Dairy firm’s sustainability plan includes greenhouse gas reduction
Listed dairy producer Synlait Milk has marked its 10th year in business with a trailblazing sustainability programme for the next decade, featuring some of the boldest impact reduction ambitions ever announced in the industry.
A list of commitments was unveiled at the company’s annual conference in Christchurch, headed by the pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent per kilogram of milksolids on-farm and 50 per cent off-farm by 2028. Also the reduction of water consumption on and off-farm by 20 per cent/kg and a 45 per cent reduction in on-farm nitrogen loss by 45c/kg.
The company announced an increase in premium payments to suppliers for best practice dairy farming, including an incentive payment for not feeding palm kernel extract. It also promised never to build another coal-fired boiler and announced the installation of New Zealand’s first large-scale electrode boiler at its advanced dairy liquids plant under construction at Dunsandel.
Other initiatives included becoming part of the global movement of Certified B corporations and establishing a social investment fund to boost support for communities, organisations and projects aligned to Synlait’s sustainability goals.
Outgoing chief executive John Penno told the Herald Synlait was not asking each of its 200 Canterbury suppliers to improve their greenhouse gas emission performance by 35 per cent. The ambition was across the supply base.
“We are not asking our best farms to move, we are asking our other farms to move towards our best farms (performance). What we’re providing is a framework to invite people into the system and provide a financial incentive to move up towards best practice.”
Technology solutions would also be required to achieve the bold goals, Penno said.
“It’s fair to say there is some reach, some stretch on the technology but we are very confident that technology is near at hand. It’s no longer pie in the sky, and we’re working with those technology parties as to how we might get those technologies implemented on our farms as soon as they are available.”
Synlait had worked with New Zealand’s top pastoral greenhouse gas scientists in formulating the reduction aim numbers.
“They’re not our numbers. They are validated back through the experts,” Penno said. The payback to the company would be that it would continue to attract discerning customers prepared to pay a premium for its products.
Of Synlait’s 200 suppliers, 63 were certified with the company’s Lead With Pride premium payment programme and 30 more were close to certification. Premiums for qualifying Gold Plus category farmers would increase from .06c/kg to a potential 20c/kg, while qualifying Gold Elite farmer premiums would rise from 12c/kg to a potential 25c/kg.
Penno said farmers understood that like all businesses they would increasingly be expected by the community and customers to farm with appropriate levels of stewardship.
“We’ve worked very hard to address the issues and set up programmes that not only incentivise them to move forward and make the changes needed but provide the framework as well and the financial incentives to help them make the move forward.”