2020 was a challenging but rewarding year for the operations teams across both the Skretting and Trouw Nutrition divisions. Recognising our main challenge as managing the effects of the pandemic, our primary duty was to ensure the safety of all our colleagues while continuing to serve our customers in order to secure the food chain. Best-in-class protective measures and procedures were implemented at all steps of the chain to protect all staff. The resilience of the teams across the supply chain from transport to factories and suppliers was exemplary.
3.2 Operations
The strategy in our operations department within our two divisions was to act on all levels along the full supply chain to ensure that it’s sustainable and a responsible part of the communities that we’re operating in. This includes a strong collaborative global network working across many different disciplines.
We focused on three main areas:
- The reduction of energy uses in our factories – the largest gains in energy savings were experienced in the area ofsteam boiler efficiency, dryer operation and solutions to heat recovery.
- The promotion and development of waste recycling.
- The development of “greener” transport – for Trouw Nutrition in the Netherlands, overland transport was replaced with barge transport in canals. Our transition to transportation routing through a digital solution also began.
An example of optimised transport routing through a digital solution.
In 2021, we will maintain our journey towards our ambition with the start of the roll-out of Digital Transport Management Systems. This includes route optimisation to enable fuel reductions,
the design of a 100% green energy factory in Canada, and the continuation on the energy reduction per tonne sold of 2% year-on-year in our 100-plus plants worldwide.
As part of Nutreco, Skretting and Trouw Nutrition will continue our sustainability engagement on the reduction of plastics by exploring alternatives to single plastic usage along the chain.