French dairy giant Danone has announced that its infant formula processing and packing plant in Wexford has been certified as the world’s first carbon neutral infant formula plant.

The facility uses 100% green electricity, while 80% of its thermal energy needs are produced from sustainable woodchip biomass.

While 20% of its thermal energy requirement is still produced from fossil fuel natural gas, Danone has been awarded carbon credits by funding a number of projects that result in reduced carbon emissions.

One example includes funding more energy efficient cooking stoves in countries such as Kenya. The reduced emissions associated with these projects can then be counted by Danone as a carbon offset and claimed as a carbon credit.

The carbon neutral certificate was awarded to Danone’s Wexford facility by the Carbon Trust, an independent climate change and sustainability agency.

Danone’s Wexford site has also achieved zero waste to landfill, with all waste from production processes or packaging now recovered.

Carbon neutral

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, Danone’s factory director at the Wexford plant Jean Michel Le Quin said it had been a long journey for the facility to achieve carbon neutral status that first started in 2010.

“Over the last 10 years, the Wexford facility has transitioned to 100% renewable green electricity from Irish wind farms, while 80% of our thermal energy needs now comes from a sustainable woodchip biomass boiler,” said LeQuin.

Danone's infant formula plant in Wexford has been certified as carbon neutral by the independent Carbon Trust.

“This has resulted in 10,000t of CO2 savings compared to the plant’s emissions in 2010 and led to a 70% reduction in the carbon footprint of the Wexford plant. At the same time, we’ve doubled production volumes at the facility,” he added.

LeQuin said the Wexford plant has achieved a 5% reduction in the energy used per tonne of output every year over the last decade, which adds up to a 50% reduction in the amount of energy used per tonne of product manufactured since 2010.

The Wexford site is one of the largest infant formula plants in the world, processing and packing over 100,000t of finished and semi-finished baby formula every year.

Danone also operates an infant formula processing site at Macroom in Co Cork, which is the single-largest infant formula plant in the world, according to LeQuin.

Investment

Danone has invested about €10m in the Wexford plant over the last decade to achieve carbon neutral status.

Health, safety, environment and security manager at Danone Wexford Deirdre Hannon says one of the most important investments over the last 10 years has been the installation of a biomass boiler in 2013.

“The biggest milestone in the journey towards carbon neutral was installing the biomass woodchip boiler, which allowed us to reduce our usage of heavy fuel oil for thermal energy,” says Hannon.

Last year, Danone ended its use of heavy fuel altogether at the Wexford plant by transitioning to natural gas. Today, about 80% of the thermal energy requirements for Danone’s Wexford plant come from the woodchip biomass boiler, with the remaining 20% or so produced from natural gas.

Hannon said one of the biggest challenges was ensuring a sustainable supply of woodchips for the next biomass boiler. The company works with two suppliers, including the Wexford-based forestry group Irish Wood Producers.