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Thai Union continued to install solar rooftops at its factories in 2019.
Thai Union continued the Sun Seeker Project in 2019, installing solar rooftops in our factories. Since 2017, Thai Union has achieved a total solar capacity of 6.6 M with total producing 5,535,446 kWh, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas of approximately 2,878 tons CO2 equivalent or planting 191,895 trees. The Sun Seeker Project will continue at least 5 MW in 2020.
In 2019, Thai Union initiated several waste-to-landfill reduction programs.
In 2019, Thai Union initiated several waste-to-landfill reduction programs, including utilizing wastewater sludge to fertilizer for planting trees at Okeanos, Pak Food Asia and Thai Union Seafood; increasing recyclable plastic by using plastic washing machine to reduce contaminated plastic waste which would normally go to landfill, at Songkla Canning; and initiating the installation of a Styrofoam compactor for the recycling program at MA Poland. The result was a reduction in waste-to-landfill by more than 26,771 tons, or 67 percent, against 2016.
Thai Union initiated more than 20 water reduction programs in 2019, especially reusing and recycling water in production processes.
Thai Union initiated more than 20 water reduction programs in 2019, especially reusing and recycling water in production processes. Projects included installing an ozone treatment system on the evaporative condensor unit, reducing pressure on water supply and reusing wastewater after treatment for planting trees, cleaning floors, flushing toilets etc. As a result, Thai Union reduced its water consumption more than 1.94 million m3 or 22 percent compared to 2016.
Thai Union is aiming to reduce water withdrawal by 20 percent per ton of production by 2020, compared to 2016.
In 2019, Thai Union reduced its greenhouse gas intensity emissions by 18 percent.
In 2019, Thai Union reduced its greenhouse gas intensity emissions by 18 percent, or about 87,547 tons CO2. Since 2016, the total environmental reduction programs have realized a cost saving for Thai Union of more than USD 24 million.
At Thai Union, we have a greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 30 percent per ton of production by 2020, compared to the 2016 baseline figure.
In 2018, we continued installing the solar rooftop at Thai Union Manufacturing (TUM) and Songkhla Canning.
In 2018, we continued installing the solar rooftop at Thai Union Manufacturing (TUM) and Songkhla Canning (SCC) with power capacity 0.6 and 1 MW respectively. For these two projects, Thai Union will consume electricity from renewable energy sources of around 2,000,000 kWh/y and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1,100 tons CO2/y. We expect to install at least 20 MW in total by 2019.
During 2018, Thai Union initiated a number of water reduction programs.
During 2018, Thai Union initiated a number of water reduction programs, particularly around reusing and recycling of water in our production processes. The results of these programs were significant, with a reduction in water consumption of more than 160,000 m3 in Europe and the U.S., and 700,000 m3 in Asia.
Since 2016, Thai Union has reduced its water consumption around the world by 1.9 million m3.
Thai Union developed several waste to landfill reduction programs around the world in 2018.
Thai Union developed several waste to landfill reduction programs in 2018 which were implemented at a number of locations around the world. At Pak Food Asia and Thai Union Seafood used fertilizer made from wastewater sludge for planting trees, while at Songkla Canning they introduced a recycling process for contaminated plastic that previously went to landfill. Other programs were also introduced in Poland and Ghana. As a result, Thai Union has reduced its waste to landfill by more than 17,000 tons since 2016.
We continuously look to identify suppliers that can utilize or transform our waste and byproducts into energy for use in their processes.
Thai Union puts effort into segregating, reusing and recycling our waste to reduce the volume that goes to the landfill. We continuously look to identify suppliers that can utilize or transform our waste and byproducts into energy for use in their processes.
For example, we send our stickers, which normally go to the landfill, to one of our suppliers for energy production. At Songkla Canning, we reduced the amount of sludge going to the landfill from our wastewater treatment plant by about 28 percent in 2017; this was done by returning an optimized volume of sludge to a digester tank.
Employees’ skills and competencies are significant factors in building a culture of safety at Thai Union.
We realize that employees’ skills and competencies are significant factors in building a culture of safety at Thai Union. As such, we established the Center of Excellence in Thailand: Environment, Health and Safety in February 2017 to serve as the EHS learning hub for all Thai Union employees. More than 3,000 employees participated in the center’s courses in 2017, which are offered in Thai, English and Burmese to better facilitate the comprehension of our diverse employees. In 2018, we plan to expand our EHS capacity building services to the public by making them available to other Thai and migrant workers in the region. We hope this will improve the EHS awareness, skills and competencies of people outside Thai Union, too, especially among migrant workers.
Sustainable packaging will help achieve Thai Union’s goals for carbon footprint reduction and environmentally-friendly packaging.
Sustainable packaging is an important element of our innovation work. As part of our Global Innovation Incubator’s science and research pillar, we investigate and develop technological advancements to improve the sustainability and convenience of product packaging. By exploring sustainable packaging in our innovation research, we ensure a continuous pipeline of improvements, which will help achieve Thai Union’s goals for carbon footprint reduction and environmentally-friendly packaging.
Thai Union knew that putting solar panels on the unused rooftops of our production plants would create benefits.
Thai Union knew that putting solar panels on the unused rooftops of our production plants would create benefits for the countries where our plants are located by increasing the national proportion of alternative energy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With this in mind, we surveyed our plants’ rooftops in several countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Seychelles, and we identified many appropriate sites for implementation.
