SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainable development with a long tradition in our company

Being aware of how much we receive from nature, we utilise almost every part of the sugar beet, processing it in nearly 100%

• soil adhering to sugar beet roots is returned to the fields,
• the leaves are used to make biomass to be digested in biogas plants,
• stones recovered during the beet washing process are reused, for example in road building,
• beet pulp obtained in the course of the production process is used as a valuable feed material,
• molasses generated during the crystallisation of sugar is used in animal feeds and in industrial production,
• lime from the juice purification stage is reused as a fertiliser.

Environmental activities at Pfeifer & Langen in Poland are carried out within the framework of a certified environmental management system compliant with the requirements of the ISO 14001:2015 standard. This means that in the course of its business the Company takes into consideration the natural conditions associated, for example, with the climate, air and water quality, land surface usage, the existing pollution, the availability of natural resources and biodiversity, social determinants (including cultural, political, legal) and economic, financial, and technological factors as well as factors connected with competitiveness on the international, national, regional and local levels.

In consideration of the foregoing, the environmental management methodology of our Company is based on the concept of sustainable development. The said concept takes into account the relations between three capitals: economic, social and natural, which should be considered during the decision-making process and optimization concepts. Such an approach leads to environmental effectiveness which strengthens the economic and social effectiveness.

In the pro-environmental activities carried out at our sugar factories in conformity with the concept of sustainable development and the requirements of the ISO 14001:2015 standard the entire product life cycle is taken into consideration (see).        

Cultivation, harvesting and delivery of the raw material to sugar factories.

Owing to the close cooperation with research institutes, universities and sugar beet growers’ associations we are able to increase the efficiency of crops without increasing the impact of sugar beet cultivation on the environment. This is achieved, among others, by:

• strip tillage cultivation comprising the use of machines which simultaneously cultivate the field, sow beet seeds and apply the appropriate dose of the fertiliser, which significantly reduces exhaust emission, wind and water erosion and the quantities of artificial fertiliser used, in particular nitrogen fertilizers which contaminate surface and subterranean waters; we have been the first company to implement a system of bonuses for growers delivering raw material with a low content of amino-acid nitrogen;
• implementation of a programme for balancing the content of organic matter in the soil (humus) as well as a system for organising logistics, a system for collecting and analysing soil samples and a system for the provision of information about fungal diseases;
• optimisation of the quantities of plant protection agents by precise calculation of the active dose of a chemical indispensable to control weeds and pests and by fighting pests at the early stage of their development, which is important to maintain biodiversity in the close vicinity of the cultivated fields;
• using GPS systems to optimise the raw material transport from the field to the sugar factory, which contributes to reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

Sugar production process

Beet sugar production technology requires energy, water and auxiliary materials indispensable to make sugar. The most important activities aimed at optimising the processes taking place in our sugar plants and reducing the environmental impact of the Company’s operations include:

• cleaning the raw material in a closed water circuit using recycled water (treated wastewater);
• reclaiming water from sugar beets in the form of condensates, which significantly reduces the consumption of deep well water and generated quantities of wastewater;
• using measures preventing the leakage of petroleum and chemical substances into the soil and subterranean waters;
• erecting new and upgrading the existing industrial wastewater treatment facilities;
• optimising the use of thermal and electrical energy whereby reducing the air emissions of pollutants from fuel combustion processes by:
  • utilising multi-stage evaporation stations enabling the optimum use of the generated thermal energy;
  • replacing old machinery and equipment with new, more efficient one;
  • using inverters enabling optimisation of electricity consumption;
  • using renewable sources of energy, i.e. biogas produced from beet pulp – thus reducing the air emissions of pollutants from the fuel combustion process;
• using devices and equipment which help reduce the environmental impact, such as dust filters, cyclone separators, silencers and soundproof housings.

Additionally, we meet 40% of the energy demand of the town of Środa Wielkopolska, consuming approximately 11-16% less coal than a standard municipal heat and power plant.

Sugar packaging, warehousing and sale:

The process of reducing the environmental impact of the aforesaid sugar production stages involves:

• increasing the quantity of bulk sugar sales whenever possible, to reduce packaging waste;
• optimisation of sugar packaging materials in order to reduce packaging weight and, consequently, the quantity of packaging waste;
• erection of new silos and tanks for liquid sugar in order to reduce shipping the product to external warehouses – whereby reducing exhaust emissions from transport and the quantity of waste produced due to sugar repackaging;
• cooperation with organisations engaged in recycling activities, to ensure management of packaging waste in conformity with the law.

Other systemic activities:

• environmental risk assessment for each investment project carried out by the Company in order to reduce the environmental impact of the completed project;
• analysing the environmental, social and economic context in which the Company operates, including the needs and expectations of Company stakeholders, in order to optimise the organisation’s activities and reduce the impact on the natural and social environment;
• setting environmental targets aimed at reducing the environmental impact at source;
• improving the environmental awareness of employees and subcontractors engaged by the Company;
• conducting internal audits, which facilitate improvement of our processes in terms of their environmental impact;
• ongoing monitoring of the key parameters of the Company’s business to enable prompt response to any nonconformities that have occurred, including water consumption, sewage emissions, consumption of fuel, air contamination, waste emissions, consumption of electrical and thermal energy, quantity of raw materials and products, signals received from local residents, growers and customers;

A number of investment projects undertaken by Pfeifer & Langen in Poland to improve energy efficiency have made it possible to reduce the annual consumption of electrical energy by 2,162,160 kWh. Our activities have been appreciated and recognised by the award committee of the Ekoinwestor competition organized by the editorial board of the Agroindustry quarterly magazine under the honorary patronage of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The competition serves to emphasise the social responsibility of the food industry in the promotion of technologies that are environmentally friendly and that reduce the negative environmental impact.