Beston Global Food Company (ASX: BFC) is committed to improving its protection of the environment, health, and safety of our employees, customers and the global communities where we operate.
BFC has implemented a number of initiatives over the past 18 months to reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing and farming operations and achieve a more efficient use of resources. Our focus has not only been on reducing energy usage (electricity and natural gas are amongst the highest input costs in the business), but also on curbing water usage and reducing trade waste. BFC is committed to protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainability of the resources it uses in its production processes as well as in meeting the expectations of our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate.
Activities to reduce environmental impacts and improve resource use have included:
Energy
- Installation of a new exhaust stack on the Jervois powder plant which has reduced gas usage by 20%.
- Implementation of power factor correction at both factories to match production efficiency with energy demand reducing network charges that will be finalized at end quarter 1 FY2020.
- Maximising efficiency of production lines to minimize energy use.
- Re-tendering of gas contracts reducing rates by 5%.
- Feasibility studies undertaken on alternative generation opportunities at the factories to assess viability of own generation.
Water
- Reduction of rinse volumes in our cheese plants by focusing on rinse effectiveness. This initiative has delivered a saving of 70,000 litres per day or approximately 17.5million litres annually.
- Optimisation of holding volumes and rinse time on wash in , resulting in a water saving of 5,000 litres per day or approximately 1.25million litres annually.
- Improving the efficiency of Separator dischargers while running, resulting in savings of 400 litres per day or 100,000 litres annually.
- Introduction of soil water monitoring meters on BFC owned farms which, together with various changes in farming practices, has enabled us to leave 28% of our licensed water in the aquifer for environmental benefits.
- The table below compares water usage on our farms in FY19 compared with last year. The major difference are a 14% increase in milk volume and a reduction of 2% in the amount of water used per litre of milk produced. The savings in on-farm water use translates to a total water saving of 85,635KI or the equivalent of 35 Olympic size swimming pools.
Waste Management
- A new waste-water system installed at Provincial Food Group, to improve waste management and facilitate increased production.
- Installation of new state-of-the-art Mozzarella plant at Jervois has virtually eliminated the generation of waste-water from curd productions.
Future initiatives have been identified to further reduce the environmental footprint of BFC’s manufacturing and farming operations which will be progressively implemented over time.
Packaging
BFC recognises the important role we play in reducing the amount of waste Australia sends to landfill. BFC is developing a Packaging Sustainability strategy in line with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation’s (APCO) Covenant Sustainable Packaging Guidelines which will integrate BFC’s packaging goals and targets into an overarching corporate strategy.