Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Kraft Foods transportation sustainability initiative

Kraft Foods is one of those companies which pursues ambitious sustainability goals rather quietly. As a result, the company's path-breaking initiatives often go unnoticed by the CSR media. I therefore decided to write a bit about their sustainability programme on this blog.

In one of the key initiatives, the company has eliminated more than 50 million truck miles since 2005 through transportation sustainability efforts.

Here are some of the things the company has done:

  • In North America, the company saved more than 1.5 million km, replaced 10,000 truck shipments and reduced 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions by shipping wheat via waterways to its Toledo, Ohio, flour mill. Now, ships make bigger deliveries less frequently.
  • In Brazil, employees saved nearly 390,000 miles and reduced 300 tons of CO2 emissions by using boats to send products to distribution centers. In just six months, the change saved more than 125 truck shipments.
  • In Germany, the company transports coffee beans from Bremen to its Berlin roasting plant, saving about 2.8 million km and eliminating 2,300 tons of CO2 emissions. And the project took 7,000 trucks off the road.
  • In Austria, it saved more than nearly 250,000 km by sending products in refrigerated containers on rail cars, eliminating 400 truck shipments and reducing 250tons of CO2 emissions.
  • In the United Kingdom, the company now sends products to one of its key customers by train instead of truck, saving more than 70,000 km and eliminating 120 truck shipments.
  • In Europe, the company is modernizing its transportation network by establishing a single hub in Bratislava, Slovakia to make 20 percent fewer trips between its European plants and distribution centers. And in the Philippines, the company now uses a national distribution center so customers receive shipments 20 percent faster than before, saving miles and fuel.
  • In North America, it has purchased 11 hybrid direct store delivery vehicles for frozen products. The hybrid power train and electric refrigeration technology use up to 30 percent less fuel than a traditional truck.
  • And in Mexico, the company has pioneered a double-decker transport system that allows trucks to safely carry up to 56 pallets in one load – twice as many as before.

More on Kraft Foods sustainability initiatives here.

Source: Kraft Foods

1 comment:

Diane said...

It's great to see corporations pouring over the details of their operations and introducing real change in their impact on the environment. I like what WWF is doing with their Climate Savers program: WWF Climate Savers where companies volunteer to curb their emissions and set their own goals. Probably the most impressive of the Climate Savers’ efforts is JohnsonDiversey, who originally promised an 8% GHG reduction over 10 years (2003-2013), and just recently announced they are tripling that to a 25% reduction. I watched some of the Copenhagen talks by their CEO (JDaction) and they’ve taken it even farther in honor of COP15 – announcing they’ll assess a carbon footprint for all of their products and make that info public. I think if every business on the planet put forth the same effort it would create more change than government could ever dream of producing.