Enviromark diamond certification reflects Silver Fern Farms’ commitment to sustainability best practice
Silver Fern Farms has achieved Toitū enviromark diamond certification, the highest New Zealand-based environmental
certification. This represents another important step in Silver Fern Farms’ commitment to playing a leadership role in
driving sustainability in the red meat sector.
Enviromark diamond is recognised internationally as equivalent to ISO 14001 accreditation, and to achieve enviromark
diamond certification New Zealand companies in fact need to exceed some ISO requirements.
Silver Fern Farms Chief Executive Simon Limmer said achieving enviromark diamond is a massive endorsement for the
company’s systems and the ways it is managing environmental impacts and risk.
“The enviromark process with Toitū has verified our processing sites as industry leaders in environmental management. I
hope this gives our communities, suppliers and customers another strong signal of our continued work to tread more
lightly on the environment,” says Limmer.
Silver Fern Farms Group Environmental Manager Alison Johnstone said the process of pursuing the highest Toitū
certification had enabled the identification of improvements that have been made at fourteen processing sites around the
country.
“One example is the work we’ve done mapping and testing our stormwater drains, then permanently labelling the drains
with bright blue fish-shaped plaques which include clear “for rain only” instructions.
“We’ve also ramped-up environmental data collection and tracking as this lets us see improvements in real time. Better
data means we can set and hold to strong targets, share quality reporting, and make informed investments to improve
environmental outcomes,” says Johnstone.
Toitū enviromark diamond certification is described as the ultimate step in environmental management for a participating
company. All certified organisations must have a robust Environmental Management System in place, strong internal
systems for compliance and continuous improvement including management buy-in.
Toitū Chief Executive Becky Lloyd said Silver Fern Farms were one of the largest companies to attain diamond
certification.
“Since joining our programme in 2019 they have worked hard to achieve nationally harmonised systems and create a strong
foundation to drive effective continual improvement,” says Lloyd.
Looking forward, Silver Fern Farms Chief Executive Simon Limmer said there was more work to do.
“Across our processing plant network there is still significant investment to be made to get to where we want them to
be, including work to reduce waste to landfill, improve wastewater management and phase-out the use of coal by 2030.
“We are already looking to stretch into global best practice processes and are committed to improving environmental
performance across other areas of the business including our office hubs and secondary processing sites.
“We are up for the challenge, and I want to recognise our team and partners for the serious mahi done to get us to
here,” says Limmer.