Maker of brands such as Cadbury and Kenco, Mondelez Ireland, has joined forces with the Bord Bia Origin Green programme to promote sustainability in the food sector.
Origin Green is the only food related sustainability programme in the world that operates on a national scale. Independently verified, it enables Ireland’s farmers and food manufacturers to set and achieve measurable sustainability targets – reducing environmental impact, serving local communities more effectively and protecting Ireland’s rich natural resources.
Now a verified member of Origin Green, Mondelez Ireland has three manufacturing facilities – Rathmore in Kerry and Coolock and Tallaght in Dublin.
All three sites focus on raw materials sourcing and manufacturing processes that reduce environmental impact and use resources efficiently. For example the Rathmore site which produces chocolate crumb, the base ingredient for all chocolate products, sources about 80 million litres of milk from local cooperatives which support sustainable farming practices.
In April 2014, Mondelez International announced a US$5m investment in the Rathmore site to install a new milk evaporator to improve competitiveness and reduce use of fuel oil to deliver environmental benefits.
Where possible, raw materials are sourced locally, with 37% of Coolock’s suppliers being of Irish origin and all major packaging suppliers in Ireland are now accredited to ISO 14001. All raw materials sourced for the Tallaght site have EMS certification.
Plans are in place to make reductions of 15% in carbon emissions from natural gas consumption by 2016 with stretching targets in water and energy consumption also set across all three sites.
Coolock, the largest Mondelez site in Ireland, is also committed to diverting all waste from landfill at Irish sites by end 2014.
Waste at all plants was reduced by 42% between 2005 and 2010 and Mondelez Ireland has invested heavily in modern plant and equipment to help improve efficiency and further reduce waste.
A strong programme of social sustainability across all three sites supports partnerships with Barnardos, Paralympics Ireland, colleague fundraising and a target to have 30% of colleagues volunteer.
“We prioritise sustainability as part of our integrated business strategy. From the milk farmers in Munster, the cocoa farms in Ghana who grow Fairtrade cocoa for Cadbury Dairy Milk, to the customers and consumers in our communities, we make sustainability a reality,” said Patrick Miskelly, manufacturing director of Mondelez Ireland.
“We have already achieved significant positive change in Ireland – but we have a lot more goals to achieve – and partnering with Origin Green will help us to achieve these ambitions.”