Corporate
Responsibility 2011
Our approach to corporate responsibility is based on our core principles
Last year we published 'Measuring our responsibility', our first corporate responsibility report. The response we received confirmed that our stakeholders want to know about our policies and approach towards responsible business practice, our perfomance year on year and how we are addressing our material issues.
We remain committed to publishing a full Corporate Responsibility (CR) report within every three years and will continue to provide updated information on our website and through our annual report.
In 2011, the majority of our attention was focused on material risks, their potential impact and the management processes arising from them as outlined in our 2010 report. These include:
- compliance with internationally recognised norms for labour standards and continuous diligence in ensuring the health, wellbeing and safety of our employees, suppliers and contractors;
- a programme of activity, building upon last year’s exercise, to identify our water-intensive sites and to improve our understanding of water availability in the vicinity of our plants, our water usage and its disposal; and
- an expanded programme of internal and external audits of health and safety, environmental and other CR matters, and continued sharing of best practice between our businesses.
We are still at the beginning of our CR journey recognising where and how we can continue to improve. While we operate a decentralised approach to managing our businesses, they are encouraged to put in place improvements to minimise any negative social and environmental impacts and to maximise any positive contributions they can make. Typically this is achieved by sharing examples of good practice, increasing the level of importance attached to monitoring and reporting CR performance and ensuring senior management in the businesses are held accountable.
We have identified that our businesses have the greatest impact on the environment through their use of energy and the resultant emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), the abstraction of water and the generation and disposal of waste. During the year we invested £60m in environmental improvements including effluent treatment, waste reduction, increased energy generation and greater energy efficiency.
Unusual weather patterns in 2011 created both opportunities and challenges for our businesses. For some the opportunity was increased production time resulting in increased output but with increased use of energy. For others the adverse weather created decreased production efficiencies and increased waste. Therefore, despite driving environmental efficiencies, we have increased our total use of energy with a resultant increase in emissions of CO2. The weather impacts masked the good work of our engineers in driving up energy efficiency especially in our sugar operations, which are our largest energy users.
Last year we identified some inconsistencies in the measurement of water usage in different parts of the group, especially in Africa. The calculation methodology has now been significantly improved and we will continue to refine our calculations across all of the businesses. Similarly we will focus on our waste generation.
We will strive for further improvement in our health, safety and environmental performance as we take actions to enhance the sustainability of our operations.
Our full Health, Safety and Environment Report for 2011 is available at www.abf.co.uk/uploads/hse2011report.pdf but examples of our environmental improvements in 2011 include:
- nearly 47% of our energy was derived from renewable sources;
- collection of sulphur emissions data has commenced – we emitted 4,900 tonnes this year – and in future we will be able to report our progress in managing these emissions;
- improvements at Speedibake UK include:
- elimination of plastic trays used internally to reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill;
- sourcing of ingredients, packaging and labelling switched to local suppliers;
- changing our egg supplier from Spain, to one based in Harrogate, resulted in 125,000 fewer transport miles and a resultant reduction of 132 tonnes of CO2 emissions;
- back haulage arrangements with customers so that vehicles that previously returned empty now collect their goods for transport to distribution centres saving miles, fuel and CO2 emissions;
- Azucarera, our sugar business in Spain, has been working with one of its major customers to help determine the water footprint of sugar beet, using the internationally recognised standard designed by the Water Footprint Network, and has started a zero landfill project which has seen the topsoil from some of their sites reused for public works;
- significant new waste water treatment expansions in our sugar businesses in China and yeast businesses in South America, Europe and Asia with over £12m invested in new, expanded or improved effluent treatment plants;
- AB World Foods, Primark and Allied Bakeries have improved their waste handling procedures and approach to recycling. Improved segregation processes in factories and stores have reduced the amount sent to landfill by 2,500 tonnes and increased the amount sent directly to reprocessing plants;
- Silver Spoon’s Golden Syrup is moving from a glass jar weighing 236g to a recycled plastic container weighing 35g, a weight saving of 85% and a carbon saving of 59%. When savings in secondary packaging and transport are included, we estimate that this saves 100 tonnes of CO2 for each million units sold; and
- in 2010 the government launched a commitment to reduce the carbon impact of packaging by 10%, to reduce household food and drink waste by 4% and to reduce traditional grocery product waste in the grocery supply chain by 5%. We will be contributing to these reductions.
Our business priority is to safeguard the wellbeing, development and safety of our people and those who work with us. With 102,000 employees we put significant effort into ensuring that our businesses are safe places to work and we aim to offer our people the support most suitable for their needs.
Despite the health and safety of our workforce being an absolute priority across the group, we regret deeply having to report three work-related fatalities across our global operations during 2011. The deaths of two employees were the result of working in an unsafe atmosphere within a confined space and a road traffic accident on the way to a meeting. The death of a contractor on our site was the result of a fall from the top of a vehicle whilst preparing to load it. We alerted all our businesses to these tragedies and re-emphasised the safe working procedures.
