Environment

The report claims that food systems need to change

Food system should change to cut greenhouse gas emissions

By Michelle Perrett

Policymakers are losing ‘significant opportunities’ to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by missing commitments to transform national food systems, a report from WWF, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), EAT and Climate Focus claims.

Distilleries have been given support for a green future

Government launches further funding as CBILS deadline looms

By Michelle Perrett

The Government has launched a £10m research and development fund to help distilleries cut greenhouse gas emissions, and further supply chain aid, as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme deadline approaches.

Pladis said it had cut the sugar content in nine of its best selling McVitie’s biscuits last year

Pladis boosts profit and sales amid nutrition drive

By Rod Addy

Biscuits and snacks firm Pladis Foods, which makes brands such as McVitie’s, has reported significant annual growth in international profits and sales and outlined efforts to promote nutrition and healthy eating.

First Milk is a dairy cooperative owned by its farmer members

Food Man Talks

First Milk invests £5m to boost dairy factories' performance

By Rod Addy

First Milk is investing £5m this financial year to boost capacity and meet environmental goals, chief executive Shelagh Hancock and chief financial officer Greg Jardine reveal in this exclusive Food Man Talks video podcast.

Tennent's: Two 25 tonne tanks were lifted 60 metres above Wellpark Brewery’s silos

Tennent’s Brewery invests £2.6M in carbon capture

By Michelle Perrett

Tennent’s, the Scottish brewer owned by C&C Group, has invested £2.6m to install a carbon capture facility at Glasgow’s Wellpark Brewery, allowing it to capture more than 4,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Boredom, anxiety, stress and an inability to travel to supermarkets have sparked a rise in unhealthy eating during the coronavirus pandemic

Boredom sparks decline in healthy eating

By Gwen Ridler

Nearly two-thirds of people in Britain have attributed the main reason for eating less healthily than usual during the coronavirus lockdown to boredom, according to the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF).

Renewable energy forms part of ADM's commitment to sustainability. Picture from iStock

ADM announces sustainability scheme

By Gwen Ridler

Ingredients manufacturer ADM has revealed plans to reduce its carbon footprint and save enough electricity to charge every single mobile phone on the planet 250 times.

For every 100g of seafood, consumers are consuming an extra 170g of wild fish, according to Changing Markets Foundation

Fish supply chain faces lack of consumer awareness

By Gwen Ridler

UK shoppers unknowingly consumed 177,000 tonnes of wild fish in 2019 as retailers failed to properly set up supply-chain standards to reduce the impact of farmed fish diets on wild ocean ecosystems.

The AHDB has hit back at claims that giving up meat is the biggest single way to reduce consumers’ impact on the planet

AHDB hits back at BBC meat claims

By Gwen Ridler

Claims that reducing meat is the biggest single way to reduce consumers’ impact on the planet have been denounced by the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

Environmental and sustainability issues are now paramount to consumers according to food bosses

Business Leaders' Forum

Environment tops shopper concerns, firms claim

By Rod Addy

Shoppers see green issues as paramount, according to nine out of ten bosses of food and drink processors, responding to Food Manufacture’s State of The Industry survey.

Key takeaways from the Business Leaders’ Forum

Key takeaways from the Business Leaders’ Forum

By Gwen Ridler

Energy, sustainability and the environment were the key takeaways from this year’s Business Leaders’ Forum from Food Manufacture, according to associate sponsor EDF.

The UK reduced food waste by 480k tonnes between 2015 and 2018

Significant drop in food waste

By Gwen Ridler

Food waste in the UK fell by 480,000t between 2015 and 2018, according to a new report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Don't miss your chance to have your voice heard in our State of the Nation survey

Last chance to contribute to industry research

By Rod Addy

Senior industry personnel have less than a week to make their voice heard and outline their business’ expectations, aims and activities in 2020 in Food Manufacture’s exclusive State of the Nation survey.

Brits will throw away more than a million sprouts this Christmas, according to Warbutons

Brits waste 130m sprouts at Christmas

By Gwen Ridler

The great British public will throw away 130m sprouts and 91m slices of turkey this Christmas, as seven in 10 consumers admit to cooking too much food over the festive period, according to research by Warburtons.

UK beef production is already 2.5 times more efficient than the global average, according to farming unions

AIMS writes to BBC director general, complaining about Christmas trailer

Meat bodies push back against ‘vegan propaganda’

By Rod Addy

The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has pushed back at what it describes as the “creeping tide of vegan propaganda promoted in some part of the media”.

