🌱 5 actions to reduce your methane emissions
Featuring Tilda, Coop Sweden, Bruichladdich, Bragg and more...
Happy Monday!
Join us this week as we suit up and get serious about methane emissions. This lesser known greenhouse gas is a major player in global warming and one thing is for sure - no brand should standby idly while this fugitive runs riot.
After we (hopefully) spur you into taking action on methane, we dish up our usual serving of The Good(s) News including the latest companies getting B Corp certified, followed by a round-up of what’s been happening over the past week at FTF.
> In Focus
Meet Methane, The Greenhouse Gas That Packs A Punch
by Laura Matz
Many people use the terms carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions interchangeably, but did you know that methane, the main component of natural gas, is responsible for a third of global warming? Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide during its lifetime. The human-driven sources of methane are mainly stemming from three sectors: 40% from agriculture, 35% from fossil fuels and 20% from food and other organic materials in landfills, open dumps and wastewater. With this impact on global warming, it’s no surprise that reducing methane emissions is an important factor in reaching our global net zero targets.
Global methane emissions must be reduced by 30-60% below 2020 levels by 2030 to be consistent with least-cost pathways of limiting global warming to 1.5°C this century - CCAC
It’s not all doom and gloom, theoretically most of the methane reduction/abatement solutions cost less than the value of the societal benefits of reducing – estimated as a benefit of £3,400 per tonne of methane. Since methane has a shorter lifespan than CO2 emissions, it is easier to make these estimates showing short-term outcomes.
So, how do you even begin to understand how much methane your brand is responsible for? We’ve listed 5 things any brand can do to reduce your methane emissions, but first to give you a little context, we’re digging into that pesky 40% from agriculture to learn more about emissions sources and reduction tactics. Let’s dig in…
Step 1: Figuring out your product’s methane footprint
If you or your suppliers are using fossil fuels (spoiler alert, most brands are) then part of your methane footprint comes indirectly from leaks during the production and transportation of oil and gas. Often, the biggest hotspot, and the one we’re focusing on today, is agriculture.
Animal-based product? Livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce methane through enteric (intestinal) fermentation whereby microbes break down complex carbohydrates and create methane as a byproduct, released through burps. Though methane is emitted from manure when it is naturally spread by roaming livestock, a much greater issue arises from the common practices of disposing manure in piles, slurries and lagoons, which create an ideal environment for microbes to work their methane magic. These manure management practices contribute roughly a quarter of the overall methane emissions from agriculture.
Rice as a key ingredient? A staple food for over half of the world's population, contributes about 12% of global methane emissions through its cultivation. The practice of using standing water to help rice grow, suppress weeds and protect the crop from infection, creates excellent conditions for microbes to feed on organic matter and emit methane.
Organic waste as part of the agricultural process? Part of the organic matter that feeds these microbes is on-farm food and crop decomposition (across all types of crops). This can occur when crops are left unharvested due to oversupply or inefficiencies, are damaged, too small or large, or are not aesthetically acceptable. Don’t forget, decomposing organic waste is also a methane contributor on the other end of the value chain. Food waste in landfills contributes more methane emissions than any other landfill material.
Looking for exact figures on your methane emissions? Companies like Ecochain or Bemari who conduct LCAs will calculate this as part of your GHG emissions.
Step 2: Minimising the methane
Thankfully there are a lot of different approaches a company can take to reduce the methane emissions across their value chain. Keeping in our focus on agriculture, let’s take a look at some examples:
Better belching: Shifting towards more plant-based ingredients in food products is one way to reduce methane emissions, but for the brands that can’t do that… this isn’t the answer. One solution being explored is supplementing animal feed to reduce the amount of methane created during digestion. Using seaweed or algae has delivered some positive results in this area. One pilot project by biotech company Volta Greentech, Coop Sweden and food company Protos brought us LOME – a low methane beef product. This project involved feeding cattle with a food supplement made from red algae, which studies had shown could reduce the methane produced by cow burps by 80%. This solution is not yet scalable but companies such as DSM are offering engineered supplements with similar results.
Rice farming solutions: The issue of methane from rice cultivation can be tackled through relatively low cost changes in farming practices. These include planting seeds directly rather than planting seedlings, crop rotation, and alternative wetting and drying (AWD). The latter involves monitoring the water levels in the field below the surface, allowing the top layer of soil to dry and breaking the cycle of microbes causing anaerobic digestion. Tilda has collaborated with many of its suppliers to roll out this practice showing a methane saving potential of up to 70%.
