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Anaerobic digestion plant at AB Mauri's site in Hull, UK
Across our Ingredients businesses, waste streams are increasingly repurposed for new uses and markets, and if waste cannot be eliminated or repurposed, it is recycled wherever possible.
In 2024, there was a 55% decrease in the generation of all waste materials across the segment from 70 kt the previous year to 31 kt. This significant reduction is primarily due to the AB Mauri site in Vietnam ceasing yeast production early in 2023, which greatly reduced the amount of waste generated by the business.
Of this waste, 67% of ABFI’s and 77% of AB Mauri’s total was recycled, recovered, reused or sent for another beneficial use. In addition to reducing overall waste, the businesses regularly explore positive ways to use the waste created, with examples in 2024 including fertilisers, animal feed and recycling of paper and plastics.
AB Mauri aims to reduce waste by continuously improving the efficiency of its operations, such as through the smart design of its production lines. For example, some of its operations collect the waste created during the bakery ingredient manufacturing processes to sell as by-products in several locations.
AB Mauri has also formed a co-products technology team with a mandate to evaluate and develop a portfolio of technologies to better exploit these opportunities, overseen by a monthly steering group chaired by its global CEO.
An example of an effective use of one of these co-products would be vinasse, a part of AB Mauri’s yeast process which is used to create fertiliser for agriculture and highly prized ruminant animal feed. Husks from its soya milling operation in Royston, UK, are sold for processing into animal feed, helping the site to maintain zero waste to landfill.
Total waste generated and proportion of waste sent for recycling or other beneficial use
(000 tonnes)
By repurposing waste streams into valuable co-products, the businesses are also displacing industrial processes. For example, a number of its businesses repurpose waste as an ingredient in organic fertiliser and others send waste for conversion into compost, replacing nitrogen-based fertilisers that rely on carbon intensive manufacturing processes.
Biogas from yeast wastewater treatment processes on-site is also captured and recycled back into operations, replacing natural gas as a source of heat and electricity generation.
ABFI businesses are focused on eliminating waste and promoting recycling wherever possible. Training and education play a key role in raising awareness and understanding of waste management opportunities across operating activities. Each business is responsible for developing waste management initiatives tailored to their specific operational needs. These initiatives focus on elimination, reduction, reuse, and recycling, and often involve collaboration with value chain partners to convert waste into usable raw materials. For example, PGP International monitors its efforts to eliminate waste and employs a risk assessment process to track continuous improvement projects. Another example is SPI Pharma’s innovative container tilting system at its facility in Septèmes, France. Using gravity to tilt and empty containers allows the site to reduce waste, cut costs and improve safety.
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AB Mauri’s yeast site in Sorocaba, Brazil
AB Mauri’s business in Brazil has reduced its waste to landfill through several initiatives that aim to repurpose waste streams into value-added new products.
At its site in Sorocaba, which focuses on egg-based products for its Sohovos brand, AB Mauri has developed processes to repurpose both of its main types of waste, empty eggshells and wastewater treatment sludge. The empty eggshells are cleaned, dried and crushed at the site into a fine powder, which is used as fertiliser by different partners.
To dispose of the viscous mix of water and waste solids, the Sorocaba site has been working with a partner in January 2024 who incorporates it as an ingredient in organic fertiliser products, replacing the previous practice of paying a contractor to transport and dispose of it through landfill. The two initiatives have helped the site drive down its landfill waste to zero.
Elsewhere in Brazil, waste previously sent to landfill has been repurposed for use in biomass boilers to create low-carbon energy for manufacturing operations, with residual waste sent to asphalt manufacturers. These initiatives form part of a programme that has enabled an overall reduction in waste to landfill in Brazil from over 40% in 2019/20 to just below 7% in 2023/24.
