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How is the Dairy Industry reducing carbon emissions?

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The farming industry has regularly been under the spotlight within the climate change conversation (methane emissions to high-energy process).

The dairy sector is a significant player in global farming.  Estimates are that 80% of the worldwide population regularly consumes dairy products, but just what is this huge industry doing to tackle carbon emissions?

Race against time

With so many corners of the globe adopting Western foods into their diets, the dairy industry needs to solve the issue of meeting high demands whilst reducing emissions. Add to this, the legally binding commitment that the UK will reach net zero emissions by 2050 and means that reducing emissions becomes a race against time.

Good progress has already been made though. Leading companies, such as Arla Foods, Müller, and Yeo Valley, are heading towards a greener future. In fact, the British dairy sector is ‘world-leading’ for sustainability, according to Dairy UK. This has been helped by the Dairy Roadmap, a sustainability scheme launched in 2008. 

The Dairy Roadmap has set out key targets for the dairy industry — focused on all stages of the production process. It recognises that there is no end to sustainability.

The initiatives are ever-evolving and will be adapted to meet new environmental targets, through key focus areas, the Dairy Roadmap has already set some stringent targets for the sector making dairy energy cleaner.

Progress?

According to the 2020 figures from Dairy UK, major environmental achievements have already happened. There’s been a 20% increase in primary energy efficiency (kWh/tonne).  Widespread use of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants has also been eliminated.

The next big aim for the industry is to cut carbon emissions by a further 30% and adopt cleaner and greener fuel options such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as these gases have the lowest carbon footprint of any off-grid energy source.

Plastic waste

Plastic waste has been an environmental concern for some time now. However, in the world of dairy, major changes have already been implemented. In fact, this industry uses some of the most recycled and reused packaging of all consumer products.

Impressively, 85% of HDPE milk containers were recycled in 2018 and at least 95% of tertiary packaging was reused or recycled.

Less food waste?

Eliminating food waste in the dairy industry isn't an easy thing to achieve, but the changes that have been made so far are promising. In 2016, most of the potential food waste (produce not meant for consumers) was used in a more environmentally-friendly fashion. Just over 60% was recovered for animal feed and redistribution. And a further 23% was used for anaerobic digestion or biogas production.

Water consumption

Even though the industry relies on water for several of its processes, the dairy industry's processing sites have managed to cut water consumption down by 23.4%. They have also introduced a range of water-saving measures to decrease its environmental impact.

These measures include:

Waste recycling

Since 2008, the industry has shown its commitment to recycling the waste it produces – and there’s been a marked improvement. In the same year, 65% of waste was recovered or recycled. The remaining 35% was sent to a landfill. Now, the dairy industry recycles or reuses 94% of its waste, with the ambition to reach 100% soon.

Biodiversity

Although biodiversity speaks mainly for farming, improvements can be introduced along the production line. In Dairy UK's 2018 biodiversity strategy, the organisation called for big changes to be made to improve their biodiversity status. Processors have started to engage in projects within their local communities to help reintroduce native species in opportune spaces around their processing plants. 

Dairy energy has been under intense pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, but from the actions that have been taken, the future looks greener. By following targets set out in the Dairy Roadmap, the industry has proven that it can revolutionise its processes and, with future targets in place, we can expect more improvements to soon follow.

- The author, Thomas Bradley is a copywriter for Flogas, with over seven years’ communications and copywriting experience. 

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