Responsibility › Environment & natural resources
Respecting the natural environment means understanding its limits and how our activities can have an impact.
We recognise that our businesses use natural resources, and create emissions and waste. We aim to be responsible stewards of the environment by minimising any negative impacts. Our approach towards the environment is governed by the AB Mauri Environment Policy.
View AB Mauri Environment Policy
SUPPORTING
Water
Water is vital to our business. In our yeast plants it is the medium in which yeast cells live, grow, and reproduce. Throughout our operations we also use it to keep our equipment and facilities clean and efficient.
Being efficient with water use and returning it safely to the environment ensures we can continue to operate in our locations over the long term by improving water security and helping both communities and biodiversity in the areas where we work.
Here is a video of our Head of Manufacturing Oscar Touceda, discussing the importance of water to our business, and how we return water to the environment safely and sustainably.
Our water strategy, designed and implemented by our dedicated global water champion, focuses on sharing best practice in four "R"s:
Reduce water use where appropriate,
Reuse water directly where appropriate,
Recycle treated water back into our operations,
Return treated water safely to the environment to a standard that meets or exceeds local regulations.
Effective treatment can also create useful by-products – see Waste and Circularity section below
Since 2010 AB Mauri has invested over
$110 million
in water treatment CapEx , with over $30m more in the pipeline
Water Intensity
Showing the yearly % change in Water Intensity
At AB Mauri we are focussed on reducing our “water intensity” ratio, or the quantity of water used per tonne of final product (excluding by products), over time. We do this through continuously improving our operations and spreading best practice throughout the organisation. This allows us to reduces our impact on the local environment and local communities.
Waste and circularity
We are committed to reducing waste created as a result of our operations, through a comprehensive strategy focussed on elminate, reduce, re-use and re-cycle.
Eliminate Wherever possible we eliminate waste by using only the raw materials we need and making them go as far as possible through efficient operations.
Reduce Wherever possible we reduce waste by continuously improving the efficiency of our operations.
Reuse Increasingly we re-purpose waste streams we previously considered as waste for new uses and markets.
Recycle For the waste we cannot eliminate, re-use or repurpose, we recycle wherever possible to avoid sending materials to landfill or incineration. For example:
- Biogas from our yeast wastewater treatment processes can be captured and recycled back into our operations, replacing natural gas as a source of heat of electricity generation.
Visit our Energy & Climate Impact page for more information. - Vinasse, also a product of our yeast process, can be used to create fertiliser for agriculture and highly prized ruminant animal feed.