Wider shift to regenerative agriculture: Reduced methane emissions are a co-benefit of many regenerative practices such as crop rotation, climate-resilient crop varieties that lead to less waste, and improved soil health. Danone is one company that has set methane reduction targets, 30% absolute reduction in methane emissions from fresh milk used in its dairy products, which they hope to reach in part using regenerative agriculture practices.
5 actions to reduce methane in your value chain
Even for companies that aren’t directly involved in agriculture there are many steps that can be taken to tackle indirect methane emissions. As promised, let’s take a look at some:
Poop: If your brand sells animal-based materials or ingredients, look into the manure management practices of your agricultural suppliers. Make suppliers aware that this is an important consideration in your procurement process and that your company is aware of the social (health) and environmental impacts of poorly managed animal waste.
Ingredients: Consider ingredients in your new product development that your agricultural suppliers could grow to allow crop rotation. Scottish spirit producer Bruichladdich introduced a rye whisky to help their barley suppliers to regenerate their soil, leading to lower fertilisation costs and an exciting new product.
Education: Invest in education and innovation within your supply chain to reduce methane in collaboration with your raw ingredients suppliers, as Tilda has done.
Hotspots: If you can, invest in identifying the food and crop waste hotspots from the farm all the way to the end-of-life of your product and begin setting targets to reduce. This can be done through a combination of supplier engagement and
Energy: A good old favourite, switch to low-impact renewable energy - transitioning off fossil fuels is a huge step in reducing methane emissions
Are you working to reduce your methane emissions? Or a company that can help brands reduce theirs? We'd love to hear from you!
> Follow up with…
Facts and Figures: Methane - Climate and Clean Air Coalition
Target setting guidance: Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG), SBTi
> Last week in consumer goods x climate…
The Good(s) News
Up and coming brands…
🎯 LEON Restaurants announced that they are set to release Gluten Free frozen range in Morrisons to create more accessibility for its customers. All of the new products are 100% gluten-free.
🎯 Holistic London and Bragg Live Food Products announced that they are B Corp Certified company.
🎯 Ethical Consumer Magazine announced they are expanding their Best Buy label for Suma Wholefoods organic pasta, adding another one to their already 19 Best Buy-labelled products. The Italian organic wheat pasta is grown and produced by a co-op of organic farmers in Italy using 100% renewable energy.
🎯 Miniml announced that their products are now available in Oxfam UK-wide.
🎯 neat announced that they are partnering with Astrid and Miyu, providing more sustainable alternatives for their 22 stores and head office. neat are supplying them with their plant-based, refillable home and hand care solutions.
Bigger organisations…
⭐️ Ocado Retail Ltd announced that they are partnering with Soil Association to demonstrate sustainable agricultural practices at five different UK farms. Each farm will focus on different areas – ranging from dairy cows, beef and sheep to orchard fruit and potatoes.
⭐️ Aldi UK announced their new recyclable butter packaging on two of its own-label butter lines, using an alternative paper-based wrap, enabling the new packaging to be recycled at home. The change will currently apply to its Specially Selected West Country and Yorkshire block butter to help remove 10 tonnes of non-recyclable packaging from circulation each year.
⭐️ The White Company announced that they are now B Corp certified.
Want good news sooner? We post our top 5 stories every Friday on LinkedIn! If your CPG brand has good news to share, let us know.👇
> In case you missed it
Want more? Here’s what’s happening across FTF at the moment…
Leone debunks the myths about climate change with Danielle Lee using the mass medium tiktok…a must see!
We hit 3 years of publishing this FTF newsletter!! We are so busy trying to make the content EVEN MORE engaging that we nearly let the milestone fly by. We want to thank all of you for all of your support 🥰, you’re the best! If you want a trip down memory lane, here was edition 1.
We have been busily updating our MEASURE database, keep an eye out on LinkedIn to catch the latest editions to our growing database of partners.
That’s it for today!
Want more? Check out ‘The Check-Out’ this Thursday for the latest brands in our basket. In the meantime, if you have any topics that you would like us to dig into, ping us an email on info@followingthefootprints.com to say hi!
Much love,
Team FTF