Our environment

Environment icon We're committed to the environment and to help fight global warming.

In everything we do, we aim to reduce our ecological footprint:

We commit to only use recyclable packaging for all of our brands by 2025.
We already produce in a CO₂-neutral way in our 12 factories.
We involve our employees in our drive to cut emissions.

Furthermore, we want consumers to help us in our mission. We encourage everyone to sort our recyclable packaging correctly with our own designed 'recycle me' icon, that already is or soon will be featured on all our recyclable packaging items.

Find the sustainability policies relating to our Environment pillar here.

Contribution to the SDGs

Within our Environment pillar, we focus on 5 Sustainable Development Goals issues by the United Nations:

Environment SDGs

ambitions & achievements in 2022 within the environment pillar

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PARAMETERS

Packaging	Unit	2022	2021	2020
Packaging-to-Product Ratio	g/kg product	166	179	175
Reduction of plastic	tonnes/year	62	22	19
Reduction of glass	tonnes/year	1,120
Reduction of cardboard	tonnes/year	526
% SKUs with 100% recyclable packaging	%	81	73	70
% of packaging of all Lotus Bakeries brands that is recyclable¹	%	97	97	97
Use of recycled cardboard	%	80	75	77
Use of cardboard with the 'sustainable managed forest' guarantee	%	78	76	77
Carbon footprint	Unit	2022	2021	2020
% of our owned sites that have earned the CO₂ -neutral label	%	100	100	100
Output of scope 1 & 2 CO₂ equivalent emissions per tonne produced on our owned sites³	kgCO₂e/tonne	170	163	145⁴
Output of scope 1 & 2 CO₂ equivalent emissions per tonne produced on our owned sites, excluding own transport³	kgCO₂e/tonne	161	156	139⁴
Energy consumption per tonne	kWh/tonne	1,074	1,064	1,071⁴
Kg of waste per tonne generated²	kg/tonne	60	63	54

1 The recyclability rate is the average technical recyclability of the packaging of all Lotus Bakeries brands by the end of 2022. It takes into account consumer packaging, distribution packaging and transport packaging. The technical recyclability rate is determined per packaging component on the basis of state-of-the-art design guidelines for recyclability (Ceflex, Recyclass). The average technical recyclability is a weight average, based on the packaging weight of each packaging component. packaging component.
²This concerns residual waste, production waste, grease, paper and cardboard at our owned sites. Tonnes produced includes the produced volumes of margarine plant.
³As from 2022, this includes company vehicles from the site in Comines.
⁴ Following an analysis within the ESG project, the calculation of the external consultant was refined. The additional CO₂e emissions were compensated with additional certificates so that 100% CO₂ neutrality was maintained.

To further increase consumer's awareness of the recyclability of our packaging and to encourage everyone to sort the recyclable packaging correctly according to local recycling practices, we designed a 'recycle me' icon.

This visual, combined with the slogan 'Let's care for our planet together', is or soon will be featured on each recyclable pack, provided that the packaging is collected in that specific country.

This 'recycle me' icon is an initiative undertaken by Lotus Bakeries and is not related to any official government authority or certification body. In this way, we aim to encourage everyone even more to do their bit by making sure that all our recyclable packaging can end up in the right waste stream.