Greening Your Business

A huge amount of food and drink is thrown away in Scotland – almost 1 million tonnes a year, according to recent figures. Well over one - third of this came from businesses. If we look UK-wide, food manufacturers throw away around £ 1.1 billion worth of food every year.

For many businesses, talk of ‘net zero’ emissions by 2045 seems abstract . It may seem more ‘real’ if you think of the benefits to be gained from cutting your emissions, some of them immediate: > reducing your energy costs > making your business more resilient – eg, being prepared ahead of time for higher energy prices or legislation changes > winning new customers

As a food or drink business, your production processes and equipment are probably unique to you. This sadly means we can’t hand you a silver bullet to save energy and stop waste in your processes. However, we can show you how and where to find solutions.

How many times have you heard people say ‘We don’t need to worry about water in Scotland - we’ve got so much of it’? For sure, we have plenty of rain but getting clean water to homes and businesses is energy-intensive. The average business in the UK is using 30% more water than it needs to.

Transport is responsible for 36.8% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions. It’s an area where every business can make a difference.

Packaging and plastics have been in the spotlight recently – with consumers, media and politicians clamouring for businesses to use less of them. And it’s not surprising. Scottish consumers alone buy more than 300,000 tonnes of single - use packaging in our groceries each year, says Zero Waste Scotland. As well as littering our oceans and land, packaging is responsible for substantial carbon emissions.

Showcasing what you’re doing to help the environment is a good way to win friends and influence people – whether they’re customers, investors, funders or employers.

Much of what we’ve covered in this guide to going green is things you could do – and we hope you will do them! At the same time, every food and drink business has to be on top of the things it must do. The need to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges means new laws and regulations relating to these are likely to come down the line. Covid-19 also led to the introduction of new guidance for businesses.