WhiteWave Foods Reaches 2016 Sustainability Targets and Strives for More

silk soy milk from whitewaves foods

WhiteWave Foods, the company behind Silk soy milk and Earthbound Farm salads, has announced new sustainability targets for 2025. The ambitious goals include 20 percent reductions across waste, water, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions for the company’s different product lines.

WhiteWave Foods announced these new goals in its 2014-2015 Corporate Social Responsibility report, released Tuesday. The report also detailed the company’s successful completion of 2016 objectives, including sourcing 100 percent of its cocoa powder sustainably.

“At WhiteWave, we aim to produce great-tasting food in a way that’s better for people, our communities and our planet,” said Gregg Engles, Chairman and CEO of WhiteWave Foods, said in a press release. “To achieve this goal, we are constantly seeking new ways to deliver the transparency, choice and responsible practices people are looking for today.”

The report also announced that 100 percent of WhiteWave’s palm oil for liquid creamer products would now be sustainably sourced, and that by 2020, the company’s palm oil will comply with Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil NEXT criteria. Palm oil is an extremely controversial vegetable oil; its production is linked to major environmental issues, including deforestation, animal cruelty, and indigenous rights abuses. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s criteria work to prevent these issues and further improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

WhiteWave also made great strides in waste reduction in 2015, diverting 78 percent of its waste from landfills through recycling, composting, and reuse.

WhiteWave Foods first began tracking its environmental impact in 2006. Since then, it has successfully reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent per pound of product. It has also managed, over the past two years, to reduce water use by 6 percent per pound of product and waste to landfill resource intensity by 52 percent.

WhiteWave brands include Horizon organic milk, So Delicious Dairy Free, and Wallaby organic yogurt. WhiteWave was recently acquired by French dairy company Danone for $10.4 billion.

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Image care of Silk 

Emily Monaco is a food and culture writer based in Paris. Her work has been featured in the Wall ... More about Emily Monaco
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