DANISH CROWN WORKS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT As a large international food producer, Danish Crown holds a special responsibility. Especially considering food safety and animal welfare, but also in relation to our common environment. We are very serious about this responsibility, and we have therefore already taken extensive measures to introduce environmental management on all of our slaughterhouses. This means that we are working systematically and continuously towards minimizing our total environmental impact – that we have committed to this – and that we are capable of documenting what we are doing. This folder is a short version of this documentation. The complete documentation - Danish Crown’s green account, can be read on our website www.danishcrown.dk.
AN ENVIRONMENTAL TALE WITH CRUNCH Marsvej 43 DK-8960 Randers SOE Tel. +45 89 19 19 19 Fax +45 86 44 80 66 dc@danischcrown.dk www.danishcrown.com
WE LISTEN TO OUR NEIGHBOURS, SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO LISTEN TO US Noise and smell is among the most considerable environmental aspects for Danish Crown’s slaughterhouses. The cities have during the years grown around the slaughterhouses, and the number of our neighbours has increased. There has therefore been an increased attention towards noise and smell, and we are in constant dialogue with the local communities in order to pre-empt problems and discontent. The authorities who have determined the permitted values for how much noise and smell we can emit considers that we in general stay below the permitted values. This means that we do not have to document this annually with measurement, and we are therefore not able to give any specific number, but we can tell what we do.
The largest noise pollutants emanate from transportation, ventilation facilities, capacitors and other facilities. The production typically begins at 6 a.m. and most slaughterhouses receive animals and load meat throughout the day. The screaming from the pigs is a considerable noise pollutant in relation to the pig slaughterhouses. Many of Danish Crown’s factories have installed power outlets to which the cooling trucks must be attached in order to avoid them creating noise with their diesel powered cooling facilities. Additionally we carry out preventive maintenance of e.g. ventilators to ensure that they do not begin to make noises. We have requirements of the highest permitted noise level from new technical equipment delivered to us – both in relation to the work environment and the external environment.
NOT EVERYONE LIKES THE SMELL OF THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE – BUT IT IS NOT HARMFUL Animals smell. Also when they are transported into the slaughterhouse. The ventilation from our stables can also be smelled. Other sources of smells are the flame furnaces and the organic waste, Smell can be a nuisance for the neighbours. It is difficult to eliminate it completely, but it is not dangerous for the environment in any way having an environmental impact. We try to reduce the nuisances by thinning the odorous substances. There are high chimneys on many of Danish Crown’s slaughterhouses, which emits the smelling airstreams at
such a great height that they are thinned and spread by the air. The organic waste does not smell if it is collected frequently, and at the slaughterhouses this is done several times a day. In a couple of our slaughterhouses we have a special room with low air pressure from which the organic waste is collected. The low air pressure prevents the smell to escape to the environment. All in all Danish Crown has invested a considerable amount of money out of concern for the neighbours.
FACTS
Danish Crown is one of the largest pig slaughterhouses in the world and the largest cattle slaughterhouse in Denmark. Through a network of subsidiaries and associated companies Danish Crown operates both nationally and internationally. Danish Crown delivers products in accordance with consumers demands for food safety and diffew meat producers. Danish Crown is a 100% co-operative.
AN INVISIBLE GREEN EFFORT –IN BLACK AND WHITE The size of Danish Crown alone causes our activities to affect, not only many people’s everyday life, but also our surrounding society and environment. For this reason, we find it both important and natural to lead and take responsibility. We therefore treat the environment and working environment with the same importance as food safety and animal welfare. Even though Danish Crown is a large international foodstuff producer, we are also a part of the Danish society. Our roots stretch far back and we are involved in a large part of the production chain from earth to table. We wish to show trust
and respect. We therefore emphasize open and informal dialogue with customers, suppliers and the local communities we belong to. The extensive efforts in relation to the environment and the working environment which Danish Crown makes, is not necessarily visible for the consumer in the supermarket. But everyone can read about it in our green account which is updated annually. The report is however very extensive and we have therefore collected the most important parts in this folder for those of you who just would like an overview of the issues.
