To deliver on our mission, we depend on nature. Food has a critical role to play at the forefront of many environmental threats and solutions, from climate change to biodiversity and water protection. Our ambition at Danone is to make food a solution that preserves and regenerates nature, while strenghtening farming resilience. One way we’re doing this is by setting ambitious targets, e.g., to reduce methane emissions from fresh dairy, being the first company, in 2023, to do so.
Preserving & regenerating nature
Nature
HOW WE'RE DELIVERING
ON NATURE IN THE UK
To deliver on our health mission, we depend on nature, a core pillar of our Danone Impact Journey.
We recognise that food has a critical role to play at the forefront of many environmental threats and solutions, from climate change to biodiversity and water protection. Our Impact Journey helps set out our roadmap for curbing our GHG emissions in line with 1.5°C, by leading on the development of regenerative agriculture and shifting to a circular packaging system while cutting food waste.
From pioneering lower carbon options throughout our portfolio, to supporting the development of Deposit Returns Schemes (DRS), we’re always reviewing how we can make positive changes with our supply chain and beyond. We know we need to work together to build a more sustainable food system.
A snapshot of our work
In 2023 Danone published its global Climate Transition Plan to set out how we will achieve near-term 2023 carbon reduction targets across our operations and supply chain, as well as outline how we’ll reach net-zero by 2050. We are taking action across all emissions scopes. For example, we use 100% renewable electricity across all UK & Ireland factories and are increasing energy efficiency. In 2025, we switched to making our most popular Alpro Oat Drink from 100% British Oats, supporting local agriculture while at the same time cutting GHG and water usage through a new production process.
And we continue to innovate when it comes to our packaging. All our evian and Volvic bottles are made from 100% rPET, saving 7,000 tonnes of virgin plastic and over 10,000 tonnes CO₂ annually. In healthcare, we reformulated some of our tube feeds to increase plant-based proteins, reducing GHG emissions by 18%.
A snapshot of our work
We source dairy ingredients for our baby formula milk products from a number of Irish dairy suppliers. We are working closely with them to help cut carbon emissions through measures like management of manure and fertiliser use, and grazing practices. In Europe we’re supporting French farmers through a project called ‘Les Deux Pieds sur Terre’, meaning ‘Both Feet on the Ground’. The project supports farmers by advising them on how to measure the carbon footprint of their milk, as well as how to reduce it.
Since 2013 we’ve had a traceability system in place for palm oil to track where it is coming from. As of 2024 we achieved 100% palm oil traceability to mill level and 98% to plantation level, helping us to ensure it is produced sustainably and ethically.
A snapshot of our work
We recognise that there are pros and cons of different packaging materials in different formats, depending on many factors. So we work to develop our packing based on the right material for the product, removing and reducing unnecessary and virgin plastic packaging, and designing for recyclability. For example, our Actimel bottles are now label-free, with the brand name, vitamins and allergens embossed directly onto the bottle. This saves 135 tonnes of plastic and 516 tonnes CO₂e annually. Since early 2025, all our evian and Volvic bottles have been made from 100% recycled PET*.
*Excludes cap and label
We support wider shifts in packaging infrastructure and behaviour. We supported the launch of Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Ireland in 2024, which boosted collection rates to 73% in six months. We’ve been encouraging refill and reuse behaviour by launching our refill solution for evian natural mineral water at Wimbledon. And we have developed tailored materials to educate healthcare professionals on how to recycle our medical nutrition packaging.
A snapshot of our work
Globally our ‘Battle Against Waste’ programme has been rolled out across our end-to-end supply chain, in order to prevent food waste being generated.
In the UK we have donated 3,158 tonnes of surplus food since 2017— that’s the equivalent of 7.5 million meals – and been recognised as one of FareShare’s leading food surplus donation partners. In Ireland we have redistributed the equivalent of almost 500,000 meals to charities and community groups, through our partnership with FoodCloud since 2023.
We are also helping consumers waste less at home. We have switched from ‘use by’ to ‘best before’ dates across our Activia, Actimel and Oykos yogurts, as well as our Alpro products and some of our Light & Free and GetPRO ranges. We work with Too Good To Go to help consumers understand that food past its best before date can still be good to eat. Our packaging features their logo, and we partner with retailers to raise awareness through online and in‑store campaigns.
Preserving and restoring watersheds
Water scarcity may not seem like a direct problem in the UK & Ireland, but the international supply chains we rely on are impacted by drought and water scarcity.
Roughly 90% of our water footprint worldwide is linked to agriculture and our regenerative approach to farming – which involves sustainable irrigation and improving the ability of soil to store water – is critical to help address this.
Our water brands have decades of experience in water stewardship. In 1992, we co-founded the Association for the Protection of the evian Mineral Water Impluvium (APIEME) through which we work with the community to promote conservation. In the UK & Ireland, we work closely with the Environment Agency to protect our Harrogate Spring Water source. And across our production sites, we are deploying the 4R approach to reduce, reuse, recycle and reclaim the water we use. For example, our Liverpool healthcare manufacturing site reduced water use by 31% in 2023.
For more information on how Danone is managing its impact on water – see our 2024 Danone water policy: danone-water-policy-2024.pdf
