FRANCE – Lactalis Ingredients, one of the largest multinational whey ingredients manufacturers, has beaten its sustainability target set for 2025 in water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions targets ahead of schedule.

The subsidiary of French dairy giant Lactalis said in its corporate and social responsibility report that it has been able to slash its scope one emissions by 10% and its water consumption by 5%.

The approach is consistent with the Group-wide strategy, which aims to cut emissions by 25% in 2025 and 50% in 2033.

The company is now committed to certifying all its factories ISO 14001 and FSSC 22000by the end of 2024 and 2025 respectively.

The global producer of whey and milk ingredients for the food, beverage, and nutrition industry will also be contributing to the Group’s greenhouse gas reduction.

In partnership with Séché Environnement, a specialist in industrial and household waste management, Lactalis Ingredient’s plant said its plant in Société Laitière de Retiers is working to replace its natural gas boiler with an SCR (solid recovered fuel) boiler.

The project, according to the maker of the Galbani brand, will reduce the site’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% (the base year 2019).

The report added that the contract signed between Villarrobledo and Iberdrola in January 2021 provides for the installation of an area of photovoltaic panels, which will provide 20% of the site’s energy consumption.

 In addition, a membrane concentration plant modification was implemented in 2022 to allow the gas consumption of the drying plant to be divided by three.

To achieve its green energy mission, the company has revealed that the Walhorn plant, in partnership with ENERSOL, is installing photovoltaic panels on part of its roofs to produce 5% of the site’s electricity consumption.

Regarding the promotion of better nutrition for all, Lactalis Ingredients has launched a campaign in 2022-2023 to analyze the nutritional values of all its products, which intends to meet the end consumer’s demand for transparency through better customer information.

Meanwhile, as Lactalis engages toward Carbon Net Zero by 2050, it has committed to setting science-based emissions reduction targets in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (sBTi).

Two intermediate stages will enable the company to reduce its direct greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% in 2025, and 50% for the group’s centenary in 2033.

The French dairy group also announced it is working on developing a program to ensure that by 2023, its dairy technicians will be trained in best practices in order to advise farmers while by 2025, all of its direct volumes of milk collected will be subject to an on-farm animal welfare assessment.

The company will look to ‘progressively eliminate’ practices such as routine dehorning, the report revealed.

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