Dairy Roadmap unveils new environmental sustainability report

The Dairy Roadmap, a task-force featuring more than 25 organisations from across Britain’s dairy industry, has released the new Dairy Roadmap Environmental Sustainability Report, which details the dairy industry’s efforts to lower environmental impact and ensure a more sustainable future.

The report outlines the progress made against the 2015 and 2020 sustainability targets and introduces new targets, underlining farmers’ commitment to producing more while impacting less.

According to the report, by 2015 about 90% of farmers will be involved in active nutrient planning, which ensures that the nutrients applied match the requirements for optimal plant growth and replace the mineral nutrients removed when the crop is harvested.

Currently, the total area of dairy holdings in an Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ESS) is 841,810ha, which represents approximately 69% of dairy managed farmland.

According to a DairyCo Resources Survey carried out in December 2012, farmers are showing an increasing interest in water usage, with 78% implementing efficiency measures, and a third of these considering taking further steps to improve water efficiency.

The survey showed that nearly 30% of dairy farmers have implemented at least one form of renewable energy technology, while 80.2% of survey respondents had implemented new technologies to lower emissions from agriculture.

In addition, there has been a declining trend in serious pollution incidents on-farm and, currently, dairy farmers are encouraged to calculate carbon footprints and implement carbon reduction plans.

The report has outlined the following targets for dairy farmers for the year 2020: 20%-30% reduction in GHG emissions from dairy farms between 1990 and 2020; 70% of non-natural waste should be recycled or recovered as standard practice; 90% uptake of water use efficiency measures; and 40% of energy used on dairy farms should be from renewable sources.

The report has also outlined targets for dairy manufacturers to reach by 2015, which include: every large processing site will have in place an Environment Management System (EMS); all major processing companies should be implementing a carbon management programme; and a 20% relative reduction of water brought onto site.

Other targets include achieving a 20% relative reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) load in discharged effluent; to send zero ex-factory waste to landfill; the removal of all hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs) at all large processing sites; and 80% of paper-based cartons to be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) labelled.

For dairy manufacturers, the 2020 targets include: to achieve a 15% improvement in energy efficiency; 30% relative reduction in water brought onto site; a 20% relative reduction in COD in pre-primary treatment effluent; to send zero ex-factory waste to landfill; all tertiary packaging to be reusable or recyclable; and 100% of paper-based cartons to be FSC labelled.

Commenting on the new report, Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) UK chief executive Richard Hands said that the organisation’s new Roadmap target is to ensure that by 2015 at least 80% of dairy carton packages carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label, demonstrating that the fibre has been sourced from responsibly-managed forests.

"The sustainable use of renewable resources has a vital part to play in reducing carbon in the supply chain and, in the case of forests, providing habitat and improving biodiversity," Hands added.

ACE UK represents Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc, leading manufacturers of paper-based beverage cartons for the UK market.