Dawn Meats has today (Wednesday, October 15) reported a 63% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from a company's own operations, such as burning fuel for company vehicles or manufacturing processes.

While Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from purchased energy, including the electricity, heat, or steam a company uses to power its facilities and operations.

Dawn Meats said the reduction has been achieved over a six-year period from 2018 to 2024 as part of the company’s Plan Four Zero sustainability strategy.

Dawn Meats

In a new sustainability update, the meat processor said it has saved enough water to fill over 1,272 Olympic-size swimming pools since 2016.

Last year, Dawn Meats saved 18,000m³ of water as part of ongoing capital expenditure projects and system upgrades.

Dawn Meats has committed to roll out solar installations at its sites in the UK and Ireland, following the installation of solar PV panels at the company’s Irish headquarters in Grannagh, Co. Waterford.

Since 2020, Dawn has sourced 100% renewable electricity to power its sites. The company said it has saved enough energy to power 22,274 homes for a year since 2016.

Last year, the company implemented 26 capital expenditure (capex) projects and system upgrades which saved 5.8m kWh per year.

Waste

Dawn Meats has also increased the volume of waste recycled, reused and recovered to 75%.

The company has removed more than 3,000t of plastic since 2016 and has a target of ensuring that it uses an average of 30% recycled content across all plastic by 2025.

The report shows that all the rigid trays currently used by the company now have a recycled content of over 50% and, in certain cases, 100%.

The company has also set a target of the plastic it uses being 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

However, the report noted that this target is not without challenges in the UK, where infrastructure to recycle flexible films has yet to be established at scale.

Farming

The company’s climate target is to reduce Scope 3 emissions intensity by 28% per tonne of finished product by 2030.

This target relates to emissions from the sourcing of live cattle and sheep from 30,000 farmer suppliers across Ireland and the UK, and other meat products, which account for 95% of Dawn Meats’ total emissions.

From 2018 to 2024, the company has achieved a 9% reduction in Scope 3 emissions intensity mainly due to a reduction in the average carbon footprint on the farms that supply products to Dawn Meats.

In Ireland, over 96% of Dawn Meats’ Irish cattle suppliers are members of the Bord Bia Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS).

From 2018 to 2024, the average carbon footprint of the farms supplying Dawn Meats decreased from 18.74kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per kg carcass to 18.26 kgCO2e per kg carcass.

In June 2024, Dawn Meats launched a new incentivised sustainability programme, Activate, for beef farmers, supported and co-funded by McDonald’s.

Commenting on the report, Niall Browne, chief executive of Dawn Meats, said: “For over 45 years, sustainability has been at the forefront of our operations in Ireland and in the UK.

"Driven by our commitment of €100 million to the Plan Four Zero strategy, we continue to collaborate with industry and supply chain partners to improve the sustainability of our products and remain competitive in the global marketplace."