Meagan Littlejohn: Sustainability essential for New Zealand wine exports
Sustainability is no longer a "nice to have", says Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Programme Manager Meagan Littlejohn.
Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products says it has reduced coal consumption by 20% last season compared to the previous year.
The company, which is targeting carbon emissions reductions of 12.5% by 2025 and 25% by 2030, will now review those interim targets after achieving a total reduction of 11,000 MT of coal.
Westland chief executive Richard Wyeth says the reduction in coal use was a real company-wide achievement in the company's transition to a low-carbon future.
"After launching our sustainability strategy last year, we wanted to set realistic, achievable targets given the limited decarbonisation options open to us on the West Coast," says Wyeth.
"Our staff have really got behind our sustainability strategy and it's a stunning achievement to achieve these targets so quickly, however, we will continue to be realistic about our goals for the future," Wyeth said.
"While we are firmly committed to the 2037 decarbonisation target for industry, the technology to achieve this is currently not yet available.
"We have limited options to decarbonise energy-intensive food production on the West Coast with a conversion to biomass as a fuel currently not cost-effective and requiring four-times the supply chain emissions as coal."
Reductions in coal use had been achieved by retiring energy-intensive drying equipment, energy savings brought about by better management of winter maintenance work, and better production planning.
Co-investment alongside the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund to reduce emissions through heat loss is expected to drive further emissions reductions in the future.
Westland's first CSR strategy was released in November last year with its first full-year report of progress against the published initiatives due in 2023.
The result comes after Westland parent company Yili became the first Chinese food industry company to announce its roadmap to a net zero carbon future by 2050, setting targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050. The first Chinese food industry company to launch an annual carbon inventory, Yili has continued assessments for the past 12 years.
This year, Yili, one of the top five dairy companies in the world, established the first net-zero factory in China's food industry, the first net-zero milk in the country, and the first two "net zero factories" in the Chinese milk powder industry.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.