The Kerrygold Company, which cuts and packs one third of all pre-packed cheese in the UK and supplies all of the UK’s major multiples, opened its £30m factory in May 2009. Said to be one of the most environmentally friendly facilities in Europe, the 160,000 sq ft factory houses more than 550 staff and 24 packing lines, providing the capacity to weigh, cut, slice, grate and pack more than 80,000 tonnes of cheese every year.
It currently produces over 700,000 packs of cheese for more than 30 customers every day, and has also brought a 15% saving in the company’s carbon footprint through energy saving and production in the factory, as well as changes to packaging materials and reduction in waste.
From 2006 to 2008, the company reduced its water usage from 28,877 m3 to 20,470 m3, and its electricity usage from 6,954,841 kWh to 6,792,772 kWh. The opening of the new factory in May 2009 brought further decreases during 2009.
“The new factory is a significant improvement on the old plant, providing tangible operational and commercial efficiencies,” said Carl Ravenhall, MD, The Kerrygold Company.
Throughout the building process, the company worked with Clegg Group and Ralph T King & Associates to maximise energy and waste reduction and environmental preservation. As a result, a major influence on the design of the factory was the incorporation of new energy saving techniques and technology, including:
In addition to energy saving technologies, the factory’s fully integrated production system enables the reduction of waste. An example of waste reduction in action can be seen in how the factory feeds the hot water produced by the CHP units into its hot water supply. This reduces waste of energy and water.
Nigel Windsor, manufacturing services manager at The Kerrygold Company, is responsible for environmental management and was involved in drafting the company’s environmental policy.
He said: “We’re striving to reduce our energy and water consumption to the lowest possible levels. Following the reductions that came with the opening of the new factory, we are now identifying further energy and water saving opportunities. In 2010, we will be developing a new environmental management system and working towards ISO 14001 quality accreditation.”
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