Westland Milk Products says it has cut coal consumption at its Hokitika plant by 20 percent in the 2021-2022 season compared to the previous year.
Photo: 123RF
Chief executive Richard Wyeth said the reduction in coal use reflected the company's commitment to transitioning to low-carbon sources.
"After launching our sustainability strategy last year, we wanted to set realistic, achievable targets given the limited decarbonisation options open to us on the West Coast," he said.
"Our staff have really got behind our sustainability strategy and it's a stunning achievement to achieve these targets so quickly, however, we will continue to be realistic about our goals for the future."
The company, which aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 12.5 percent by 2025 and 25 percent by 2030, will revise its interim targets after achieving a total reduction of 11,000 MT of coal.
Wyeth said retiring energy-intensive drying equipment, better maintenance work and better production planning contributed to the reductions in coal use.
"While we are firmly committed to the 2037 decarbonisation target for industry, the technology to achieve this is currently not yet available," he said.
"We have limited options to decarbonise energy-intensive food production on the West Coast with a conversion to biomass as fuel currently not cost-effective and requiring four-times the supply chain emissions as coal."
He said the company was working with the government, via the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund to reduce emissions through heat loss, which is expected to reduce emissions further in the future.