Britvic’s sustainable business agenda includes targeting zero waste to landfill and helping to develop a circular economy for packaging

Britvic claims pioneering climate change stance

By Rod Addy

Britvic has claimed a UK soft drinks industry first as it announced scientifically-approved climate change targets, designed to help prevent a global temperature rise of 1.5°C.

Kantar questioned more than 1,200 UK consumers between the ages of 16 and 65+ about their concerns on a range of environmental issues

Government inaction provides environmental chances for food firms

By Dan Colombini


A lack of support at Government level has provided food manufacturers with “a huge opportunity” to boost their environmental footprints after recent data revealed dwindling support for certain brands as a result of their policies on the issues.

The programme will match the atmosphere of Mars

Belgian firm reveals SpaceBakery sustainable food plan

By Dan Colombini

Belgian bakery firm Puratos is to lead a team of firms to launch the €6.3m-funded (£5.4m) SpaceBakery, which will explore sustainable food production and provide solutions to manufacturing food on Mars.

Each loaf contains around 336 crickets, which are dried, ground, mixed with wheat flour and grains and then baked

Roberts launches UK’s ‘first insect bread’

By Dan Colombini

Roberts Bakery has launched a new limited-edition brand of bread, manufactured using insects, in a nod to the return of jungle-based television programme I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here.

Darlington Borough Council is investigating more than 20 crates of dumped meat and chicken carcases

Dumped chicken carcases spark investigation

By Gwen Ridler

An investigation into illegally dumped meat has been launched by Darlington Borough Council, after more than 20 crates of putrid, decomposing chicken carcases and other waste meat were discovered on the outskirts of the district.

BFF chairman Nigel Broadhurst called for a swift end to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, whatever the outcome of the general election

Frozen food body calls for end to Brexit ‘black cloud’

By Dan Colombini

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has called for a quick solution to the “black cloud” of Brexit uncertainty, which is impacting the work the industry has achieved in reducing its carbon footprint and other key areas.

The EU’s single-use plastics directive requires all PET bottles to contain at least 25% rPET by 2025

Brands bite the bullet on recycled plastic price

By Paul Gander

Regulatory and consumer pressure is likely to mean brand owners and retailers remaining committed to using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in their bottles, despite being more expensive than virgin polymer.

The report, entitled Branded Volume II: Identifying the World’s Top Corporate Plastic Polluters, was carried out by the Break Free From Plastic movement in September

Food and drink firms among 2019 worst plastic polluters

By Dan Colombini

Nestlé and PepsiCo have responded to claims in a recent report that they were the biggest contributors to plastic environmental waste in 2019, with Unilever and Mondelēz International also making the top ten.

Under a no-deal or unless smooth export terms are included in a deal, customs and tariff arrangements would lead to the scrappage of vast quantities of NI dairy products

No-deal impact on NI dairy sparks environmental woes

By Dan Colombini

Significant environmental concerns linked to the impact of a ‘no-deal’ on the Northern Ireland (NI) dairy sector have been raised after the EU agreed an extension to Brexit negotiations.

Over the past few years, many firms have announced key initiatives to limit environmental damage.

Food firms urged to ‘step up’ to climate change

By Dan Colombini

Food manufacturers must significantly improve their efforts to limit their carbon footprint despite recent success to allay climate change fears, according to environmental groups.

Unilever will attempt this by strengthening innovation in new business models

Unilever to halve plastics by 2025

By Dan Colombini

Manufacturing giant Unilever has announced that it will halve its use of virgin plastics by 2025, cutting that usage by 100,000 tonnes (t).

The change will remove 850t of plastic from a range of brands annually

Budweiser to pull plastic rings from UK beer

By Dan Colombini

Britain’s best-selling beer brands Budweiser and Stella Artois have announced a multi-million pound investment to eliminate plastic rings from can packaging across their entire UK-produced range by the end of 2020.

Food waste in the UK totals 10mt every year

Government urged to set food waste targets

By Noli Dinkovski

MPs have urged the Government to set out annual food waste targets at every level of the food supply chain to mitigate the growing impact of climate change on domestic and global production.

Cutting down on meat production to slash carbon emissions would leave more than half of the UK's arable land unused

PFLA: UK most suited for meat production

By Gwen Ridler

Reducing the manufacture of meat products in the UK would waste two-thirds of the country’s land available for food production, according to certification body the Pasture-Fed Livestock Association (PFLA).

Meat production in the UK is beating the trend of environmental abuse reported elsewhere in the world, claimed the BMPA

BMPA hits back at meat production critics

By Gwen Ridler

Meat production in the UK makes the best use of the country’s agricultural land and greatly aids biodiversity and countryside management, according to British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) chief executive Nick Allen.

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