At AFFCO, we recognise the importance of our environment and are working together to find a way to provide a sustainable future, so we can be here for another 100 years.
At AFFCO, we recognise the importance of our environment and are working together to find a way to provide a sustainable future, so we can be here for another 100 years.
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At AFFCO, we are committed to responsible energy management as a way to reduce our carbon footprint and energy use. Since 2014 we have partnered with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to implement an energy management programme across 11 of our sites. We also contracted a leading energy and carbon management specialist Emsol, to support this programme.
Our energy management programme has involved producing annual energy management plans and establishing energy teams at each of our sites. These energy teams consist of management, engineering, and production staff members who meet on a monthly basis to review energy use and discuss opportunities to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. When required we have also undertaken specific audits of areas within our business to try and find ways to reduce our energy use.
The monitoring and reporting of energy use has been an important aspect of our energy management programme. With the support of Emsol’s Certified Measurement and Verification Professionals, we developed energy baselines to record energy and carbon savings to the standard of a recognised international protocol (IPMVP). These systems have been designed by Quasar Systems and not only monitor electricity usage as well as steam and gas, but they also incorporate production data and energy targets, so we can track our energy usage against production and also track how each week, month and year is going in terms of meeting our energy targets. This system has been recognised globally, winning a Business Achievement Award for Quasar Systems at the Schneider Electrical Digital Power Leadership Summit in France earlier in 2020.
From when the programme began to June 2019, Affco has reduced its annual energy use by 45GWh and reduced annual carbon emissions by 9,800tonnes CO2e. The continued success of this programme is testament to our team, energy and carbon management has become ingrained in our culture.
The effects of plastic on the environment is well documented and we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our use of them whilst also maintaining the integrity of the packaging to minimise wastage and spoilage. We work with our packaging suppliers to find less harmful solutions as the effect of food wastage and spoilage on the environment is as significant as plastics. In some of our beef plants we have introduced a new carton that eliminates the need for plastic strapping, utilising a tape and glue system that meets export standards. We have also reduced the use of plastic carton liners in many of our products including our vacuum packed and wrapped frozen products.