”Food for Earth” is part of Raisio’s purpose guiding us to take environmental impact into account in all our operations
We particularly focus on carbon neutrality of production and on material and energy efficiency. Raisio’s key environmental goal is carbon-neutral production by the end of 2023. The company’s Raisio-based industrial area has already for a long time used carbon-neutral energy and at the Nokia mill the heat production plant utilizes oat hulls, a side stream of the mill’s processes.
Raisio’s materials efficiency work focuses on packaging made of renewable materials, reducing foodstuff and food waste, and making better use of production side and waste streams. All these actions together reduce Raisio’s environmental load.
Key objectives for 2022–2025
- All Raisio’s own production is carbon neutral by the end of 2023.
- We will report the (scope 3) CO2 emissions of Raisio’s value chain for 2022 and set a timetable and targets to reduce them.
- We will reduce food loss and waste as well as utilise production sidestreams throughout the value chain.
Nokia mill uses bioenergy
In 2020 Raisio decided to build a new heating plant at the Nokia mill site. The plant was completed in 2021 and uses the by-products generated in the mill’s production as fuel.
In addition to the environmental and cost saving benefits, the advantage of the new heating plant is that the fuel no longer needs to be transported from elsewhere. In industrial production, side streams are typically generated, and they can be recovered and harnessed for new uses: as raw materials, new products, and as a fuel for energy production.
When side streams, like oat husk, are used in energy production, energy costs are reduced, and the use of other fuels can be reduced. In addition, energy production utilizing side streams as a fuel increases energy self-sufficiency, and the industry is not dependent on changes in fuel prices.
We joined the energy efficiency agreement
Raisio is involved in The Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Energy Efficiency Agreement 2017–2025. The intermediate goal of the agreement was to reduce the total energy consumption by four per cent from the 2015 level by the end of 2020. Raisio has achieved this goal.
The work continues, and the goal of the energy efficiency agreement is to reduce the total energy consumption by 7,5 per cent by the end of 2025. The comparison is based on the 2015 level.
In 2019, Raisio was among the first to join the food industry’s materials efficiency commitment in Finland, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing, distribution and consumption of food.
Carbon footprint
Carbon footprint indicates the impacts of products and services on the environment. A carbon footprint refers to the climate load of a product or service, that is, the amount of greenhouse gases generated during the life cycle of a product.
The more the product generates climate warming greenhouse gases, the greater its carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is usually expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents, the sum of all greenhouse gases.
Raisio has developed a carbon footprint label that shows the size of a carbon footprint with an easy color code. The CO2e label indicates the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere throughout the product’s supply chain – from field to store shelf. Emissions are measured in four stages: primary production, manufacturing, packaging and transport.
Farming
Most of the carbon dioxide emissions of foods result from the farming of raw materials, such as oat, wheat, sugar beet and rapeseed. In farming, emissions come from sowing, liming, fertilisation, pesticide use, drying and use of machinery on the farms.
Manufacturing
Emissions are generated as foods are processed from raw materials into products.
Packaging
Emissions at the packaging phase arise from packaging materials, package manufacturing and transport to the factory.
Distribution
Distribution emissions are generated as raw materials are transported to the factory and ready products to the store warehouse.
Your choices make a difference
Plant-based food usually has a small carbon footprint. Eating accounts for about a third of the environmental impact of the Finnish consumption. Plant-based local food is more environmentally friendly so you should increase its share in your diet.
Demand for food will triple globally over the next decades so it really matters what we eat. With population growth, food sufficiency will be a challenge worldwide. The competition for renewable natural resources will continue. With current consumer habits, it is not possible on the planet to sustainably produce the amount of food required by growing demand. So, we are living at the expense of our children’s tomorrows and overspending the Earth’s resources.
Plant-based food produced at the national level is a key to many global issues in terms of food sufficiency and the ethics and ecology of food production. More attention will also be paid to the energy efficiency of food production. The food chain is in transition and this has both short-term and long-term effects on all the operators in the chain.
Direct comparison between the carbon footprints of meat and salad is not sensible as these foods have very different roles in our nutrition. Plant-based diet, however, has a smaller climate impact. It is also recommended for nutritional purposes.
