10 August 2009

2 minute read

Europe

Work is just beginning with the Carbon Trust to develop the detailed footprinting guide for dairy, with strong support from dairy companies and other industry stakeholders, including the farming sector. The intention is to build on general work completed last year under Publicly Available Specification 2050.

Dairy UK Environment Manager Fergus McReynolds said: “This project represents a real stride forward for the dairy sector. Businesses from farmers to major processors will finally have access to a single set of carbon footprinting guidelines. With full Carbon Trust accreditation, this will become the standard for the sector, allowing true comparisons between different businesses and winning the confidence of the retailers.”

Euan Murray, Carbon Footprinting General Manger, Carbon Trust said: “Milk is an important part of most UK consumers’ daily lives. We are really pleased to be working with Dairy UK to help the whole dairy sector develop specific guidance on carbon footprinting. Building a consistent and accurate footprint is a key step towards managing and reducing carbon emissions from agriculture.”

The announcement comes on the same day that Defra published a progress report on the Milk Roadmap, showing that processors and farmers are on track to meet their first set of 2010 milestones. Some dairy companies are even likely to exceed targets on incorporating recycled plastic into milk bottles, cutting energy use and environmental benchmarking.

In fact, comprehensive data collected by Dairy UK show that processors have gone further, cutting water use by 20 per cent, energy use by 10 per cent and raising waste recycling or reuse to 76 per cent since 2006. McReynolds added: “Despite the rigours of recession, the Roadmap process is very much on track. We must keep showing our critics that dairy’s environmental footprint is falling and there can be no reason to reduce consumption.”

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