Arla Foods signs Courtauld Commitment

Arla Foods has joined 27 other food manufactures and retailers in signing a grocery industry agreement which aims to cut food and packaging waste and carbon missions.

The second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, organised by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), contains three main targets which the signatories are aiming to collectively achieve by December 2012:

1. Reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10 per cent, or 1.1 million tonnes of CO2, compared to 2009 levels
2. Reduce household food waste by four per cent, or 330,000 tonnes, compared to 2009 levels
3. Reduce product and packaging waste throughout the supply chain by five per compared to 2009 levels in order to save 0.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent

At the launch of the new commitment, WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin said that one of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things consumers buy.

“This new agreement will bring about changes ranging from more efficient methods of production right through to the impact of household consumption,” she added.

Commenting on Arla’s decision to sign up to the commitment, the company’s business group director for supply chain, Lars Dalsgaard, said: “Arla Foods has been committed to reducing the impact of its packaging waste for some time now. In 2005 we set ourselves the target of reducing our global CO2 emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 within the areas of production, transport and packaging. Last year we delivered the dairy industry’s lightest two pint polybottle and since the end of January all our own label polybottles now contain 10 per cent rHDPE.

“We believe that our involvement in the Courtauld Commitment fits perfectly with our strategy of becoming Closer to Nature and are looking forward to working in partnership with WRAP to realise our environment ambitions.”

As part of its focus on reducing its environmental impact, Arla has also recently joined forces with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions within logistics.

The FTA’s Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme comprises 12 founder members, of which Arla is the sole dairy company. As such Arla is playing a leading role in this innovative new environmental initiative.

Arla Foods UK plc is home to some of the UK’s leading dairy brands including Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor. Processing approximately two billion litres of milk a year Arla continues to be one of the UK’s leading dairy companies and a supplier of fresh liquid milk and cream to the top seven retailers.

Over 2,500 daily deliveries are made directly to stores nationwide and Arla brands can be found across the dairy category. As well as the leader of the butter, spreads and margarine sector, and a major supplier of other added value products including flavoured milk and cheese, Arla continues to build working relationships with Arla Foods Milk Partnership, a unique group of dairy farmers, which supplies around 90 per cent of Arla's total milk requirements.

Behind this leading business is a team of circa 2,800 people across the UK located at our dairies, distribution centres and head office.