ABP Food Group has announced a renewable energy sourcing model plan which will enable the company to power all of its sites on the island of Ireland exclusively from wind energy.

The company has entered into an arrangement with UK-based entity Natural Capital Partners to match the electricity consumption of all of its Irish sites with wind power.

This development will help ABP achieve its 2020 carbon-reduction goals almost two years ahead of schedule with a cumulative CO2 emission reduction of 350,000t across ABP’s operations since 2008.

The arrangement includes ABP’s eight processing sites located in:
  • Bandon;
  • Cahir;
  • Waterford;
  • Nenagh;
  • Rathkeale;
  • Clones;
  • Newry;
  • Lurgan.

It also includes the company’s pet food production facility in Edgeworthstown.

Commenting on the announcement, Dean Holroyd, group technical and sustainability director at ABP, said: “We are significantly driving down our energy consumption, thereby helping our customers to source meat produced with a lower carbon footprint.

We are now in a great position to adopt a science-based target reduction model that will closely align ABP’s sustainability agenda with the Paris climate accord.

The news comes following ABP’s renewables division, Olleco, becoming one of the finalists for a global environmental award at the World Economic Forum in January.

The company was also recognised for its contribution in helping to develop circular economy solutions with respect to food waste in the food service and hospitality sectors.

Furthermore, ABP has previously achieved accreditation from the Carbon Trust in recognition of the progress it has made in reducing its environmental impact.

The Carbon Trust Standard is a certification of an organisation’s impact on the environment, verifying action on energy use, CO2 emissions, water use and waste output.

It recognises year-on-year improvements in the area of environmental performance.