After years of planning and development, the day has finally come for Unilever. On Monday, the manufacturing giant relocates from its three UK business centres in Kingston upon Thames, Walton-on-Thames and Crawley into one new state-of-the-art office in Leatherhead.
The 157,000 sq ft site has enviable facilities, including tea-tasting rooms, consumer focus areas, a mock-up of a shop, a gym and even a dentist. But dig a little deeper - quite literally in the case of the building's nine geo-thermal ground source heat pumps - and the building offers much more.
It's kitted out with a variety of eco-friendly features that elevate it to the next level in terms of green development (see box). Many will also help the business reduce its cost base, something all suppliers will be keen to do as the country slides into what looks set to be a long and deep recession.
It is almost a year since the Food and Drink Federation launched its ambitious five-pronged environmental plan to help food and drink companies meet targets such as zero waste to landfill by 2015 and a 20% reduction in water use by 2020.
Throw into the equation the subsequent economic downturn, Government plans to incentivise carbon reduction, mounting cost pressure from supermarkets and consumers demanding change, and it's easy to see why suppliers are pursuing their green agendas with a greater sense of urgency.
Top of the to-do list is energy reduction. Despite the recent fall in oil prices to under $70 a barrel from a high of $147 in July, fuel prices are expected to remain highly volatile over the next couple of years. Concerns over soaring prices over the past year have been amplified by the issue of food miles and the looming prospect of carbon trading - the Government providing economic incentives to businesses that can reduce their carbon output.
The IGD believes it is now inevitable that large grocery businesses will soon participate in carbon-trading schemes, at least in the EU. Some manufacturers are taking action ahead of legislation.
By using trains to transport goods, Tate & Lyle, for instance, claims to have slashed food miles by 2.1 million. It is also building a £20m biomass boiler, which will burn wheat husk, a waste product, avoiding the controversial use of food crops for fuel, at its Silvertown plant in east London. Due for completion next March, the boiler is expected to cut Tate & Lyle's use of fossil fuels at the site by 70% and reduce the carbon footprint of its cane sugar by 25%.
Robert Wiseman Dairies is another supplier investing in biomass technology. It originally intended to use effluent from its processing plant to power a boiler, but having dramatically cut effluent production through efficiency measures, it is now looking at other sustainable sources of biomass. "We are determined to reduce our dependence on utilities," says a spokesman. "If it made sense before, it certainly makes sense now."
Dairy rival Kerrygold takes a similar approach. Next March it opens a new factory with a CHP (combined heat and power) plant to convert gas to electricity. The building will also have sun pipes to maximise natural light and solar-powered roof panels.
Another way suppliers are trying to reduce their fuel costs and food miles is through collaboration either with other suppliers or with retailers.
In a project co-ordinated by IGD, Nestlé products are transported each day in United Biscuits delivery vans, saving on petrol by reducing the empty running of vehicles by more than 150,000km since 2007.
Oil is not the only resource coming under ever greater scrutiny with a view to its reduction. Water is also under the spotlight, with some experts predicting that water footprints will replace carbon footprints as a measure of greenness. In a bid to reduce its water footprint, PepsiCo's Walkers has been working with Government-backed agency Envirowise. Following the installation of water meters at its two Leicester sites with initiatives such as recycling water recovered from starch, it has cut consumption by 50% at the sites and saved 700 million litres per year.
As with carbon footprints, food and drink suppliers would do well to address the nascent issue of water footprints before the Government and media descend upon it, believe experts. In January, 21 leading food and drink suppliers signed an agreement to improve their water efficiency and reduce water use. Once rolled out across the sector as a whole, the initiative could save 140 million litres of water per day.
In the meantime, waste remains the other big issue - no surprise given that landfill tax is to rise by £8 a tonne annually until at least 2010 from its current level of £32 a tonne. To put the tax's significance into context, food manufacturers produce 4.1 million tonnes of waste a year compared with the 1.6 million produced by retailers and 6.7 million by households, according to Government-backed waste-reduction body Wrap.
Envirowise encourages companies to produce less waste in the first place, whether food or packaging. It believes companies can save 4% of turnover through low and no-cost actions such as lightweighting packaging, a trend that is gaining added momentum as supermarkets come under pressure to reduce their use of packaging under the Courtauld Commitment.
Coca-Cola is one of many companies that has worked to cut down the weight of its packaging. Last June, it started producing a new 500ml PET plastic bottle in the UK, 8% lighter than its predecessor.
Despite the success of such initiatives, there is still a long way to go to tackle the waste mountain. A survey published by the FDF this summer in conjunction with Defra and Wrap found there were still major concerns over mixed packaging waste, where, for example, a bottle filled with a liquid or packaging consisting of plastic bonded to card is sent to landfill because it is not particularly easy to separate the different elements.
"Opportunities exist to develop new ways to separate these elements or to devise new packaging," says FDF director of communications Julian Hunt, "but achieving this will require the involvement of many different stakeholders."
The strategic focus needed is a step on from the "quick wins" of saving energy and waste focused on by many companies so far. Suppliers need to start thinking about the bigger picture and the longer-term future, adds Anne Bourdier, head of commissioned research at IGD. It is starting to happen.
"Naturally people will start to identify those quick wins, but now we are seeing some companies plan for the longer term and really look at their supply chain infrastructure," she says. "We are encouraging people to think about not only next year, but also the next 15 years."
Alex Cole, head of corporate social responsibility at Cadbury, agrees. "It is not going to be enough to become more efficient. You need to fundamentally change the way you think about energy and carbon and how you configure the business."
All areas of Cadbury's business are now judged on carbon and packaging targets as well as the normal business metrics, she claims. From next year, the company is taking the concept a step further - the senior management team will be set a carbon reduction target in addition to its usual set of financial goals.
Meanwhile, Cadbury is planning for the long term as it works toward building its first eco-factory in Poland in the next few years.
Along with several other major manufacturers, including Reckitt Benckiser and Coca-Cola, Cadbury is also attempting to find further efficiencies by calculating the carbon footprint of individual products so it can identify the carbon-heavy parts of its supply chain.
It's not just the big companies that are setting new benchmarks. Alpro Soya recently revealed it will have saved a third of its carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the year thanks to measures including wind and biomass power generation, achieving greater manufacturing efficiency and buying green electricity.
But it's the likes of Unilever that are arguably stepping things up a gear by greening their office space as well as their production facilities.
Bourdier certainly believes there's been an important sea change. "It is very clear we are entering a new phase," she says. "For most in the industry there is no question something needs to be done."n
The 157,000 sq ft site has enviable facilities, including tea-tasting rooms, consumer focus areas, a mock-up of a shop, a gym and even a dentist. But dig a little deeper - quite literally in the case of the building's nine geo-thermal ground source heat pumps - and the building offers much more.
It's kitted out with a variety of eco-friendly features that elevate it to the next level in terms of green development (see box). Many will also help the business reduce its cost base, something all suppliers will be keen to do as the country slides into what looks set to be a long and deep recession.
It is almost a year since the Food and Drink Federation launched its ambitious five-pronged environmental plan to help food and drink companies meet targets such as zero waste to landfill by 2015 and a 20% reduction in water use by 2020.
Throw into the equation the subsequent economic downturn, Government plans to incentivise carbon reduction, mounting cost pressure from supermarkets and consumers demanding change, and it's easy to see why suppliers are pursuing their green agendas with a greater sense of urgency.
Top of the to-do list is energy reduction. Despite the recent fall in oil prices to under $70 a barrel from a high of $147 in July, fuel prices are expected to remain highly volatile over the next couple of years. Concerns over soaring prices over the past year have been amplified by the issue of food miles and the looming prospect of carbon trading - the Government providing economic incentives to businesses that can reduce their carbon output.
The IGD believes it is now inevitable that large grocery businesses will soon participate in carbon-trading schemes, at least in the EU. Some manufacturers are taking action ahead of legislation.
By using trains to transport goods, Tate & Lyle, for instance, claims to have slashed food miles by 2.1 million. It is also building a £20m biomass boiler, which will burn wheat husk, a waste product, avoiding the controversial use of food crops for fuel, at its Silvertown plant in east London. Due for completion next March, the boiler is expected to cut Tate & Lyle's use of fossil fuels at the site by 70% and reduce the carbon footprint of its cane sugar by 25%.
Robert Wiseman Dairies is another supplier investing in biomass technology. It originally intended to use effluent from its processing plant to power a boiler, but having dramatically cut effluent production through efficiency measures, it is now looking at other sustainable sources of biomass. "We are determined to reduce our dependence on utilities," says a spokesman. "If it made sense before, it certainly makes sense now."
Dairy rival Kerrygold takes a similar approach. Next March it opens a new factory with a CHP (combined heat and power) plant to convert gas to electricity. The building will also have sun pipes to maximise natural light and solar-powered roof panels.
Another way suppliers are trying to reduce their fuel costs and food miles is through collaboration either with other suppliers or with retailers.
In a project co-ordinated by IGD, Nestlé products are transported each day in United Biscuits delivery vans, saving on petrol by reducing the empty running of vehicles by more than 150,000km since 2007.
Oil is not the only resource coming under ever greater scrutiny with a view to its reduction. Water is also under the spotlight, with some experts predicting that water footprints will replace carbon footprints as a measure of greenness. In a bid to reduce its water footprint, PepsiCo's Walkers has been working with Government-backed agency Envirowise. Following the installation of water meters at its two Leicester sites with initiatives such as recycling water recovered from starch, it has cut consumption by 50% at the sites and saved 700 million litres per year.
As with carbon footprints, food and drink suppliers would do well to address the nascent issue of water footprints before the Government and media descend upon it, believe experts. In January, 21 leading food and drink suppliers signed an agreement to improve their water efficiency and reduce water use. Once rolled out across the sector as a whole, the initiative could save 140 million litres of water per day.
In the meantime, waste remains the other big issue - no surprise given that landfill tax is to rise by £8 a tonne annually until at least 2010 from its current level of £32 a tonne. To put the tax's significance into context, food manufacturers produce 4.1 million tonnes of waste a year compared with the 1.6 million produced by retailers and 6.7 million by households, according to Government-backed waste-reduction body Wrap.
Envirowise encourages companies to produce less waste in the first place, whether food or packaging. It believes companies can save 4% of turnover through low and no-cost actions such as lightweighting packaging, a trend that is gaining added momentum as supermarkets come under pressure to reduce their use of packaging under the Courtauld Commitment.
Coca-Cola is one of many companies that has worked to cut down the weight of its packaging. Last June, it started producing a new 500ml PET plastic bottle in the UK, 8% lighter than its predecessor.
Despite the success of such initiatives, there is still a long way to go to tackle the waste mountain. A survey published by the FDF this summer in conjunction with Defra and Wrap found there were still major concerns over mixed packaging waste, where, for example, a bottle filled with a liquid or packaging consisting of plastic bonded to card is sent to landfill because it is not particularly easy to separate the different elements.
"Opportunities exist to develop new ways to separate these elements or to devise new packaging," says FDF director of communications Julian Hunt, "but achieving this will require the involvement of many different stakeholders."
The strategic focus needed is a step on from the "quick wins" of saving energy and waste focused on by many companies so far. Suppliers need to start thinking about the bigger picture and the longer-term future, adds Anne Bourdier, head of commissioned research at IGD. It is starting to happen.
"Naturally people will start to identify those quick wins, but now we are seeing some companies plan for the longer term and really look at their supply chain infrastructure," she says. "We are encouraging people to think about not only next year, but also the next 15 years."
Alex Cole, head of corporate social responsibility at Cadbury, agrees. "It is not going to be enough to become more efficient. You need to fundamentally change the way you think about energy and carbon and how you configure the business."
All areas of Cadbury's business are now judged on carbon and packaging targets as well as the normal business metrics, she claims. From next year, the company is taking the concept a step further - the senior management team will be set a carbon reduction target in addition to its usual set of financial goals.
Meanwhile, Cadbury is planning for the long term as it works toward building its first eco-factory in Poland in the next few years.
Along with several other major manufacturers, including Reckitt Benckiser and Coca-Cola, Cadbury is also attempting to find further efficiencies by calculating the carbon footprint of individual products so it can identify the carbon-heavy parts of its supply chain.
It's not just the big companies that are setting new benchmarks. Alpro Soya recently revealed it will have saved a third of its carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the year thanks to measures including wind and biomass power generation, achieving greater manufacturing efficiency and buying green electricity.
But it's the likes of Unilever that are arguably stepping things up a gear by greening their office space as well as their production facilities.
Bourdier certainly believes there's been an important sea change. "It is very clear we are entering a new phase," she says. "For most in the industry there is no question something needs to be done."n
unilever's NEW eco-office
Unilever is spearheading its environmental drive with the opening of a new eco-headquarters in Leatherhead (above).
The building's main features are:
l A ground source heat pump system that uses the thermal properties of the ground to cut energy bills by up to 40%
l Solar panels on the roof that pre-heat water even in winter, reducing the energy required to heat domestic water
l Solar reduction glass that cuts heat gained through windows and stabilises air-conditioning requirements
l A building orientation that maximises light but minimises solar heat gain
l Perimeter lighting that automatically dims depending on outside light levels, saving up to 30% of all lighting energy
l PIR movement sensors to ensure lights are only on when a space is occupied
l A focus on public transport and car-sharing, stringent recycling targets and energy-efficient flat-panel PC monitors
Unilever is spearheading its environmental drive with the opening of a new eco-headquarters in Leatherhead (above).
The building's main features are:
l A ground source heat pump system that uses the thermal properties of the ground to cut energy bills by up to 40%
l Solar panels on the roof that pre-heat water even in winter, reducing the energy required to heat domestic water
l Solar reduction glass that cuts heat gained through windows and stabilises air-conditioning requirements
l A building orientation that maximises light but minimises solar heat gain
l Perimeter lighting that automatically dims depending on outside light levels, saving up to 30% of all lighting energy
l PIR movement sensors to ensure lights are only on when a space is occupied
l A focus on public transport and car-sharing, stringent recycling targets and energy-efficient flat-panel PC monitors
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