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ABF Sugar strives to be efficient in its use of resources across sugar beet and sugar cane production, from the field to the factory and to customers and consumers.
Production of the bagasse co-product at the Nakambala sugar factory in Zambia
ABF Sugar’s approach is that waste materials are products for which it has yet to find a use. This is demonstrated by its bio-refineries, which transform sugar beet and sugar cane waste into a range of commercially viable products through innovative manufacturing processes. Its businesses continue to work to maximise the quantity of sugar beet processed, so as little as possible is left in the field. ABF Sugar continually invests in new technology and process optimisation to make its factories more efficient, improve its use of raw materials and move towards a more circular approach.
ABF Sugar businesses use by-products to generate renewable electricity. British Sugar uses bio-methane produced from its fermented sugar beet pulp to generate electricity, and carbon dioxide and low-grade heat generated at its operations to grow medicinal non-psychoactive cannabis under licence.
Its sugar businesses in Africa use bagasse, the dry fibrous material that remains after crushing sugar cane and extracting the sugar. This renewable source is used for energy, which means that more than 91% of the energy used on-site comes from renewable sources. It also provides the opportunity to co-generate electricity in Eswatini which goes into the national grid. Its Eston plant in South Africa also exports power into the national grid.
Among the commercially viable products its businesses produce, British Sugar is a major producer of animal feed and a supplier of raffinate and betaine for use in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors. African sugar by-products include furfural, a natural chemical feedstock with numerous applications in the food and other industries.
At the Illovo Sugar South Africa Sezela mill, a new initiative is turning boiler ash, a by-product of sugar production, into a high-quality aggregate similar to river sand. This is used across multiple construction uses, for example in brick manufacture, ready-mix concrete and fill material.
In 2026, ABF Sugar decreased the total amount of waste produced through its activities by 59% compared with last year, with 94% sent for recycling or reuse. The decrease was primarily driven by the reduction of the beet manufacturing footprint in Azucarera.
ABF Sugar continues to reduce packaging where possible while recognising the role packaging plays in maintaining product quality and safety.
In 2026, ABF Sugar’s total packaging decreased from 15kt in 2025 to 12kt. Its businesses continue to explore innovative packaging to reduce the volume of materials used.
Azucarera implemented various initiatives to reduce plastic use and increase the share of recyclable and recycled plastics. Key measures include gradually reducing the weight of plastic used for pallet banding, testing a higher percentage of recyclable material in bale shrink wrap and developing a new, thinner cap for icing bottles.
In 2026, ABF Sugar refocused its packaging technology resource to target both packaging weight and waste in our African operations. This identified opportunities across all sites related to specification change, material changeovers and stretch wrap usage which are being actioned for delivery in the year ahead. These initiatives build on strategic investments made in Malawi and Tanzania with further roll-out planned in Zambia in 2027.
In Tanzania, it has completed a project evaluating opportunities to minimise packaging volume and eliminate non-essential plastic liners, while assessing the recyclability and long-term viability of the new packaging solutions. The learnings from this project are being applied across its other African operations.
At British Sugar, a GBP 20m investment at the Bury Customer Supply site transformed packing, palletisation and distribution to Silver Spoon, for their retail customers. The project included new and refurbished packing machines, upgraded palletisation equipment and a re-design of retail and shelf-ready packaging. As a result, single-use labels were eliminated, plastic use was reduced by more than 60% through increased use of cardboard, and brown and white paper waste was reduced by more than 45%. A new packaging design was introduced across the 20kg and 25kg bag range, including recyclability information to support customers' packaging waste decisions.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waste Generated | 192 | 129 | 282 | 279 | 116 |
| Percentage recycled | 96% | 96% | 97% | 99% | 98% |
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 21 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 12 |
