Sustainability in focus: Improved use of waste streams provides key industry opportunity, says DuPont exec

20 May 2019 --- Sustainability has been tipped as a key theme this year at a multitude of industry events and forms a key pillar in many companies’ reported strategy. Key to fulfilling sustainability pledges, both from an economic and environmental perspective, will be making better use of waste streams, whether it is energy, chemicals, or bio-based materials. This is according to Mikkel Thrane, Head of Sustainability at DuPont.

Since demand for clearer labels is being fueled by consumers wanting to take more responsibility for their own health as well as the planet’s, ingredient suppliers must not underestimate this trend. Instead, Thrane puts forward that suppliers should “face it proactively through more education and communication, investments in sustainability as well as research and development that meets this demand for the longer term.”

Mikkel Thrane, Head of Sustainability at DuPont.A 2018 Innova Market Insights survey found that 64 percent of US and UK consumers expect companies to invest in sustainability. This market dynamic has inspired product development, with 57 percent average annual growth reported in food & beverage launches with an ethical/environmental claim (Global, 2013-2017). 

“We believe in science and the science is clear: Food production contributes significantly to global warming – not only through CO2, but also methane and nitrous oxides, land use, among other aspects,” Thrane adds.

The main hot-spot is not the processing of foods itself, but the impacts associated with primary production, agriculture, he explains. 

“Hence the importance of sustainable sourcing. That being said, it is an impediment to find solutions to fish food waste and develop solutions to help us transform our diets to become healthier and more sustainable as suggested in the recent EAT-Lancet report,” Thrane puts forward.

To spearhead the aforementioned improved use of waste streams, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences has several examples of ingredients that are based on by-products. 

“From our pectin produced from spent citrus peels, to our wood-based low-calorie sweetener XIVIA Xylitol. XIVIA is produced from a side-stream called ‘red-liquor’ from a pulp and paper mill nearby our site. It is a closed loop where the remaining side-stream is returned to the pulp and paper mill and used for energy production,” Thrane explains. 

A recent update of a third party-reviewed life cycle assessment shows that XIVIA has five-ten times lower environmental footprint than conventional xylitol produced from corn cobs, according to DuPont. 

“Another example of re-use is our pectin production where we use spent citrus peels from the beverage industry as a raw material. When the pectin has been extracted, the remaining citrus peels are used for animal feed. Ultimately, very little goes to waste in this production which can be seen as an example of a circular economy,” Thrane notes. 

Furthermore, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences’ emulsifier production in Denmark exemplifies how the company has replaced coal with wood chips as a thermal energy source. 

“Large amounts of excess heat are now captured and sent to the local district heat network where it replaces gas as the alternative energy source,” Thrane adds.

“We are focusing heavily on transparency and see a huge pull from the market towards this. Clean labeling is a strong trend but so is ‘clear labeling’ and transparency is about conveying the story about the nature of our products as well as information about how they are produced and sourced. Sustainable sourcing ties closely into this and our goal is to have a sustainable sourcing program covering 90 percent of our bio-based ingredients by 2020. We also conduct sustainability and ethical audits (SMETA audits) of all our manufacturing sites and we are in the process of engaging our suppliers in this work that takes place under SEDEX.” 

Further opportunities lie in efficiency improvements in the food supply chain, with DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences launching a number of solutions to address this facet.

 “One example is ambient yogurt that reduces the need for cooling during transport and storage,” Thrane notes. “Another example is our protective cultures, essentially good bacteria, that has the potential to reduce food waste significantly in production, distribution, retail as well as the consumer stage. This could be for yogurt and fresh fermented dairy products as well as fresh cheese, white cheese.” 

“We have also developed solutions that reduce the fat uptake in fried products with as much as 30 percent while reducing the content of unhealthy acrylamide with up to 40 percent. This is essentially a more-with-less solution that touches all three pillars of sustainability: people, profit and planet,” Thrane concludes.

Additional reporting by Lucy Gunn