Swedish dairy company, Emmi aims to reduce its global CO₂ emissions by 25 percent by 2020 as it benefits from the progress of its Swiss subsidiary, Mittelland Molkerei.
A major step forward is being achieved with the connection of Mittelland Molkerei to the local heating district in Suhr, Switzerland. The annual CO₂ of the subsidiary which specialises in the production of milk, butter and cream is set to be reduced by 80 percent from 2020.
Emmi has explained that the manufacturing of dairy products requires huge amounts of energy, and in recent years, all of the firm’s major production sites in Switzerland have been subjected to an energy analysis.
The thermal energy consumption of Swiss Emmi sites is around 180 gigawatt hours a year, of which 32 gigawatt hours are used by Mittelland Molkerei. Since recently, the energy was primarily derived from natural gases resulting in CO₂ emissions amounting to 6,500 tonnes annually.
The reduction in CO₂ emissions amounts to 5,000 tonnes annually, corresponding to 12 percent of the CO₂ emissions produced by Emmi in Switzerland in 2017. Alongside the conversion to district heating in Suhr, Emmi’s most important goal in 2017 was to switch all Swiss sites to hydroelectric power.
Mittelland Molkerei has been majority owned by Emmi since its founding in 2005 increasing to 100 percent in 2016. The company processes milk into butter, cream and consumer milk in both pasteurised and UHT formats.