Tate & Lyle announces ambitious new environmental targets

21 May 2020 London, UK: Tate & Lyle PLC (Tate & Lyle), a leading supplier of food and beverage ingredients and solutions, announces a set of ambitious new environmental targets and commitments. These targets are aligned to the delivery of Tate & Lyle’s purpose, Improving Lives for Generations, a key pillar of which is to care for our planet and protect its natural resources for the benefit of future generations.

Tate & Lyle’s new environmental targets are, by 2030, to deliver:

• 30% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions, with an ambition to reach 20% reduction by 2025.
• 15% absolute reduction in Scope 3 CO2e emissions.
• 100% of its waste to be beneficially used, with an ambition to reach 75% by 2025.
• 15% reduction in water use.

In adopting these targets, Tate & Lyle commits to:

• Eliminate use of coal from its operations by 2025.
• Establish its Scope 1, 2 and 3 CO2e emissions reductions as Science-Based Targets.
• Maintain sustainable acreage equivalent to the volume of corn Tate & Lyle buys globally each year, currently 1.5 million acres, and through partnerships accelerate the adoption of conservation practices.

These new targets and commitments build on the steps already taken to enhance Tate & Lyle’s sustainability across its entire value chain. For example, in September Tate & Lyle announced a landmark sustainable agriculture programme in partnership with Truterra™ (formerly Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN™) to help growers in the US Midwest understand the impact sustainable practices can have on their crops and their profitability, and to adopt them.

To demonstrate its commitment to the new environmental targets, Tate & Lyle has linked the pricing of its US$800 million revolving credit facility, extended in May 2020, to the delivery of its new Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions, beneficial waste and water reduction targets.

Nick Hampton, Chief Executive at Tate & Lyle, said: “There has never been a greater need for businesses to address the climate change crisis. One of the key pillars of our purpose of Improving Lives for Generations is to care for our planet and with our new environmental targets and commitments we are taking decisive action to protect our planet’s natural resources for the benefit of future generations.”

Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, added: “These stretching new targets demonstrate our steadfast commitment to integrate sustainability into our day-to-day business activities, processes and culture.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Progress against these targets will be measured and published in Tate & Lyle’s Annual Report each year.
2. Emissions categories:
   • Scope 1: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
   • Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy
   • Scope 3: Other indirect emissions such as the growing and production of purchased materials, including corn, and transportation of purchased fuels and other goods.
3. Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) is a term for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit to signify the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would have the equivalent global warming impact.
4. Targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are considered “science-based” if they are in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. Find out more.
5. The new water target is an intensity target.
6. Tate & Lyle and Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN launch landmark sustainability initiative on 1.5 million acres of U.S. corn – announced 12 September 2019