DeLaval has become an associated member of the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF). The newly established initiative enables the international dairy industry to collaborate and align its global sustainability efforts under one umbrella, facilitating and demonstrating a coordinated approach. It provides the sector with a framework and a common language to monitor and share progression with a focus on continuous improvement in sustainability.
In early 2012 five major dairy organisations, together with five leading dairy and food corporations, started on the framework and it was first presented in October 2013. The Framework is based on consultation, research and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including more than 100 individual interviews, several global meetings/workshops and reviews of more than 80 dairy and 20 non-dairy sustainability initiatives from all over the world.
“As demand for dairy products is increasing globally our main focus is to support our customers to become more productive in a sustainable way. At DeLaval, we have been using our own Sustainable Dairy Farm model which we developed and launched in 2008. It covers farm profitability, animal welfare, social aspects and environmental impact. The newly created Dairy Sustainability Framework’s vision is a perfect match, which will help us to further our efforts and the industry’s in this field, says Jan Agri, Manager Sustainable Dairy Farming Office.
“We welcome and endorse the new framework as we recognise that it takes coordinated efforts by all players in the dairy industry to make milk and food production more sustainable.”
The Dairy Sustainability Framework is based on the vision of; “A vibrant dairy sector committed to continuously improving its ability to provide safe and nutritious products from healthy cattle, whilst: preserving natural resources and ensuring decent livelihoods across the industry”
The Framework includes eleven key sustainability categories identified as relevant to the dairy sector globally. There is also a high level objective linked to each category to which the dairy sector commits to work towards.
In line with the intent of the DSF, DeLaval will continue to publicly report on both the environmental and social performance of its own operations and communicate in what ways our solutions and systems can make our customers more sustainable.