Main Drivers of Sustainability in the UK Food Industry - Coursework Example

Sustainability in food industry Introduction Sustainability entails meeting the needs of the current situations without putting into compromise the ability of the future generations to attend to their own requirements. In the food industry, it is necessary to employ various measures and strategies to attain sustainability. Thus, sustainability is the start of the transformation in the food industry with the consideration of environmental, social, and economic factors. These factors need evaluation and implementation throughout the supply chain to ensure no harm to the environment. Sustainability in the food industry creates a review of the industry’s present approach to balancing environmental, social, and economic considerations in the process of production, distribution, and consumption. Various tools and procedures require implementation to enhance the future progress (Ayres et. al, 2007). Environmental sustainability entails the designing of optimal friendly environment that meets technical requirements in the food industry. It also takes into consideration ways of minimizing negative effects on surroundings as well as addressing accidental releases. On the other hand, economic sustainability entails the restructuring of a product with the purpose of minimizing company waste (Hall, 2001). It entails recycling, decrease of companies’ energy use and generation of products with reduced environmental footprint. Social sustainability aims at creating a platform of the human aspect. It majors on employment stability, health, safety, human capital among other social factors. The study covers sustainability relation to the food processing, distribution, waste management, life cycle analysis, water, and carbon management in the process on ensuring future safety. It also covers the key drivers of sustainability in the food industry such as cost reductions, government policies, employees, customer requirements, NGOs among others. The case study depicts how retailers employ various strategies to ensure they adhere to sustainability requirements. Main United Kingdom and European Union legislation on sustainability Waste The production of waste results from economic and social activities carried out by consumers and businesses. There are costs and various benefits attached from the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The main problem is to ensure that the value extracted from various resources exceeds the cost of using them. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that any activity do not produce excessive amounts of waste products (Ayres et al, 2007). EU and UK have the initiatives to ensure proper waste management in terms of prevention through reduced waste production. The Government Review of Waste Policy in the UK reviews evaluated waste management policies and their delivery in the process of ensuring the policies fits for purpose and expectation of zero waste economy. The Waste Management Plan in the UK and equivalent plans by the EU aims at fulfilling the requirement of Article 28 of the Waste Framework Directive. The Waste Framework Directive provide for member states to ensure various authorities and firms establish waste management plans, covering all their activities. The directive provides that various bodies involved in waste production should analyse current waste management situation, assess the need of collection schemes, install waste reduction technologies and methods, and employ the use of resources that have low waste output (Ayres et al, 2007). Failure to adhere to the requirements would amount to law breaking. In UK, the Landfill directive bans plasterboards, tyres, liquid wastes from landfills. Additionally, the pre-treatment regulations provide that the waste should undergo treatment before being put in a landfill. The directive on duty care states that waste producers are responsible for ensuring wastes do not cause any environmental pollution. The responsibility entails transportation, recycling, treatment and disposal of waste as indicated by Environmental Agency. The EU directive, Directive 2008/98/0 on waste aims at protecting the environment and the human health from harmful effects of waste generation and management of wastes. UK and the members’ states of EU ensure the implementation of these regulations with a view of reinforcing waste treatment through prevention, recycle, and reuse, recovery and disposal. The directive aims at ensuring the waste management activities do not endanger human health and the environment (Sandberg, 2010). The Directive 2008/98/EC provides that hazardous wastes need labelling as per the international standards. It also states that producers of hazardous waste should register their premises before the production of the waste. The ozone depleting substances legislation on the directive also states that HFCS and CFCs need to be removed from freezers and fridges before disposal. The waste management licencing regulations in the same directive states that those willing to dispose, control waste should seek environmental permits. The EU Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste sets out measures and requirements for waste prevention, re-use and recovery of packaging wastes. The directive aims at reducing the content