Consumption of water in the period 1988 - 2011 Pork Slaughterhouses
ltr./svin 700 600 500 400 300 200 100
2011/2012
2009/2010
2010/2011
2007/2008
2005/2006
2006/2007
2003/2004
2004/2005
2001/2002
150 100 We closely monitor the waste amounts from all slaughter50 houses, and are therefore continuously able to follow the 0
development of waste in kilos per ton of product. The graph below shows the waste amounts per ton of product in the fiscal year 2011/2012 in our slaughterhouses and cutting rooms.
meat meal producers. At some of the slaughterhouses we have begun to use animal fat for heating instead of oil, which is much more environmental friendly. Animal dung from cleaning of transportation vehicles and stables as well as sludge from the pre-cleaning of the waste water is send to treatment on a biogas plant. This way dung and sludge is used twice. First gas is extracted which is used for producing energy. Then the sludge from the biogas plant is used as fertilizer on farm land.
5 4 3 2 1 0
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
The amount of biogas which was extracted from the biomasses from Danish Crown in 2011/2012 corresponds to the heat consumption of 800 households.
Waste (kg) per tonne product 6
Consumptio per to
12 Kg CO2 emitted per pig slaughtered
To ensure that usage of unnecessary packaging and consumables is reduced by engaging in a continuous dialogue with our customers, and thereby ensuring
The environmental policy of the company must be visible internally as well as externally.
2002/2003
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•
1999/2000
To influence all parts of the value chain in order to promote the environmental concerns of our products.
2000/2001
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Energy consuption (KWh) per Intestines are e.g. used for different products, and the fat is send to a fat melting plant. The remaining organic waste tonne product is divided into different types and is collected daily by the
The production creates large amounts of organic waste (by-products) and smaller amounts of other waste (paper, cardboard and plastic packaging as well as metal scrap, laboratory waste, waste oil400 and fluorescent tubes). The pro350to ensure that all parts of the duction is however optimized 300used. In this manner unnecesanimal which can be used are sary waste is avoided, and 250 this is a main area of concern for 200 Danish Crown.
Work is carried out through interest groups to ensure that future environmental legislation is harmonized within the EU, and is arranged on a balanced foundation. An open and constructive dialogue must be created with the public concerning relevant environmental issues, e.g. in areas concerning the individual companies’ neighbours and local environment.
1997/1998
To actively consider our products’ environmental impact and work towards minimizing the impact stemming from the activities of the company.
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1998/1999
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•
1995/1996
Management tools which are used and developed for optimization and documentation of resource consumption, environmental efforts, and environmental performance, in order to ensure continuous environmental improvements. The systems are chosen and optimized in accordance with the individual needs of the different company units.
Danish Crown participates through organizational cooperation actively in development of initiatives to reduce the inevitable environmental impacts emanating from the production.
1996/1997
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•
1993/1994
All relevant employees to be motivated, educated and actively included in the daily environmental work.
1994/1995
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that the most environmental forms are used while taking the competitiveness of the company into consideration.
1991/1992
The company to be run with focus on least possible consumption of resources and impact on the environment.
1992/1993
•
1989/1990
We have made concrete goals for our environmental work based on the rules and regulations applicable in the countries in which we operate. We want:
1990/1991
In Danish Crown we have to move fast in order to compete on the global market. But we also have a responsibility for the environment. We acknowledge this, and we therefore take measures to protect the environment in relation to the operation of the company and its further development. We do this through a systematic effort and responsible handling of the applied resources.
1987/1988
– BUT NOT AWAY FROM RESPONSIBILITY
ONLY THE OINK IS WASTED -JUST ABOUT 1988/1989
WE MOVE FAST
2008/2009
0
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THE PORK CHOP AND THE CLIMATE In order to produce a pork chop there must also be produced soya, barley, farm buildings, energy and much more. All of these to some extent have an impact on the environment. Nitrous oxide is emitted from the fields, methane from the pig and CO2 from energy and fertilizer production, etc. It is difficult to relate to the proportions of the many abstract numbers and concepts characterizing the climate-field. We have therefore gathered a couple of simple comparisons: The starting point is an ordinary Danish pork chop, which has a total environmental impact of 360 g CO2 eq. This environmental impact corresponds to either • drinking 4 cups of coffee • drives 1 km in a car • hovering for 25 minutes • watches television for 4 hours and 45 minutes • take ½ a bath in a bathtub (if the water is heated with district heating) Conversely an air trip to Thailand for 1 person during which 2 ton of CO2 is emitted corresponds to the consumption of 5.555 pork chops.
