Carbon Footprint

Efficiency through Innovation

British Sugar is one of the most efficient sugar manufacturers in Europe.  Around £1billion has been invested in the last two decades to improve raw material and energy usage efficiency, as well as leading technology in water and gas treatment to raise environmental standards.  The company has reduced energy requirements per tonne of sugar produced by 40%.

British Sugar & Carbon Footprint
We believe carbon-footprinting results are most meaningful to both customers and consumers if manufacturers use a common methodology. 

In February 2008 British Sugar became a pilot partner working with the Carbon Trust to support the development of PAS 2050.  PAS 2050 is the world’s first method for assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of goods and services and was developed by BSI British Standards and sponsored by the Carbon Trust and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The detailed supply chain GHG assessment has taken British Sugar over 6 months to complete, with the assistance of the Carbon Trust and underlines an ongoing commitment by British Sugar to carbon reduction.

What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment. 

It is measured in units of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions produced. 

A product carbon footprint incorporates the total lifecycle of a product from ‘field to fork’.

The carbon footprint of our sugar
At British Sugar we manufacture many products from sugar beet. The output of each stage of the manufacturing process becomes the input of the next stage, until all raw materials are turned into products.  This avoids unnecessary waste.

Using the new method, British Sugar’s homegrown granulated white sugar was assessed to produce 0.6 grams of CO2 equivalent per gram of product.

In order to calculate the carbon footprint of our granulated sugar, we have completed a detailed assessment of each stage of our production process, using the new PAS 2050 methodology. The analysis included our ‘Total Supply Chain’, from growing and transporting sugar beet, to manufacturing our granulated sugar and delivering it to food & drinks manufacturers.

We are proud of our pioneering work in the development of PAS 2050, and will continue to seek further reductions in our carbon impact and play a leading role in the creation of an efficient and sustainable sugar industry.

Silver Spoon’s carbon footprint
Our sister company Silver Spoon has been working in partnership with both British Sugar and the Carbon Trust, to determine the carbon footprint of their 1kg retail pack of homegrown granulated sugar. You will find details of their carbon footprint on their website. Visit: www.silverspoon.co.uk

Reducing our carbon Footprint
British Sugar’s low carbon footprint for granulated sugar reflects a focus over many years of improving our energy efficiency. 
The results of our work with the Carbon Trust will assist both British Sugar and Silver Spoon in identifying further areas of focus for improving energy efficiency.

British Sugar continues to be committed to reducing our environmental impact and is investing £20m in energy reduction projects in next 3 years.  They vary from small projects such as more efficient lighting, to investment in heat recovery, energy recapture and the use of biogas as an alternative fuel.  Between 2006 and 2009 we are working to reduce our use of energy by 19%.

About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust was set up by the UK Government in 2001 as an independent company. The Trust’s mission is to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.

The Carbon Trust estimates that the UK has a carbon footprint of 650 million tonnes of greenhouse gas.  This means each person in the UK has an estimated footprint of about 11 tonnes a year.  To find out more visit www.carbontrust.co.uk