Kraft Foods is implementing its global environmental management system at an impressive rate. Not long after starting this process, the company achieved ISO 14001 certification for several of its facilities around the world. “Now, we can better measure how much we care about the environment and at the same time leverage these efforts to enhance our business,” says Thomas Ingermann, Director Safety and Environment for Kraft International Manufacturing.
Kraft Foods, the world’s second largest food and beverage company, is well known to most people. For over 100 years, consumers have enjoyed Kraft’s products – today produced in manufacturing and processing facilities worldwide.
“Kraft’s commitment to the environment has continued to accelerate since the early 1980s,” says Thomas Ingermann. “This is particularly true in Europe, primarily because of traditionally higher energy costs and a higher public demand. Today, however, in all corners of the world, the focus is on corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship. Authorities mandate reduced air emissions, spills, solid waste, and water and energy consumption during manufacturing. Also, non-governmental organisations encourage transparency and environmental responsibility. And let’s not forget increasing energy prices that constitute a major concern for all companies.”
Building a sustainable business
Kraft Foods has implemented an overall corporate responsibility strategy that includes operating in a sustainable way while simultaneously growing its business.
According to Thomas Ingermann, “Kraft recognises that its business success is only sustainable if it maintains and strengthens the economic, social and environmental foundation on which it is built.”
Kraft Foods has therefore established an Environmental Roadmap. The Roadmap defines Kraft’s environmental policy goals and action plans to promote a sustainable global organisation, and includes planning and operating procedures for management of actual or potential environmental impacts.
A speedy move from multi-local to global
Before the Roadmap, Kraft Foods used a multi-local approach. Several Kraft plants had their own environmental management system, certified by as many as 16 different certification bodies.
“This old system was inefficient. Kraft needed one global and consistent environmental management system that could be certified by one single body,” Thomas Ingermann explains. “We realised that by facing our environmental challenges in a systematic manner globally, we can enhance our company’s business and at the same time be responsible to the environment.”
Kraft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) implemented the framework for the ISO 14001 system throughout the organisation within only one year – an impressive accomplishment. In addition, Kraft will have all of its manufacturing plants in EMEA and in Latin America certified to the ISO 14001 standard by year end 2006, followed by Asia Pacific
in 2007 and North America in 2008.
“Our current focus is on manufacturing, but later we hope to integrate other parts of the supply and consumption chain, such as raw materials, packaging and transportation,” he explains.
New ways of working
Kraft took a top-down approach to the implementation.
Says Thomas Ingermann, “We encouraged all managers, employees and plants to understand and adapt to the new way of thinking. At the same time, managers and employees needed to learn that a new environmental management system would not be a burden, but only required that they work in a more coordinated way.”
To get the message across, Kraft established an implementation team, consisting of key people in the Kraft organisation.
“The implementation team defined the need for resources and provided motivation. They were successful,” Thomas Ingermann says.
A sheet of paper or something more?
Kraft realises that ISO certification means more than having a framed certificate on the wall.
Says Thomas Ingermann, “Certification to an ISO standard requires that you do what you say and say what you do.”
Kraft benefited from working with DNV. “By using DNV as a certification partner, Kraft took advantage of DNV’s unique risk-based approach to quickly identify performance gaps and remedy them. At the same time, Kraft understands that the real work starts after the certification. We continually aim to improve our defined Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs). Now, as we are being certified to one standard, it will be significantly easier for us to derive reliable and comparable data for measuring a monthly progression of water consumption, water discharge, energy usage, carbon dioxide emissions, solid waste generation and recycling rates,” Thomas Ingermann explains.
“Our environmental management system is now a real tool for a dynamic operation that fulfils our strategy of growing our business and caring for the environment at the same time. A clear win-win situation,” he concludes.