LARGER SLAUGHTERHOUSES ARE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY EFFECTIVE Danish Crown consists of a few but large production units. The parent company produces and sells pork and beef. In Denmark we have 7 pig slaughterhouses and 3 cattle slaughterhouses. In addition to this we have 5 factories, which carry out further processing, packaging, and distribution of fresh food. The subsidiary of the company carries out the production of foodstuff like sausages, cold cuts and soups.
wIn the fiscal year 2011/2012 Danish Crown slaughtered 15.6 million pigs and 300.000 cattle. The environmental impact from each of the large slaughterhouses is very significant. But because the slaughter today is carried out by a few large production units the environmental impact per produced unit is much smaller than previously.
THE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL –AND ALL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Environmental management has since the end of the 1990’s been the cornerstone in Danish Crown’s forward looking work in order to control and reduce the environmental impacts of the factories. In 2003 we developed a new management system, MIA (Environment in Work), which integrates the environment, the work environment and other technical conditions, such as insurance conditions and electrical authorisations. The large factories have employed environmental workers, who maintain the daily environmental efforts, the contact to our neighbours, gathering of data, as well as runs the environmental management. The environmental management work on the factories is carried out in a unit called SIMU, Safety and Environmental committee. The company environmental department supports the factories in their environmental work with expert knowledge, and the factories have different IT-tools which also supports them in their efforts.
There is an internet-based IT-platform, the MIA-manager, with knowledge and environmental management tools, as well as the MIA-database, which controls waste water and refuse. The behaviour of the individual employee has a collectively large impact on the environment. E.g. a reduction or maintenance of the energy and water consumption has been achieved as a result of employees on all levels ensuring that unnecessary consumption and waste is avoided. It is often the employee who has the best overview of the environmental or work environmental impact of his or her work. The goal is to have all Danish Crown’s factories in Denmark certified in accordance with international standards for environmental and work environment management. So far 7 slaughterhouses have been certified.
Consumption of water in the period 1988 - 2011 Pork Slaughterhouses
ltr./svin 700 600 500 400 300 200 100
2011/2012
2009/2010
2010/2011
2007/2008
400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
2008/2009
2005/2006
Energy consuption (KWh) per tonne product
2006/2007
2003/2004
2004/2005
2001/2002
2002/2003
1999/2000
2000/2001
1997/1998
1998/1999
1995/1996
1996/1997
1993/1994
1994/1995
1991/1992
1992/1993
1989/1990
1990/1991
1987/1988
1988/1989
0
THE CLIMATE IS MORE THAN JUST HOT AIR Consumption of chlorine (gram)
per tonne product Considerable advances have been made through targeted
The latest years’ increasing attention to emission of greenhouse gasses and the140 impact on the global environment makes it natural that 120 considerations of this is integrated into the development100 of society, industry and market. 80
As a leading food producer Danish Crown acknowledges its 60 responsibility to contribute to the limitation of harmful ef40 fects on the climate. The company’s largest contribution to 20 the emission of greenhouse gas is the energy consumption, 0 transportation, packaging, as well as cooling. Even though the climate debate is rather new, Danish Crown has been working with environmental improvements for many years – improvements which are important for the environmental impact.
Waste (kg) per tonne product
THIS IS HOW WE IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT 6
For us the process begins already when the animals are transported from the farmers to the slaughterhouse. In the slaughterhouse the raw material undergoes a number of processes before reaching the end product. This can be half a carcase, parts or cuts. The illustration below shows the
5 4 3 2 environmental1impact of the various processes such as 0 waste water. In addition to this the energy noise, smell and
and water consumption of the processes in order to understand the total environmental impact must be considered.
Kg CO2 emitted per pig slaughtered
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
benchmark programs and development projects which mean that Danish Crown today has a better starting point than many international competitors. Targeted initiatives to reduce electricity and heating consumption have resulted in a reduction in the CO2-emission with 31% since 1998, as shown in the graph below.
