Our Statement of Intent
MJ Birtwistles & Co Ltd is a professional and environmentally conscious business which seeks excellence in every aspect of its operations. The business acknowledges the impact that our operations may have on the environment. Therefore, the establishment of strategic initiatives to ensure continuous improvement has already begun and will continue to be implemented.
Our achievements
- 42% of electricity used in our facilities is generated from renewable sources.
- Through the use of Max Optra & Samsara, our Scope 1 emissions have been reduced by over 60%. Both applications have vastly improved our efficiency by optimising our route planning and driver performance.
- Our factory-based fuel tank has also helped mitigate our Scope 1 emissions because there is now no need to drive to and from fuel stations, reducing approximately 35 tCO2e each year.
- We train all of our colleagues on the history of sustainability, how we measure and mitigate our environmental impact, to help them understand our sustainable intent and to show them how they can contribute.
- Implemented a Heat Reclaim System connected to our water boiler, which is significantly reducing our need for gas and mitigating our Scope 2 emissions.
- Thanks to the waste disposal experts we work with, none of our waste is sent to landfill. It is either recycled or converted into energy and sent back to the national grid.
- In 2023, 45% of our waste was recycled and this represented the majority share of our waste production. The introduction of a full-scale recycling system at our primary processing site and abattoir will further increase the percentage of waste we recycle in 2024.
Our future targets
- 100% recyclable packaging – our cardboard packaging is already recyclable, but we are currently exploring various options to make our plastic packaging recyclable as well.
- Supplier engagement will be vital in our sustainability future, as we want to collaborate, enable data sharing and deepen relationships with our suppliers, so that we can collectively improve our methods, and our Scope 3 monitorisation and mitigation.
- Once we can estimate and monitor our Scope 3 emissions, our aim is to set a SBTi certified Net Zero Carbon goal.
- Our aim is to implement an ISO14001 accredited environmental management system, to ensure every aspect of our operations is proactive in minimising its environmental impact.
- We are also investigating several energy saving and waste reduction technologies such as water reclamation, anaerobic digestion and on-site renewable energy generation.
Regenerative farming
One of our priority targets is to monitor and mitigate our Scope 3 emissions. To reduce these emissions, we have been actively engaging with environmentally conscious suppliers to implement further emission reduction initiatives throughout our value chain. For example, we have several key suppliers that have already implemented regenerative farming techniques into their processes.
These techniques include:
- Minimising soil disturbance
- Maximising crop diversity
- Keeping the soil covered
- Maintaining living root year-round
- Integrating livestock
Regenerative farming is about improving and supporting biodiversity, ensuring water quality and soil fertility whilst optimising the sites potential for carbon sequestration. We are searching for more suppliers who conduct these activities to ensure our value chain is offering a sustainable future in food production.
If you would like to know more specific details about some of our key suppliers’
techniques, please see the reports below:
