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Sustainability

Sustainability is crucial to our business, with commitment across all areas of NZ Sugar.  

Protecting our future

Protecting Our Future encompasses our operations, people, communities, products and suppliers. It’s about making sure our business continues to be an important part of New Zealanders lives for generations to come.

To date, we have been actively working on important areas such as energy reduction, packaging recycling and supporting the communities in which we operate.

Our Chelsea Refinery has a proud heritage, we have stood the test of time through understanding and adapting to the needs of our customers, communities and stakeholders in an ethical, reliable and trustworthy way.

This framework brings all these activities together and ensures we are aligned and live our purpose - Trusted to Deliver Everyday - in a sustainable and meaningful way.

This framework brings all these activities together and ensures we are aligned and live our purpose - Trusted to Deliver Everyday
- in a sustainable and meaningful way.

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Sustainability at Chelsea

Click on a section of the wheel to find out more.

Greenhouse Gas Reduction

towards 2025

  • We will optimise the refining process to reduce energy intensity by more than 15% and Greenhouse Gas Emission intensity by more than 20%  from a 2020 base
  • We will optimise product specifications and offer lower energy intensive products
  • We will complete the conversion of our forklift fleet to 100% electric, reducing emissions by 100 t (CO2 e) per year
  • We will complete the measurement of our Scope 3 emissions and start building Scope 3 reduction plans with our supply base

by 2030

  • We will reduce our scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from a 2020 base

by 2050

  • Chelsea refinery operations will be net zero carbon

Water and Waste Reduction

towards 2025

  • We will reduce water usage by more than 15% from a 2020 base
  • We will ensure at least 90% of refining by-product is diverted away from landfill
  • We will continue to invest in waste handling to facilitate the separation of all packaging waste for recycling

by 2030

  • We will reduce water usage by 20% from a 2020 base
  • 100% of our refining by-product will be diverted away from landfill to be repurposed
  • 100% of packaging waste generated at the Chelsea site will be recycled

Sustainable Packaging

towards 2025

  • 100% of our packaging will be recyclable
  • Retail syrup bottles will be converted to 100% recycled PET
  • We will continue to work to increase to recycled content of our packaging


by 2030

  • 100% of our packaging will be sustainable

Communities and Partnerships

towards 2025

  • We will continue to improve the Wellbeing of our team through Chelsea Way of Being: Mind, Physical, Career, Financial annual activities
  • We will continue to develop our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion programme to increase female participation at work by 50% from 2020 level, with pay parity
  • We will continue to educate Chelsea staff on modern slavery
  • We will contribute over 400 volunteer hours per year to community groups we partner with

by 2030

  • We will provide over 500  volunteer hours annually to community groups we partner with

Product Excellence

towards 2025

  • We will update our packaging to to communicate sustainability, recycling, sugar sourcing and nutrition initiatives
  • We will develop products that consume less energy during production as an option for customers and consumers

Ethical Sourcing

towards 2025

  • We will introduce training, processes and supplier assessments to manage modern slavery risks in our supply chain
  • Maintain SEDEX accreditation to provide external assurance our operations and supply chain are ethically managed
  • Complete an Ecovardis assessment and develop and implement plans to score >60%
  • Continue to produce refined sugar products under the NDPE(sugar) programme and continue to work with Wilmar to drive the NDPE(sugar) programme through our supply base

Our commitments to a Sustainable Tomorrow

Our commitments to a sustainable tomorrow are based on four strategic pillars which are supported by key initiatives that we embrace as a business

Sustainability in Action!

Protecting Our Future encompasses our operations, people, communities, products, and suppliers. It's about all of us making sure our business continues to be an important part of New Zealanders' lives for generations to come.

Our People

Our employees are Trusted to Deliver Everyday in a sustainable way. Our everyday actions, no matter how small, can contribute to helping us achieve our sustainability goals. We want Our People to be champions for a better planet!

Our Suppliers

Enhancing sustainability performance across our supply relationships is something that benefits everyone. It’s about common goals that we can action together and celebrate our ongoing progress.

Our Customers

Our customer partnerships are critically important to our business success. Sustainability is increasingly a key metric in measuring business performance and we want to lead the way with real actions and achievements.

Our Consumers

It's our job to keep our consumers aware of our sustainability progress and encourage them to communicate with us to share their thoughts and opinions on our journey.

Our Communities

We want our communities to be proud of their relationship with us, to understand what we do and enjoy the benefits of a more sustainable future.

Looking after our planet is an important job and we are all in this together!

Key Achievements in 2020-2022

Untitled design (19)
Energy

Energy intensity reduced by 8%

Sustainability Icons (12)
GHG

GHG reduction by >20%

100% renewable electricity
New technology Mechanical Vapour Recompression Evaporator installed and commissioned

3
Water Usage

Water usage reduced by 13%

Recovery of evaporator condensate

3
Recyclable Packaging
Recyclable logo onto all retail sugar packs
More than 82% of all sugar packaging is now recyclable
Progressed the change of PET syrup to 100% rPET
Sustainability Icons (2)
Sustainable Sourcing
All staff trained in modern slavery; supplier assessments in place
Chelsea commitment to the Wilmar NDPE(Sugar) policy
5
Communities and Partnerships
Staff volunteered and planted over 1500 trees regenerating biodiversity in the Chelsea grounds
Chelsea staff volunteer hours >200 in 2023

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