KANSAS CITY, MO. — Sustainability has become a core driving force in the dairy processing industry and a central focus in business operations.

As highlighted in Dairy Processing’s Commitment to Sustainability webinar, the industry has seen a significant shift toward more sustainable practices, not only in day-to-day operations but also throughout the entire supply chain, according to a survey commissioned by Dairy Processing in collaboration with Cypress Research.

“Increasing pressure from customers, consumers, investors and regulators is mounting on businesses, especially in the agriculture sector, to have robust and transparent sustainability plans and programs that demonstrate their performance and striving to continuously improve,” Eric Hassel, vice president of sustainability standards, measurement and reporting for the Innovation Center for US Dairy, said during the webinar, which currently is available on-demand.

Earlier this year, 106 participants representing North America-based dairy processors were surveyed in order to better understand how company leaders are committing to sustainability initiatives in their dairy processing facilities and the importance of prioritizing such initiatives as part of their business success during the next five years.

When reviewing the top overall priorities of their businesses’ success over the next five years, processors rated the importance of eight goals for their investments on a 5-point scale, and 75% or more of respondents identified streamlining operations (89%), increased market share (86%) and a highly skilled workforce (79%).

Respondents were also asked if their company has environmental sustainability programming to help manage business risks and opportunities. Approximately 80% of respondents reported that their company currently has a program in place or one currently under development. 

“I think this all reflects that US dairy processors are still very much on that upward curve in terms of adopting company environmental programming,” said Marjorie Hellmer, president of Cypress Research.

When it came to formal, measurable reduction or increase targets for sustainability initiatives, 60% of respondents reported having targets for overall waste reduction, and 51% and 50% had targets for energy reduction and water reduction initiatives, respectively.

As part of the US Dairy Stewardship Commitment program, which the Innovation Center for US Dairy facilitates, the center aggregates and reports sustainability data on behalf of 40-plus dairy companies in its biennial sustainability report. Last year’s report showed that dairy processors are diverting 94% of their waste streams away from landfill and to beneficial uses, such as animal feed, upcycling, energy recovery, etc.

However, Hassel said he was surprised by the low number of processors reporting no net-zero plans in place.  

“The corporate sector is receiving so much pressure to decarbonize, and we see thousands of companies signing onto the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), including many CPGs, retailers and dairy companies,” Hassel said.

The SBTi mandates net-zero GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 2050 for those companies participating.

When it came to barriers around implementing sustainability initiatives, an overwhelming 71% of respondents said that balancing short-term mission and long-term goals was an obstacle. The next largest line item was technology limitations, as reported by only 37% of respondents.

“This dovetails with the findings that, even when projecting five-year company success, environmental responsibility ranks much lower as a priority, than other operationally driven objectives,” Hellmer said.

— Find more insights by watching the complete webinar.