Tate & Lyle to cut emissions by 30% by 2030

Food and drink ingredient supplier Tate & Lyle has published a new set of environmental targets, pledging to reduce operational emissions by 30% by 2030 and a 15% reduction in value chain emissions.


Tate & Lyle to cut emissions by 30% by 2030

The pricing of an $800m revolving credit facility

Tate & Lyle’s new environmental targets and commitments are set for 2030, confirming a 30% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with a 25% reduction set for 2025. Additionally, the company will aim to deliver an absolute reduction in Scope 3 emissions of 15% by 2030. The company will work to verify the targets as science-based.

A 15% reduction in water use will also be targeted by 2030 and 100% of the waste that Tate & Lyle generates will be reused ‘beneficially’, with a 75% target set for 2025.

Tate & Lyle’s director of sustainability Anna Pierce said: “These stretching new targets demonstrate our steadfast commitment to integrating sustainability into our day-to-day business activities, processes and culture.”

The company has also committed to eliminating the use of coal from its operations by 2025. Conservation practices will account for the equivalent of the volume of corn the company buys annually, which is around 1.5 million acres worth.

Tate & Lyle has also backed the target financially. The pricing of an $800m revolving credit facility, which was extended last month, has been linked to its waste, water and carbon targets.

In 2019, Tate & Lyle announced a new partnership aiming to assess the stevia sweetener supply chain for any improvements that can be made to environmental, energy and social stewardship.

The global stevia market is anticipated to surpass £431m by 2024 according to a report by Grand View Research. In 2015, the market generated £263m.

Food for thought

Tate & Lyle is the latest firm in the food and drink sector to strengthen sustainability efforts.

Earlier this year it was revealed that the UK’s largest food and drinks manufacturers had collectively reduced their food waste by 30% over the past eight years, on a per capita basis.

However, a new report from thinktank Planet Tracker has called upon food retailers to start tracking and disclosing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with food wasted between farm and fork.

According to the report, scope 3 emissions account for an estimated 44% of total food waste emissions produced in Europe every year, while the global economic FLW cost stands at $940bn annually, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Matt Mace

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