Sourcing raw materials is a vital activity in Nutreco and the sustainability of these raw materials is a key concern. Sustainability in its broadest sense includes social aspects, food safety and climate change, topics that are covered in other chapters of the report. Under this heading we look at ways of making sure we do not over-exploit a raw material.

We buy thousands of raw materials in order to manufacture the many animal nutrition and fish feed products supplied by Nutreco to farmers and feed producers around the world. Raw materials vary from large volume commodities such as feed-grade wheat or soya meal, to high value nutrients such as vitamins. We also buy raw materials that are by-products from food and drinks companies and, more recently, from the producers of biofuels.

Fishmeal and fish oil provide an excellent example of raw materials that come from a limited natural resource, the wild catch of fish. Fish stocks in our oceans must not be over-exploited or we will lose them. In the Nutreco CSR report, we describe the programme developed by Skretting, Nutreco's fish feed business, for sustainable sourcing of fishmeal and fish oil.

Skretting has developed several measures to direct its purchasing towards sustainable supplies. At the same time, through R&D, Skretting is devising ways of using marine raw materials as efficiently as possible, maximising the production of fish protein for human consumption without increasing the demand for fishmeal and fish oil.

Other initiatives to support the sustainability of natural resources and described in the CSR Report include participation in multi-stakeholder round table discussions such as the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue and the Round Table on Responsible Soy. Additionally, Nutreco research and development continues to improve the uptake of nutrition from its feeds. This means more food can be produced from the available supply.

Turning to biodiversity, initiatives include practising to control spills that may damage the environment and developing feed additives that reduce pollution of the environment by animal manure.