We’ve always been concerned about the impact our business could have on climate change. So to minimise our greenhouse gas emissions, we’ve committed to various initiatives:

Having looked at the results of our carbon audit, we realized there were two key actions to reduce our carbon footprint in 2007. One was to increase the recycled content of our PET bottles, and the other was to work with our suppliers to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste.

100% recycled bottle

In September 2007, we became the first company in the world to put our drinks into 100% recycled plastic bottles.

We’ve been working on this project for quite a while now. In 2000 we started using bottles made from 25% recycled plastic and in 2005, improved it to 50% recycled. All the time, people told us that it would be impossible to get to 100%, but we tried and tried and tried again. And now we’re here. 100%. It means a 20% reduction in materials (we've made the bottle lighter) and a 55% carbon reduction in terms of the bottle’s manufacture. It’s a big step for a little company.
Not only is this a great environmental result – but its not costing us anymore either.

Suppliers go green

The majority of our carbon footprint occurs in our supply chain, so it's essential that we work with our suppliers to cut carbon. One of our carton co-packers started working on carbon projects last year, and in the space of 8 months reduced their footprint by an amazing 60%.

This is what they did:

• Got serious about recycling. A group of employees was set up to find opportunities to recycle more waste from around the factory. Within 6 months, new recycling systems were in place, and a year later an amazing 85% of their waste is being recycled. This wasn't the result of any fancy technology though - just clearly labeled bins and more education and encouragement for staff to separate waste. Not only were the company able to achieve great recycling results but they also saved money - about a £1,000 a month from reduced waste disposal costs. Talk about win win.

• Became energy all-stars. A free energy audit from the Carbon Trust showed that they could reduce usage (and costs) by up to 25% across the business. Some of the actions suggested by the audit were pretty straightforward, such as improved metering or small changes to current procedures. Others required investment in new equipment for the production process. The company engineering manager is currently working through the action plan with his team, and by the end of the year, hopes to have achieved a 10% saving in energy overall.

• The ultimate commitment. Encouraged by the excellent results that they’d seen so far, and the great feedback from employees, the company decided to make the ultimate carbon commitment by purchasing 100% renewable energy for their entire site. Green stars all round.

Three great projects and an incredibly impressive year of results means that their employees and all of us at innocent are extremely proud of their company. Jolly big pats on the back indeed.

So what’s next

Having successfully reduced our smoothie carbon footprint by 15% in 2007, we are continuing to work throughout our entire supply chain to reduce carbon wherever possible. The majority of this work in 2008 has been with our UK manufacturing sites, lightweighting our packaging, and reducing the use of agrochemicals with our fruit growers. Now that we are reaching the end of the year it is time to crunch those numbers and see how we have done. This involves quite a lot of excel spreadsheet pain, but we promise to post up our results by the end of the year.