FOOD SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN BALANCE Litre/pig
600
500 500 400 400 300 300 200 200 100 100 2010/2011
2011/2012
2009/2010 2010/2011
2011/2012
2008/2009 2007/2008
2009/2010 2008/2009
2005/2006
400 350 400 300 350 250 300 200 250 150 200 100 150 50 0
2006/2007
Energy consuption (KWh) per
Energy consuption (KWh) per tonne product tonne product
2007/2008
2005/2006
2006/2007
2003/2004
2004/2005
2003/2004
2004/2005
2001/2002
2002/2003
2002/2003
2000/2001 2000/2001
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1998/1999 1998/1999
Slaughterhouse consumption incl. gutcleaning excl. other activities
1999/2000 1999/2000
1996/1997
1997/1998 1997/1998
1995/1996
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1994/1995
1995/1996
1993/1994
1994/1995
1992/1993
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1991/1992 1990/1991
1991/1992
Consumption of chlorine (gram) Consumption of chlorine (gram) per tonne product
per tonne product
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
100 50 0
12
Waste (kg) per tonne product 6
Waste (kg) per tonne product
5 4 3 6 2 5 1 4 0
3 2 1
10 8 6 4 2 0
12 CO2 emitted per pig slaughtered
0
1988/1989 1989/1990
0
1990/1991 1989/1990
Despite the increased requirements, an almost constant consumption has been maintained throughout the last many years, mainly because we have been able to save in other areas. The energy consumption per slaughter is continuously registered on all slaughterhouses.
Pork Slaughterhouses
700
1987/1988
At the same time it has been a period with constantly increased demands to food safety. This has e.g. meant that slaughterhouse equipment today is sterilised in 82ËšC hot water, and the cooling of the production rooms is more intensive.
600
1987/1988 1988/1989
The slaughterhouses have kept a constant focus on the water and energy consumption since the middle of the 80’s and have continuously optimised the production processes, e.g. by purchasing new production equipment with low water and energy consumption. The graph below shows a decrease in water consumption throughout the last 20 years.
Consumption of water in the period 1988 - 2011 Pork Slaughterhouses Consumption of water in the period 1988 - 2011
ltr./svin ltr./svin 700
Kg CO2 emitted per pig slaughtered
Slaughterhouse operation and meat processing requires a lot of energy and water. The largest part of the energy consumption goes to cooling of the carcasses. The energy consumption leads to CO2 emissions which is an essential aspect in the human-made greenhouse effect. The largest part of the water consumption is used in cleaning. Water is a scarce resource.
10 8 6 4
OUT WITH THE CHLORINE - BUT NOT WITH THE WASTE WATER An essential process in a slaughterhouse is the cleaning. In this process is used acid and alkali cleaning agents as well as natrium hypochlorite for disinfection, and these are discharged with the waste water. Especially the hypochlorite can affect the environment because it contains chlorine. We therefore wish to phase the usage of it out as soon as we can find a proper alternative. Unfortunately we have not succeeded in this yet.
ter in the period 1988 - 2011 aughterhouses
Every year we register the consumption of cleaning agents and natrium hypochlorite for each individual slaughterhouse. The chlorine consumption is 1,5 – 4,5 grams per 1000 slaughtered pigs.
The slaughterhouse waste water contains the nutrient salts nitrogen and phosphor as well as easily biodegradable material. Particles are sifted out of the waste water before it is discharged into the public sewer system and waste water treatment plant. The waste water’s content of organic material can cause an improvement in the treatment of the other waste water which is discharged into the waste water treatment plant. The environmental impact of the waste water is therefore minimal.
2011/2012
Consumption of chlorine (gram) per tonne product 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
12 pig slaughtered
2009/2010
2010/2011
2007/2008
2008/2009
2005/2006
tonne product
2006/2007
2003/2004
2004/2005
2001/2002
2002/2003
1999/2000
2000/2001
on (KWh) per oduct
The consumption of natrium hypochlorite per slaughtered pig in 2011/2012 is shown in the graph below. The variations can be caused by the difference in size of the factories which must be disinfected.
The vehicles used for transport of animals must be washed and disinfected to avoid any risk for contamination. They are disinfected but an oxidizing agent. Only cleaning agents not containing LAS, NPE and EDTA is used, as these substances are harmful for the aquatic environment.
10 8