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Valio Carbo™ partnership programme offers customers solutions for reducing food chain greenhouse gas emissions

Cows and two person on a field in summer.

Many food companies are looking for solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their own value chain. Particularly challenging is the reduction of indirect emissions outside their own operations, the so-called scope 3 emissions. Valio’s ambitious goal is to cut the carbon footprint of milk to zero by 2035. Valio’s biggest emission reduction efforts are taking place on Finnish dairy farms, as most of the emissions are generated on farms. At the same time, the emissions of Valio’s partner customers are also being reduced.

Carbon-neutral milk means that emissions are reduced and sequestered from the air by at least the same amount as they are generated on dairy farms, during transport, at factories, in the manufacturing of packaging, and elsewhere along milk’s journey from farm to store. Valio’s climate work focuses on reducing our own emissions, not on offsetting them.

Nearly half of the carbon footprint of milk is methane produced in the digestive process of cows. To reduce methane emissions, Valio has piloted the use of a methane-reducing feed supplement in the feed of around 3,400 cows, and the results have been very positive in terms of both animal nutrition and emission reductions.

“Our customers are very interested in Valio’s climate actions and the ways in which they can reduce their own climate emissions. Particularly challenging for companies are the so-called scope 3 emissions, i.e. the indirect emissions that originate in parts of the value chain over which the company has no direct control. These include, for example, purchases of raw materials by the food industry or emissions from primary production. Indirect emissions are estimated to account for more than 90% of emissions in the food chain, which is why operators in the food industry are looking for ways to meet climate targets in a cost-effective way,” explains Timo Pajari, Senior Vice President, Business Unit Powders from Valio.

Valio Carbo partnership programme.

Valio Carbo™ partnership programme deepens collaboration between producers and customers to achieve climate targets

Valio is now responding to customer needs by launching the Valio Carbo™ partnership programme for industrial customers. The partnership programme enables customers to reduce the climate impact of their own chain and their scope 3 emissions.

“Through the partnership programme, our customers receive lower-emission ingredients, such as Valio Carbo® milk powders and industrial butter, to produce their own products. At the same time, emissions in our own milk chain are reduced. In this way, the solutions provided by Valio’s innovative climate actions also benefit our customers in their own emission reduction efforts. It is a true win-win situation,” Timo Pajari notes.

Feeding that reduces methane emissions is the first climate action included in the partnership programme. In the coming years, the programme will also include other climate actions to be taken on our dairy farms, Timo Pajari sums up.

Valio has made long-term efforts to reduce emissions from its operations. Valio’s owners, Finnish dairy farmers, are highly committed to emission reduction measures on their farms. Valio pays the farms a sustainability bonus for a variety of different emission reduction actions, such as carbon farming, carbon footprint calculations, and, going forward, using the emission-reducing feed solution.

Interested in further information? Contact  Ari Ahonen, Head of Sales.

How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from milk production?

  1. Valio is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations and cutting its carbon footprint to zero by 2035.
  2. Most of the carbon footprint of milk comes from dairy farms. That is why many emission reduction measures focus on primary production.
  3. The focus of Valio’s emission reduction work is on carbon sequestration through grassland cultivation, reducing emissions from peatlands drained from bogs, increasing animal welfare, and using new feeding solutions, as well as manure-based biogas production.
  4. More than 1,500 dairy farms practice carbon farming on a total of 130,000 hectares of arable land.
  5. Valio has developed six different Valio Carbo® grass seed mixtures containing carbon sequestering and biodiversity-enhancing grass varieties.
  6. Peatlands produce about half of all climate emissions from Finnish agriculture, or about 6.3 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent. Greenhouse gas emissions can be mitigated by reducing peatland tillage, raising the water table, and cultivating perennial crops that maintain a year-round crop cover.
  7. Biogas made from manure for heavy transport is a sustainable and renewable form of energy production that reduces emissions from road transport, promotes nutrient recycling and improves the profitability of Finnish food production.
  8. Methane is released into the atmosphere when the microbes in a cow’s rumen digest the grass it eats. A feed supplement developed by DSM has been shown to reduce the amount of methane released during digestion by up to 30%. The carbon footprint of milk is reduced by around 10-15%.
Cows on a field.

Valio will cut milk’s carbon footprint to zero by 2035

Every day, we work to reduce emissions and to grow carbon sinks.

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