Reducing the carbon footprint

Last update: march 2010

Danone’s total carbon footprint for 2009 is estimated to be 16 million tons of equivalent CO₂. Of this total, 52% of emissions are associated with agricultural raw materials used, 19% with transport, 18% with product packaging and 11% directly with industrial activities.

Danone considers carbon to be a core indicator that will enable them to profoundly and sustainably transform their business practices (since it incorporates the group’s major environmental impact areas – factory impact (energy, waste), packaging, transport and also milk production). Since 1996, Danone formalized principles of action for all of their subsidiaries within a charter. These principles are intended to take account of the environmental problems across all of the group’s activities, whether that concerns product manufacture, purchasing, R&D or marketing.

In 2001, quantified reduction objectives were fixed for the 2000-2010 period for the whole group:

- 20% reduction in energy consumption
- 30% reduction in water consumption
- 10% reduction in the weight of product packaging.
These objectives were reached and passed in 2008 for all criteria, with a greenhouse gas emissions impact. This excluded packaging, given the evolving market for more individual portions.

In 2009, the group went even further and made commitments to:

• Reduce their CO₂ footprint by 30% (in kgCO₂ /kg product) by 2012 across all of its direct business activities (industrial sites, packaging and transport). This commitment is particularly evident through 2 objectives:
- a 20% reduction of energy consumption linked to industrial activity
- a 20% increase by 2020 in the use of renewable energy sources

• Attain carbon neutrality for the major Danone brands, including Evian, by the end of 2011.
• Co-create carbon compensation solutions which incorporate all aspects of sustainable development.

• In order to reach these objectives, five action points have been identified:
- Direct industrial activity – improve energy efficiency and reduce the use of raw materials
- Transport – prioritize rail and river transport over road transport, reduce people and goods movement as much as possible
- Packaging – avoid useless packaging, develop ways to reuse and recycle more, prioritize the introduction of renewable raw materials
- Milk production – reduce methane emissions by cows and co-develop innovative solutions with producers
- Ecosystems – restore natural CO₂ absorption and capture mechanisms, via the restoration of wetlands and polluted soils.