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.
Our own production will soon be completely carbon-neutral
Our key environmental goal is to make our own production carbon-neutral by the end of 2023. In 2021, carbon-neutral energy accounted for 97% of all the energy we used.
The Raisionkaari industrial area has already been carbon-neutral since 2018. At the Nokia mill, a heat production plant utilising oat hulls, a side stream of the mill’s processes, was commissioned in summer 2021.
The steam used in the Kauhava factory is currently produced with fossil fuels. The plan and decisions on the transition of the Kauhava plant to carbon-neutral production will be made during 2022.
What is carbon-neutral production?
Carbon neutrality refers to a situation in which the net greenhouse gas emissions are zero. Carbon-neutral energy is produced without fossil fuels. For example, bioenergy is carbon neutral because the biomass has sequestered the same amount of carbon dioxide during its life cycle as is produced by burning it.
In order for our production to qualify as carbon-neutral, all of the electricity, heat and industrial steam we use must be produced with carbon-neutral energy.
Turning the spotlight towards value chain emissions
The steps towards carbon neutrality in our own production have been clear to us for a long time, so it is time to focus on climate action beyond the factory gates.
Based on product-specific carbon footprint calculations, we know that the majority of emissions from our products are generated in the value chains. In 2021, we continued our climate work with the Scope 3 indirect emissions assessment.
In cooperation with Natural Resources Institute Finland, we carried out a carbon footprint calculation for the entire supply chain, the Scope 3 calculation. Based on this calculation, we identified the most significant sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the supply chain and will use it to define more specific reduction targets and measures during 2022.
Our goal is to report Scope 3 emissions for the first time in 2022.
Source: VitalMetrics Group
From trash to treasure
Food waste is generated in all parts of the food chain, including our factories. Factories also generate so-called side streams – material that is not needed in the product itself, but could be used elsewhere.
Our primary goal is to prevent waste: we want to improve our processes and practices to minimise the amount of waste. If there is waste, our aim is to ensure that edible food that is unfit for sale goes back into the food chain and inedible food waste is used for other purposes.
Below are three examples of how we reduce food waste and make more efficient use of side streams:
Heat from oat hulls – for us and others in the community
At the Nokia mill, a heat production plant utilising oat hulls, a side stream of the mill’s processes, was commissioned in early summer 2021.
The new plant produces more heat than we need. Therefore, in autumn 2021, we agreed with Leppäkosken Lämpö Oy that the surplus waste heat from the Nokia mill will be utilised in Leppäkosken Lämpö’s district heating network in Nokia.
Fava bean mince into a product
At our Kauhava factory, the production of Beanit® fava bean chunks also creates a finer fava bean mince, which is packed into boxes and served to people as… well, fava bean mince!
Other uses for flakes containing gluten
Our mill in Nokia produces gluten-free oat products on their own production line. To verify that the products are gluten-free, several samples are taken at regular intervals from each production batch.
Sometimes it can happen that the analyses show that a batch contains gluten, in which case the batch is not used at all for gluten-free products. However, this creates no waste because the batch is then used as a raw material for products that are not gluten-free.
We joined the energy efficiency agreement
Raisio is involved in The Finnish Food and Drink Industries’ Energy Efficiency Agreement 2017–2025. 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.
