December 8, 2016
Nutreco launches new sustainability programme Nuterra
Nutreco has launched its new sustainability programme, Nuterra, which sets out the company's sustainability strategy and provides tools to implement it throughout the entire organisation.
Building on existing efforts in the animal nutrition and aqua feed businesses of Nutreco, the new programme is more customer-centric and focused on actionable strategies and controls.
Nuterra has been designed to live up to Nutreco's responsibilities and ambitions. "The word 'sustainability' has been grossly overused and in many ways its meaning has eroded over the last decade. The challenge for corporations like Nutreco is to keep it relevant, credible and measurable," José Villalon, Nutreco's sustainability director, said. "That is precisely what we aim for with Nuterra. Sustainability is not just about what we aspire to do, it is what we do."
Ambition and accountability
The Nuterra programme is made up of three distinct components: a roadmap, an internal standard and a product assessment tool.
The Nuterra Roadmap sets clear ambitions regarding people, planet and profit and is an aspirational vision designed to steer actions and initiatives over a period of several years. It is aligned with the long-term goals of Nutreco's strategy and addresses Nutreco's commitment to specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Nuterra Standard is an internal tool that outlines more than 100 actions needed to realise the roadmap and enables Nutreco to measure and score progress over time regarding its own operations.
"We are holding ourselves accountable," the company says. "(Also), the Nuterra Product Assessment helps us to measure the environmental impacts and attributes of Nutreco´s nutritional solutions using Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Nutreco invests heavily in offering products, models and services that address specific and relevant environmental issues. This tool enables us to quantify the reduction in those impacts that are achieved when using our nutritional solutions."
Customer-centric
Nuterra will also highlight the sustainability attributes of Nutreco's nutritional solutions, provided through its global operating company brands of Trouw Nutrition and Skretting, making it a more valuable tool for its customers in their communication to their clients and stakeholders.
"We applaud the Nuterra programme, which addresses the relevant environmental and social impacts along the value chain. Animal nutrition is a key factor in the footprint of food production and we are pleased to work with Nuterra as we actively seek to advance sustainable practices," Lynda Kuhn, senior vice president of Maple Leaf Foods, commented.
Linda Sams, head of sustainability at Tassal Group Limited, Australia's largest farmed salmon producer, added: "Nuterra sets Skretting apart from other feed producers by giving us confidence that the feeds we buy from them adhere to the same strict environmental and social standards that we do. The focus on all parts of the supply chain, from feed ingredients through to their own operations, enables us to deliver products that meet customer demand for seafood that is produced in a responsible way."
- Nutreco