigger effect than advances in technology.
We monitor and measure our performance in environmental responsibilities in five key areas, and details can be seen by clicking the links below:
