• Carbon emissions from energy use at Tate & Lyle’s East London refinery to be slashed by 70% in less than two years; thanks to the installation of a new £20m biomass boiler • Carbon footprint of Tate & Lyle cane sugar, from field to product leaving the factory gate, to be reduced by 25% following switch to renewable biomass
Ian Bacon, Chief Executive Tate & Lyle Sugars, said: “Having recently confirmed what we’d already anticipated, that our carbon footprint is low at 0.43 tonnes per 1 tonne of sugar,[1] we are now proud to be taking steps to reduce that even further with this project. This is more than a pledge - it's happening now, with construction already started. Furthermore, we believe the boiler being constructed at our Thames site is not only the largest of its kind for London, but also a first for the UK food and drink industry.”
The new biomass boiler will mean Tate & Lyle can switch to renewable biomass to supply 70% of the energy needs of its London refinery. Post 2009, with the boiler working at full capacity, the carbon footprint of cane sugar produced at the UK refinery will be reduced to 0.32 tonnes per 1 tonne of sugar.
Bacon adds: “At Tate & Lyle we have an overall target to reduce energy consumption by 3% per annum and this has been in place since 2000. In addition, we are currently a net-exporter to the National Grid at the refinery and once the biomass project is complete, the source will be green.”
Commenting in support of the biomass project, Callton Young, Director of Sustainability and Competitiveness at the Food & Drink Federation (FDF), said: “Climate change is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the planet. FDF is therefore absolutely delighted by Tate & Lyle’s plans for reducing the carbon footprint of its products at its Thames Cane Sugar Refinery.
“The planned 70% reduction in CO2 emissions associated with energy use is significant by any standards. Indeed, it is exemplary. It is exactly the sort of change in behaviour that FDF is encouraging under our Five-fold Environmental Ambition launched last month. If more companies follow Tate & Lyle’s example, a low carbon economy will quickly cease to be an aspiration and become a reality.”
Efforts to reduce carbon emissions at the Thames refinery are part of Tate & Lyle's group-wide environmental and energy saving measures, which has seen energy consumption per unit of output reduced by 1.2%; water consumption per unit of output reduced by 2.5%; and non hazardous solid waste consumption per unit of output reduced by 29.5% in the last year (calendar year 2006).
[1] Calculated by URS, a world-leading independent consultancy in carbon measurement, who have developed a tool to measure the carbon footprint of Tate & Lyle’s UK cane sugar refinery as well as the entire cane sugar production process from field to leaving the factory gates.
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Notes to editors
• Raw cane sugar milling is almost carbon neutral. Cane grows in the field, waste fibre from the cane powers the factory and the cane re-grows each year, usually around five times without the need for replanting. It is then transported by Tate & Lyle to its UK refinery by ships; widely regarded as the most energy efficient mode of transport only producing very small levels of CO2 emissions per ton shipped.
• The total capacity of the biomass boiler will be 65MW. It will generate 80tph steam at 45 barg (650psi) pressure and will run 24/7.
• Tate & Lyle hopes to recycle the estimated 6,500 tonnes pa of ash from the boiler as a base for fertiliser or for use in the construction of building blocks, rather than going to landfill
• Tate & Lyle’s carbon footprint was calculated by URS Corporation Ltd. Key stages of URS’ methodology included:
1. Understanding the manufacturing process from raw material production through to distribution
2. Developing a process map to identify each of the inputs and outputs of each stage including utility use as well as raw materials
3. Defining the boundaries and scope of the footprint
4. Data collection
5. Data processing and calculation
Contact information
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