A project to establish standardised metrics to measure
environmental performance of the food and drink sector has
been launched by the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency – working in partnership with the
Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge,
Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Northern Ireland
Environment Agency, Waste and Resources Action Programme
and the British Standards Institute – is aiming to make it
simpler for businesses and for the public to understand the
environmental performance of companies in key areas such as
greenhouse gas reduction and resource efficiency.
The initiative will help manufacturers to more effectively
communicate their environmental performance to the public,
minimising the opportunity for green washing.
It is also hoped that it will incentivise companies toward
greener manufacturing processes and business operations
helping to tackle climate change.
Project lead Becca Tremain, of the Environment Agency,
said:
One of the big challenges for food businesses trying to
mitigate climate change is how to communicate their
environmental performance that goes beyond legal
compliance effectively and efficiently.
Different food businesses have developed and adopted
various environmental metrics and it can be
time-consuming for food businesses to collect data from
different supplier systems.
This project seeks to address this challenge by
standardising environmental metrics for food businesses
that go beyond legal compliance.
It aims to provide an effective and efficient solution to
enable the automation of environmental performance data
transfer across different food businesses.
The project has been made possible by a £195,000 grant from
the £3.7 million
Regulators’ Pioneer Fund launched by The Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The fund enables UK regulators and local authorities to
help create a UK regulatory environment that unleashes
innovation and makes the UK the best place to start and
grow a business.
The partnership will be working with IEMA, the Institute of
Environmental Management and Assessment, trade associations
and private sector organisations including Sainsbury’s,
Nestle, Cranswick, 2 Sisters and Vitacress to understand
and ensure the feasibility of the metrics.
Sarah Mukherjee, Chief Executive of IEMA, said:
Measuring the environmental performance of the food and
drink sector is a complex task, but a vital one given the
size and economic significance of the sector.
IEMA is uniquely positioned to contribute to the
challenge given the expertise of its members in
developing approaches to both understanding and
mitigating the environmental impacts of supply chains
across all areas of the economy.
The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund is part of wider government
work on regulation. This includes the recent Reforming the
Framework for Better Regulation consultation, and the
Better Regulation Committee, chaired by the Chancellor,
which is driving an ambitious reform agenda to ensure the
UK’s regulatory framework is fit for purpose and delivers
the Government’s strategic objectives in its 25 Year Environment
Plan
Business Minister said:
Good regulation should spur entrepreneurship, not stand
in its way, and this project will help keep the UK at the
cutting-edge of innovation.
This project aiming to standardise environmental metrics
for the food and drink sector could pave the way for
exciting developments in the sector, bringing benefits to
British businesses and consumers alike.
