Dairy industry gets praised for green initiative

Farmers team up with Carbon Trust to develop new carbon footprinting guidelines

Dairy UK, the trade group for the dairy industry, has today announced that it is to team up with the Carbon Trust to develop a new guide for measuring and reporting on the carbon footprint of dairy products.

The project, which could pave the way for carbon labels appearing on a bottle of milk or block of cheese, will see dairy farmers, processors and retailers work with the Carbon Trust to develop a single set of guidelines for measuring the industry's carbon emissions.

The announcement came on the same day as Dairy UK released a new report suggesting that it was on track to meet, and in many cases exceed, several environmental targets set for 2010.

The survey found that more than 45 per cent of dairy producers now have farmland in official environmental schemes, putting the industry on track to reach its 50 per cent target for 2010.

Moreover, nearly half of dairy farmers now have a nutrient management plan designed to help limit methane emissions from cattle in place, while milk processors are on track to meet a target of incorporating 10 per cent recycled plastic in milk bottles by the end of 2010.

The performance was welcomed by farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick, who praised the industry for taking a leading role in the development of low-carbon production methods and issued a thinly veiled warning to other parts of the food industry that they would soon have to follow suit.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk