Annual report 2018
Throughout our value chain, we encourage and promote the most efficient use of resources to minimize environmental impact and prioritize environmental protection. Innovation is at the core of this strategy. We continuously strive to create new methods for improving yields and decreasing waste in food production by reducing the use of scarce resources such as energy and water while promoting food safety, traceability, and animal welfare.
One of our sustainability goals is to help our customers use less water and energy while minimizing their CO2 footprint during production. Many projects have been implemented to support precautionary approaches to environmental challenges. We have undertaken initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility along our entire value chain.
In 2017 we added a sustainability scorecard to the product development process, which encourages the inclusion of sustainable features right from the beginning of the product development process. By the end of 2018, we completed a full-year evaluation of our new product development projects according to the environmental and social criteria that make up the sustainability scorecard.
The projects that we have instituted to minimize energy consumption at Marel include installing car-charging points for employees and visitors who own electric vehicles, replacing regular light bulbs with LED lighting where feasible, and undertaking many local projects that prioritize energy efficiency, including the installation of energy management systems in our major manufacturing locations. We are also continually upgrading our manufacturing equipment to increase energy efficiency along with other capabilities.
Our primary energy sources are natural gas and renewables with almost 46% of all energy consumed by Marel produced by burning natural gas and 40% obtained from renewable sources.
|
2018
|
2017
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Total GWh
|
62.9
|
61.6
|
|
KWh per m2
|
253
|
244
|
|
MWh per employee
|
10.86
|
12.54
|
Waste management is a factor in our processes that we take seriously at Marel. In 2018, a full-scale analysis of all our waste-streams was carried out to provide us with a comprehensive overview of our waste footprint, how much of our waste ends in landfills, and how much is either reused or recycled. Over the year, we recycled or reused 75% of our total waste volume.
Despite our efforts to continually minimize our environmental footprint, overall carbon emissions have risen merely because our company continues to expand. The two largest indirect contributors to our carbon footprint are energy consumption in Marel facilities and employee air travel.
To better understand the indirect carbon footprint of the energy we consume in our facilities, all locations now report on the generation source(s) of energy used to produce the electricity used in our facilities.
We provide our energy consumption details to our collaborators at Circular Solutions who then process our data and verify our carbon footprint.
To understand and minimize our indirect carbon footprint, all of our more extensive facilities are installing energy monitoring systems from eTactica. Locations undergoing renovation are also installing solar cells on their roofs to generate some of the energy consumed on site locally.
Because Marel’s company network spans the globe, air travel by Marel employees has a negative impact on the environment. As carbon emissions from the aviation industry are considered a leading contributor to global warming, we feel it is essential to understand our role and what we can to make improvements.
In 2016, we established a new travel platform to monitor the environmental impact caused by employee travel. By collecting and visualizing this data, we have already made improvements and identified possibilities for reducing our carbon footprint when it comes to employee travel.
Through our travel policy, we will strive to continuously lower our carbon footprint by actively encouraging employees to use alternative means of meeting and communicating with each other and our customers.
We will continue to diligently work on measuring our environmental footprint and identify areas where we can improve, and better understand our company’s impacts and efforts to respond appropriately.
Marel is currently not participating in carbon-offsetting programs or green energy certification. We will continue to increase the share of renewable energy used by procuring cleaner energy whenever and wherever possible and continue to improve efficiency in our production processes, employee travel, and other operations.
|
2018
|
2017
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Total tCO2e
|
31,475
|
28,193
|
|
kgCO2e per FTE
|
5,432
|
5,040
|
|
kgCO2e per €1,000 of revenues
|
26.27
|
27.10
|
Our commitment to social responsibility extends beyond our employees and customers. Because we are in the food processing business, animal wellbeing is high on our agenda particularly in the area of research and development. In 2017, the introduction of a sustainability scorecard became a part of Marel’s innovation process, where many sustainability indicators play a role in deciding the feasibility of proceeding with projects into further development. By highlighting animal wellbeing in the sustainability scorecard, we are ensuring environmental and economic responsibility in the most crucial stages of the lifecycle of the product. By instituting appropriate animal wellbeing practices in general, we can increase the quality of products and production.
Over the years, we have introduced a number of innovative solutions that take animal wellbeing into more significant consideration. These include:
Throughout the food processing industry, it has become mandatory for companies to follow guidelines of social responsibility and sustainability in their operations and to consider the effects their operations have on people, the planet and profits. We are determined to lead the way and continue to focus on developing solutions that promote the highest standards of animal wellbeing.