of hazardous substances, through reusable and recoverable packaging measures. The Directive provides on the producer responsibility principle. Water The European Union provides that water is not a commercial product like other things, but it is a heritage that should be protected, treated and defended as such. Article 174 of the European community treaty, provides that people should aim at preservation, protection, and improvement of the quality of the environment. Preventive measures on usage of water should exist to ensure no environmental damage in terms of pollution and polluter should pay. The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/ES aims forth introduction of a simpler approach that would result in greater protection of water as a vital part of the environment. The directive checks on the ecological health of water in water bodies, the water consumed, and the chemical standards. The plan aims to help deal with diffuse pollution that remains a big issue even after the improvement of most point source discharges (Ayres et al, 2007). The Water Management Bill creates concern on water management aimed at ensuring consumers get protection from water pollution by various companies and industries. The successful implementation and adherence to the directive and the bills would help in the protection of the water cycle thus enhance quality and future of rivers, groundwater, lakes, and seas (Paulavets, 2008). The EU provides that there are diverse conditions and different needs in the communities that need specific requirements. EU indicates that diversity needs to be in account during planning and the execution of measures to ensure protection and the sustainable use of water especially in the framework of river basin. Energy UK and the EU provide various rules to govern and to ensure sustainability through energy measures. The Energy Services Directive in the Directive 2006/32 on energy end-use efficiency and energy services purposes on enhancing energy end-use efficiency through cost-effective improvements. The main element of the directive entails the attainment of 9% energy efficiency target in UK and other EU countries. Thus, all industries and stakeholders must ensure they put in place measures on energy efficiency. The Energy Performance Building Directive (Directive 2002/91/EC requires certification of buildings in commercial, domestic and industrial sectors. Buildings built, rented or sold should have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Public buildings also need to possess Display Energy Certificate (DEC) to offer information on their energy efficiency. The Directive 2009/28 on the promotion of the use of energy from the renewable sources establishes a framework for the promotion of energy from renewable sources. The directive sets mandatory national goals for the overall use of energy from renewable sources in the total end consumption and share of energy from the renewable sources in transport. It establishes criteria on sustainability for bio liquids and biofuels. The rules entail administrative procedures, trainings, information, and the reachability to the electricity grid for energy harnessed from renewable sources. With the directives, it is also necessary for the food industries to employ strategies on the use of energy from renewable sources (Yates, 2008). In UK, the Energy Act 2011 provides for implementation of the key measures needed to deliver DECC’s low carbon agenda. It includes the provision of Green Deal, decommissioning of nuclear sites, security on energy supplies, tackling fuel poverty and provision of fairness in the energy markets. Carbon The emission of carbon products in the environment has various effects on the environment and may result to health hazard effects to human beings (Paula vets, 2008). The Directive 2003/87/EC provides a scheme on the greenhouse and industrial gas emission allowance trading in the communities for promotion of reduction of carbon related emissions. The directive aims at contributing to fulfilling the Kyoto protocol requirements effectively. It also aims at reducing the carbon products emission in greenhouses and industries with minimum possible diminution of the employments and economic developments. The EU and UK Emission Trading Schemes have various requirements on monitoring and reporting of the gas emissions permits on greenhouse gas. Industries must meet the requirements in the permits that are in accordance with the Commission’s Monitoring and Reporting Decision. Failure to comply with the permit conditions would lead to prosecution. For sustainability, all sectors must adhere to the set rules and regulation for the betterment of future generation (Chen, 2005). The council Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention control forms a framework for pollution prevention and control. It gives conditions on greenhouse gas emissions that various stakeholders may choose not to impose energy efficiency related requirements in respect to combustion units or other carbon producing activities without prejudice on other requirements pursuant to the Directive 96/61/EC. The Directive 2003/87/EC provides that the EU member states should to ensure that operators of businesses and other activities hold a greenhouse gas emission permit. They should also monitor and report their greenhouse gases emissions specified as per the activities. Members need to lay down rules on penalties applicable to the infringement of Directive. The penalties should be proportionate, effective and dissuasive. The Climate change Act 2008 tries to handle the effects of climate change. It establishes a framework on improved carbon management, towards low carbon economy in UK. Drivers that promote sustainability Sustainability is a process that requires the involvement of various sectors to achieve it. These sectors are the factors that build sustainability thus referred to as the drivers of sustainability. In the case of retailers, they operate on highly dynamic and very competitive environments. To cope with the pressure involved, it is necessary to focus on main drivers of sustainability to achieve their goals (Bowen et al. 2001). Such drivers include customer requirements, government policies, NGOs, cost reduction, employee requirements, and investors among others. To enhance sustainability, industries must employ strategies to reduce various costs in production and in the supply chain (Johnson, 2004). Employment of technology in various production activities may reduce time wastage in certain processes thus saving on time and costs (Darnall, 2008). Material substitution, for example, in the packaging process may reduce the costs thus promoting sustainability. Employment of low energy consumption technique and procedures during the production process would help industries minimize costs of production. Recycling of various reusable materials would minimize the environment pollution as well as the reduction of production costs. Customers may have different requirements and views on the kind of products they wish to consume (Hamprecht, 2006). Environmentally conscious consumers may take part in the sustainability process through demands for greener products. Industries need to focus on views of their customers in relation to the services (Adams & Frost, 2008), how their action affects the society and the environment. Consideration of consumers’ tastes and preferences forms a base for success in any supply chain, in industries (Lee, 2000). The opportunity to venture in green markets, through offering green products to customers helps to bolster sustainability. This increases consumer value through provision of healthier and environmentally sound foods thereby raising competitiveness on the business. Government policies monitor how industries relate with the environment for sustainability. Various regulatory measures are important in the improvement of industrial sustainability performance (Smith, 2008). Regulations on waste and energy especially in Europe contributes significantly to broad proliferation of energy and waste management schemes. The policies create expectations of the carbon management regulations that initiate the activities to minimize greenhouse gas emissions by companies. Employees form the foundation for success in industries (Adams & Frost, 2008). They are the key drivers towards achievement of various goals. The ability of a business to meet the demands of its employees indicates success in all the company undertakings. Employees make the goals of the industry real and play a major role in designing what customers require (Lee, 2000). They depict the corporate image in the efforts to address environmental performance in relation to supply chain. NGOs activities towards supporting environmental friendly activities in industries serve as the driving force in the success of sustainability. They create awareness through education offered in seminars and workshops. They aim at helping various stakeholders to embrace activities that do not harm the economic, social, and economic fields. NGOs also advocate that industries must produce what is healthy for human beings and the environments. The pressure created by the NGOs acts as the driving force towards sustainability especially in food industries (Yates, 2008). The initiative for media to support sustainability acts as a propeller to industries towards sustainability. In the fear of negative media exposure, industries are effective in implementing various environmental, social, and economic measures(Smith, 2008). In this regard, industries employ adequate techniques to address the issues along the supply chain. The open business culture creates trust and stronger relationships in actors involved in the supply chain. The situation allows industries to overcome various organizational barriers and drives toward engaging efforts in addressing sustainability. This leads to several synergies that finally result to great results. The preservation of brand name also propels sustainability in industries (Smith, 2008). This can be through offering eco-brands, an exercise that can be a strong move towards sustainability due to the sense of growing green segment of consumers. The move receives support from the perception that ecological products are healthier when compared to ordinary goods. An example of best practice in sustainability retailing TESCO (UK) Tesco provides an example of one of the bests systems and strategies towards sustainability. With various upstream initiatives, the company is able to target the environmental impacts of supplies and products before getting to the stores (Jones & Comfort, 2005a). The company also puts