Sustainability teams lead to big savings in waste, water, energy

Establishing sustainability teams at all Inghams Enterprises’ sites across New Zealand has resulted in big savings in waste, water, and energy, says Managing Director Adrian Revell.

In the latest NZ Food and Grocery Council Leaders video he says sustainability teams at every one of the company’s sites – feed mills, hatcheries, farms, and processing plants – have a plan.

“On a day-to-day basis they have a set plan they’re working to, and we really break it down into bite-sized pieces, so there’s no real reason they don’t understand it or they can’t achieve constant improvement.”

He says it has been very rewarding for senior managers and from a staff engagement angle.

The results for his company speak for themselves. Years ago, before the development of the company’s sustainability plan, Inghams was sending “lots of waste to landfill. We now actually measure waste diversion, and at some of the sites 99% of their waste doesn’t go to landfill.

“We’ve also got some fantastic results from water saving. Some of our sites over the past five years have reduced water consumption by 50 per cent and some of the major sites have put in processors and heat recovery systems so we’re using 40 per cent to 50 per cent less energy.”

He says the sustainability model Inghams uses is “a good descriptive model that lots of people could take on board”.

“The fact that we’ve now got the sustainability team working at such a high level … we’re really able to economise that to quite a detailed level that 10 years ago we wouldn’t have even talked about it. So, again that’s been another real driver for us that’s come back through the business where everybody’s working together and hopefully the consumers see benefits.”

FGC Chief Executive Katherine Rich says Inghams is a prime example of businesses going the extra mile to ensure they are doing the right thing for their employees and for the environment.

“Having a plan, getting buy-in from staff, and following it up is a win-win for everyone, and shows consumers they are purchasing from a company that is socially responsible.”

See the interview with Adrian Revell here

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