ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR BUSINESS

Environmental Management For Business

Abstract

Sustainable production is becoming an increasingly important issue in the process industries. In the cane sugar industry, pressure for sustainable production has come largely from the importers of ethanol from sugarcane. This has focused attention on sustainable production in the sugar industry in general. Some of the major producers of white sugar are aware of the advantages in the market place of sustainable manufacturing processes in terms of brand enhancement and are using the low carbon footprint of sugar to their advantage. This paper aims to introduce the main elements of sustainability and the major sustainability issues facing producers. The estimation of the carbon footprint for raw and refined sugar production is described and the aspects of production affecting greenhouse gas emissions are identified. Opportunities for refiners in terms of reducing the carbon footprint of their products and the implications are described. Attempts to certify production as sustainable have led to the need for formal certifiable sustainability standards in the sugar industry. The process of developing credible sustainability standards is described. Substantial progress has been made in this respect by the Better Sugar Cane Initiative (now referred to as Bonsucro) in the development of standards for the certification of sustainable production, paving the way for auditing and certification in 2011.

Environmental Management for Business

Introduction

Companies can no longer afford to ignore sustainability because it is central to long term competitiveness. Sustainability has been identified as a megatrend, which requires businesses to adapt and innovate or be swept aside (Lubin and Esty 2010). It is clear that there is a growing corporate move to address sustainable development and companies are beginning to appreciate that there are sound business reasons to adopt more sustainable production and processing practices. In addition, managing social and environmental risks is important for growers, processors, traders and food companies due to regulatory pressures as well as shareholder and consumer expectations. Increasingly environmental and social performance is affecting access to markets and to capital as well.

The pressure for a system to certify that sustainable practices are being adhered to has come largely from the market place. In particular this has come about due to the need to demonstrate sustainable production of biofuels, where for instance the import of biofuels into Europe requires that these fuels are produced following sustainable practices. A number of large industrial consumers of sugar also want to be able to certify that sugar and other ingredients in their products are produced by means of sustainable practices. Issues relating to sustainability in the cane sugar industry have been highlighted by Rein (2009).

Brazil has been most active in embracing and reporting sustainability performance. This is largely due to the need to meet sustainable standards in producing biofuels for export to first world countries. Most mills in Brazil are very conscious of environmental issues. Intensive re-forestation with indigenous trees is evident at a number of mills. Nurseries are maintained by the milling companies in Brazil, and thousands of trees are ...