In 2011 we invested £38m to improve working conditions and the safety of equipment. This investment included fire prevention equipment and installations, emergency response systems, personal protection equipment, equipment to prevent falls from height and pedestrian safety measures. We place special focus on construction safety and reducing the risks from moving vehicles.
We monitor carefully the relevant guidance published by the national regulatory authorities as a benchmark, and upgrade our safeguards where necessary to meet the latest standards.
Our businesses continued to develop the robustness of their risk management systems, which include clear objectives and safety improvement targets, effective physical controls, effective management procedures and routine performance monitoring.
With a fall in our reportable injuries, lost time injuries and cases of ill-health suffered by employees, we are heartened to see positive results from the time and financial investment in improving the health, wellbeing and safety of our employees and contractors.
To find out more about our approach to developing and safeguarding our employees, see:
www.abf.co.uk/our-people.aspx and www.abf.co.uk/uploads/hse2011report.pdf.
Our core business principles as they relate to our suppliers are available at www.abf.co.uk/Our-principles-accordion.aspx. They include requirements to:
- carry out our business honestly, ethically and with respect for the rights and interests of our suppliers;
- settle our bills promptly, being a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code, co-operating with suppliers to improve quality and efficiency;
- develop relationships with supplier companies consistent with these basic principles, and specifically with respect to internationally recognised human rights and conditions of employment; and
- encourage a programme of improvement, where shortcomings are identified through our supplier audit programme.
We are very aware of our responsibility for our products and to our customers and this year we have focused on:
- product and food safety;
- product nutritional labelling;
- sourcing, which includes palm oil and soya; and
- engaging with our customers to meet their needs, provide them with information and support environmentally sensitive behaviours.
As a result, we have been active in each of these areas during 2011 with highlights including:
- George Weston Foods in Australia committed to providing on-pack information on all of its products to show consumers the percentage Daily Intake (%DI) of nutrients and enable them to make informed dietary choices;
- our Grocery group signed the Food and Drink Federation Fivefold Environmental Ambition, the Courtauld 2 Commitment to reduce packaging and waste, and pledges within the UK Government’s Responsibility Deal on Public Health to reduce salt, remove trans-fats and promote health to our employees;
- We are very aware of our responsibility for our products and to our customers and this year we have focused on:
- Allied Bakeries became a member of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, a UK charity focused on the needs of people at risk of allergic reactions, to provide information and support on food triggers;
- AB Sustain delivered sustainability solutions to retailers and processors and is building a network of NGO relationships;
- AB Agri became a member of the Technology Strategy Board’s Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform Steering Group which brings funding to commercially focused research projects;
- progress was made in meeting our aim of only buying palm oil from sustainable sources by 2015. Some of our businesses already purchase only Certified Sustainable palm oil and Green Palm Certificates; and
- Primark launched a new informative website in 2011 to explain its open and transparent approach to business, corporate ethics and stakeholder engagement.
We recognise our responsibilities as a member of the communities in which we operate and encourage our businesses to engage with their local communities as and how they wish. However, the group’s contribution to communities comes principally via the Garfield Weston Foundation, which was set up by the late W. Garfield Weston in 1958.
It is one of the UK’s foremost philanthropic organisations and derives a substantial proportion of its funds from its interests in the group’s ultimate holding company, Wittington Investments Limited. More detail can be found at: http://www.garfieldweston.org
We were delighted to be ranked third by Carbon Smart in their 2011 annual awards for best practice in CR reporting and assurance, after the publication of our first CR report last year. This, together with the feedback we have received from a range of stakeholders, reassured us that providing greater insight into our risks, responsibilities and actions taken is appropriate. We aim to improve our reporting each year, taking an honest approach to sharing both our achievements and our challenges.
GIVING CUSTOMERS THE FACTS - DAILY INTAKE LABELLING
George Weston Foods in Australia has made a commitment to providing details of the percentage Daily Intake (%DI) of nutrients prominently on the front of packs, across the entire product range. Showing the content of saturated fat, total fat, sugars and sodium, as well as the percentage of the recommended daily energy intake provided by the product, consumers will be able to make more informed food choices with a better understanding of the nutritional contribution that these products make to their overall diet.
GREEN ENERGY
The AB Mauri yeast factory in Brazil has traditionally used heavy fuel oil to generate steam for the production process. Boilers that burn heavy oil are inefficient and emit high levels of CO2 for every unit of heat produced. The business reviewed the alternatives and decided to invest in a modern biomass boiler.
The feedstock for the new boiler is a mixture of sugar cane fibre (bagasse) and woodchips. As the biomass is a renewable source of energy, the boiler is carbon neutral. The biomass is obtained from what would otherwise be waste from sugar and alcohol plants and the timber industry.