measures aimed at reducing the environmental impacts from its activities and products. TESCO is very active in the imposition of food sustainability requirements in the upstream of its supply chain (Jones et al, 2009). It puts measures on reduction of environmentally related impacts alongside the sourcing of products with lower environmental profiles. The company possesses a well-developed code of conduct and evaluation system in ensuring sustainability of its products and services. Its guidelines for suppliers are very elaborate on British Retail Consortium consumer product standard. It performs audits to suppliers to ensure they meet food safety and standards. TESCO also applies the “Nurture Scheme” to its suppliers that provide criteria of the requirement on soil management, energy efficiency, and sustainable farming techniques (Paulavets, 2008). The concept of local sourcing aims at reducing food travel distances and ensures support to local farmers (Darnall, 2008). Tesco is very active in the promotion of British farmers. The company has various locally sourced products such as beef (95%), chicken (90%) and 100% eggs and fresh milk. With the privately developed labels in fresh meat and cheese, consumers get information about product provenance. The company is also part of Red Tractor labeling scheme maintains animal welfare, food hygiene and safety standards (Jones & Comfort, 2005a). It is also committed to sourcing locally on the international scale through ensuring farmers get access to supermarket supply chain. Transportation of products especially food may raise various sustainability issues (Linell, 2005). Thus, it is necessary to optimize transportation efficiency and switch to transport modes that are less polluting (Piecyk& McKinnon, 2010). Tesco uses Tesco Express, which is a company Train instead of Lorries, in its products distribution. The company was the first company in Britain to use battery-powered vans in its home deliveries. An initiative that would save 21 tons of carbon (iv) oxide annually. In a recent project, the company put in operation 795 Iveco light vehicles for home deliveries. They included 25 compressed bio methane powered vehicles. This pilot project aims at testing the success of use of natural gas in vehicles and might have a very positive impact on Tesco future transport policy. To enhance sustainability, it is important to put in place measures to improve the environmental qualities that food bears (Jones et al., 2009). Tesco, for example, is very committed to ensuring the sale of organic products to its customers. For example, Tesco has increased the share of organic assortment from 16% to 20%. When it comes to the fair-trade fruits, Tesco has shares assortment of 3.5%. For most retailers, the green procurement practices for buildings are on their experimental stages. The practices include the installation of technical hardware such as solar panels, wind turbines, and heat pumps. In a move to reduce carbon footprint by half margin come the year 2020, Tesco has plans of installing a wide range of renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines, combined heat and power plants, PV panels, and ground source heat pumps (Jones & Comfort, 2005a). To enhance sustainability it is necessary to improve energy efficiency in the food industries (Seuring& Müller, 2008). The concept is a very common activity across Europe. It is popular based on its associated benefits in cost savings and due to the legislation requirements. The common activities include the installation of energy saving bulbs, hinged doors for refrigerated space, move detection systems in lighting and the heat recovery systems in the cold production facilities. Tesco’s goal is to reduce its energy consumption by half, compared to the year 2000. In an effort to achieve the goal, Tesco invested £86 million on energy saving technology. Improvement on water efficiency forms another key area of gauging sustainability progress. Many retailers do not consider water management as the main area of concern (Sandberg, 2010), but water is very critical bearing its significance in the environment and the lives of people. Different industries have different ways of monitoring and conservation of water resources. Bearing in mind the significance of water it is necessary to reduce the amount of water usage in industry facilities. Tesco figured out that staff toilets formed a major area of water consumption in stores. To counteract this, the company installed urinal control units and automatic switching taps. The company also spent approximately £800,000 on installation of rainwater harvesting system. The application of these water-saving measures decreased water usage by a remarkable 29% within a period of 5 years. Food industries require waste management strategies to enhance sustainability (Wright & McCrea, 2007). It is, therefore, necessary to address waste from the point of production to consumption (Jones et al, 2009). In Europe, waste sorting in warehouse facilities and stores is a common activity due to the requirements of the EU waste legislation. Tesco prevents most of its waste products from going to landfills through recycling and decomposition of the remains after production. The company also considers production of biogas using the wastes a move that would generate energy. Tesco employs various tools to engage consumers in sustainable behaviours. The company has a program known as “Action CO2 calculator” and has ‘Green Club card points’ to reward customers with green choices. Customers can use obtained points for free air miles as a means to motivate them towards sustainability. The company also encourages bag re-use with the help of consumers who earn Club card points on every five bags returned (Jones & Comfort, 2005a). Conclusion Rules and guidelines set by the European Union and United Kingdom plays a major role in the sustainability of food industries. Through the laid out guidelines on water, energy, waste and carbon management, industries are able to tighten their efforts towards attaining a sustainable state. Other factors that have proved to be of significance in driving for sustainability are the need to meet consumer requirements, government policies, fear of media exposure and the efforts of NGOs. These factors have emerged as the main drivers of sustainability in the food industries. In Tesco case study, it is evident that most retailers put major focus on direct environmental impacts through energy and water efficiency measures, improvement of internal operations and waste management systems. For the food industries to be sustainable there is a need to address the unclear definition of responsibilities for various stakeholders such as retailers in the move to achieve SCP (sustainable consumption and production practices). It is also critical to address the lack of a common approach to give priority on areas of environmental improvements. Lack of harmonization standards requires address to ensure sustainability in supply chains. Finally, it is important to consider the higher price for green products as compared to ordinary ones. This creates a higher production cost thereby influencing sustainability negatively. Bibliography Adams, C.A & Frost, G.R., 2008.Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices.Accounting Forum, Vol. 32,No.4, pp.288–302. Ayres, R.U., Turton, H., Casten, T., 2007. Energy efficiency, sustainability and economic growth, Energy,Vol.32, No. 5,pp. 634–648 Bowen, F., Cousins, P., Lamming, R., Faruk, A. 2001, "The role of supply management capabilities in green supply,” Production and Operations Management, Vol. 10 No.2, pp.174-89 Chen, C.-C. 2005, "Incorporating green purchasing into the frame of ISO 14000", Journal of Cleaner Production,Vol. 13 No.9, pp.927-33. Darnall, N., Jolley, G., &Handfield, R. 2008, "Environmental management systems and green supply chain management: complements for sustainability?" Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 18 No.1, pp.30-45. EuropeanComission 2010,Services on Monitoring Retailers’ REAP commitments, European Comission, accessed from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/industry/retail/pdf/report_monitoring2009.pdf Hamprecht, J. 2006, Sustainable purchasing strategy in the food industry., Univ. St. Gallen, Diss Hall, J. 2001, "Environmental supply chain innovation", Greener Management International, No.35, pp.105-19. Johnson, M 2004 "Marks & Spencer implements an ethical sourcing program for its global supply chain." Journal of Organizational Excellence,Vol. 23, No.2, pp. 3-16. Jones, P., D. Comfort, et al. 2005a. "Corporate social responsibility: a case study of the UK's leading food retailers." British Food Journal,Vol.107, No.6, pp. 423-435. Jones, P. C., Daphne; Hillier, & David 2009 "Marketing Sustainable Consumption within Stores: A Case Study of the UK’s Leading Food Retailers." SustainabilityVol.1,No.4, pp. 12. Linell, A 2005,Towards Sustainable Food Consumption? Exploring the role of the food retailers in the development of the Swedish organic food market.LUMES. Lund, Lund University Lee K 2000,Global sustainable development: its intellectual and historical roots. In: Lee K, Holland A, McNeill D (eds) Global sustainable development in the 21st century. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh Paulavets, K. 2008, Climate change and the food industry. Climate labelling for food products: Potential and limitations. Tsel Environmental, Malmö. Piecyk, M.I., &McKinnon, A.C 2010 “Forecasting the carbon footprint of road freight transport in 2020,”International Journal of Production Economics,Vol. 128,No.1, pp.31–42. Sandberg, E 2010, The retail industry in Western Europe: Trends, facts and logistics challenges. Institute of Technology. Linköping University, Linköping, Seuring, S. and M. Müller 2008b "Core issues in sustainable supply chain management – a Delphi study."Business strategy and the environment. Vol.17, No.8 455-466. Seuring, S. and M. Muller 2008a "From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management."Journal of Cleaner Production,Vol. 16, No.15, pp.1699-1710. Smith, B. G 2008 "Developing sustainable food supply chains."Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences,Vol.363, No. 1492 pp.849-862. Tuncer, B. 2009. Retailer initiatives along product chains.LCI Retailer Meeting. Wright, S. & D. McCrea 2007,The Handbook of Organic and Fair Trade Food Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. Yates, L 2008, Green grocers: How supermarkets can help make greener shopping easier, National Consumer Council, accessed from http://www.perishablepundit.com/docs/NCC1_green_grocers.pdf Read More