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• Quaker and the environment

Situated in the middle of the countryside, we are channelling major resources into reducing the impact of our operations on the environment, right through our supply chain. We are focusing our efforts on three key areas: minimising energy use and tackling our carbon footprint; conserving water; and reducing packaging and waste.

We are working towards making the Cupar plant carbon neutral. We are also working with the Carbon Trust to help us achieve this aim. Central to this is our drive to be a more sustainable business, one actively seeking to reduce its environmental impact.

Minimising our energy use

To reduce our carbon footprint, we have invested in measures to reduce our energy use. This includes a heat recovery system for our kilning process, which traps heat generated from the kiln for use on the site, reducing the site's gas consumption. This, combined with other initiatives, reduced the site's energy consumption by 22% between 2000 and 2006.

Reducing our carbon footprint

The heat recovery system is just one way we have reduced our carbon footprint. We have looked at our whole supply chain, including delivery.

To reduce our road miles, we made an agreement with Walkers, also part of PepsiCo, to use their delivery lorries to transport our products. After delivering crisps to Fife, Walkers lorries now transport Quaker products instead of making the return journey empty, so Quaker lorries no longer make a separate journey. This is just one of the innovative ways we have reduced our carbon emissions. We will also replace our distribution fleet with low-emissions vehicles within 10 years.

Going carbon neutral by running on oats

Building on our commitment to becoming a sustainable business, Quaker has announced exciting new plans to run the Cupar plant on 100% renewable energy. The oat husks, the by-product of the milling process when making porridge, will be used to generate enough energy to power the entire site.The centrepiece of the plan is a £6m combined heat and power biomass boiler, which will generate enough steam and electricity to power the site, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 9,000 tonnes a year - a huge reduction equivalent to the typical annual carbon emissions of over 3,000 cars.

As a result, the site will become "carbon neutral" because it will run entirely on self- generated renewable energy. Furthermore, for the first three years, the site will produce surplus energy, exporting over 1,300 megawatt hours of renewable energy back to the National Grid.

The new plans will also mean that the oat husks will no longer have to be transported away from the site. This will reduce the number of truck miles by over 172,000 and save on the shipping of oat husks around the UK, further reducing our carbon emissions by 600,000 kg annually.

Reducing our packaging and waste

While the vast majority of Quaker packaging is fully recyclable, we have also been working on ways to reduce the amount of packaging used for each product. For example, we have reduced the amount of corrugate we use by 30 percent over five years by moving to cases with open tops and reduced sides. In 2008, we will switch to using recycled cardboard in our boxes.

In addition, we have looked at ways of reducing waste in our factory. In the last 12 months, we have introduced a scheme where any excess product from the factory is sent to a contracted company and re- used for animal feed. This maximises the use of resources and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Using water well

As part of our work towards more sustainable water use, we have invested heavily in a filtration system to clean the water used as part of the production process. As a result, the quality of the waste water leaving the site has been greatly improved, with significant benefit to the overall cleanliness of the local waste water network.

Working with our suppliers

A significant part of the carbon footprint of Quaker products is generated before the oats arrive at the plant. For this reason, Quaker became a founding member of Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF).

LEAF works with farmers to make a positive environmental contribution by improving growing and harvesting practices, as well as use of water and fertiliser.