In 2017, the first location we selected for a pilot Power Purchased Agreement (PPA) project was Thai Union Factory’s 10,000 square meter cold storage rooftop in Samut Sakhon Province. We chose this facility for its high level of energy production at 3,300 kWh per day, and because the electrical load is steady enough for day-to-day operations and the roof is newer, compared to other locations. As part of the project, we installed 2,970 solar panels with a total power capacity of 935.55 kWh— approximately 1,300,000 kWh per year—which can reduce GHG emissions by 720 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. The project also reduced accumulated heat in the plant’s buildings, and thus air conditioning power consumption.
In 25 years, the total renewable energy produced from this solar rooftop project will be approximately 33,123,000 kWh, and the total GHG emissions reduction will be about 19,000 tons. The success of this pilot project serves as a model for other organizations and has generated significant interest for site visits from domestic and international government and private sector representatives.
Thai Union assessed our workplace to identify any potential improvements to our employees’ safety in 2017.
Thai Union assessed our workplace to identify any potential improvements to our employees’ safety in 2017. We believe a safe workplace begins with the right safety design. Several engineering projects were executed in 2017 to improve our workplace safety, including fire protection, machine safety, ergonomics and a safe refrigeration system. To help implement our workplace safety design, we issued Thai Union guidelines demonstrating the principles of “Doing-Right-at- First,” which covers the required steps of the project’s execution and ensures integration of safety considerations.
Thai Union officially broke ground on a wastewater and biogas project at our Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT) Seychelles facility.
Thai Union, in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), officially broke ground on a wastewater and biogas project at our Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT) Seychelles facility in 2017. This project will cut carbon emissions and reduce energy costs while generating clean electricity and cleaner wastewater. CCI, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, has been working with Thai Union to provide technical and advisory support on the project since 2013.
This project will address a number of clean energy needs:
The company sought to better understand the full lifecycle of packaging materials by comparing metal to plastic.
Because of the increasing profile of environmental issues, such as food waste, climate change and ocean plastic, John West continually challenges themselves to consider any future packaging development from as many different perspectives as possible, not just consumers. That is why Thai Union decided to work with a third-party industry expert to better understand the full lifecycle of packaging materials by comparing metal to plastic.
Thai Union has to demonstrate responsibility in developing consumer-led packaging solutions that drive greater relevance while considering environmental impacts in the process. Partnering with an independent LCA expert like RDC Environment has already significantly informed our understanding of sustainable packaging, and this new approach will be used to shape future thinking on global packaging development.
The event was hosted by MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos, an active Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries.
In January 2018, Thai Union brought together Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), sustainability experts, NGOs and industry representatives to discuss how best to join forces to drive positive change across the seafood industry. A high-level stakeholder event, organized in the European Parliament, marked the launch of a week-long exhibition on SeaChange®. During this period, visitors had the opportunity to learn about sustainability challenges in the seafood and fishing industry through a diverse range of panels, infographics and videos. The launch event welcomed more than 60 high-level representatives of the political, NGO and industry spheres with responsibilities in the field of fisheries, sustainability, trade and employment.
The event was hosted by MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos, an active Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, who applauded Thai Union’s leadership.
Supporting the local GHG reduction scheme in Thailand.
In 2017 we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to participate in the Thailand Voluntary Emission Trading Scheme (Thailand V-ETS). The scheme brings together the private and public sector to monitor, report and verify GHG emissions in Thailand. This MOU is a critical step in understanding and agreeing on the importance of establishing environmental targets as an effective tool for combatting climate change.
Improving our technology and processes is helping us to deliver against our 30% GHG reduction commitment.
In 2014, we conducted an energy audit to understand the consumption sources; explored alternative energy sources such as bio-gas, solar, wind and biomass; increased our energy efficiency; and used innovations in technology to reduce energy consumption. In 2015, Songkla Canning Company replaced using fuel oil in its steam production to biomass energy, which resulted in energy reduction of 124,570.4 GJ per year.
Freezing is one of our major sources of energy consumption. Improving our equipment and processes is delivering against our 30% CO2 reduction commitment.
In 2015 we have undertaken a number of measures that have improved the efficiency of freezing. New working practices have reduced the time needed to load tuna into our freezers and smaller doors with integrated air curtains prevent air leaking from our freezers. We have also reduced the moisture in packed tuna as high humidity leads to higher electricity consumption by the cooling system. The combination of all these initiatives has reduced our annual energy consumption by 5,234 GJ.
Our focus on standardizing safety practices and behavior has led to improvements on our lost-time injuries frequency rate (LTIFR).
In 2015, our ongoing focus on standardizing safety practices saw year-on-year improvement in our LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate), from 0.77 in 2014 to 0.7 in 2015 (per 200,000 work hours).
Our ‘Garbage Bank’ program gets staff involved in our environmental program and raises funds to support the local communities.
In 2014 we established our ‘Garbage Bank’ program to reduce waste by encourage reusing and recycling; developing alternative materials that are more eco-friendly; and implementing alternative disposal methods. The program helped staff become more aware of waste, both at home and at work. Through collaboration with all levels of staff within our facilities, we collect plastic waste from our facilities and sell it to responsible recyclers. In 2015, our operations in Thailand raised 59,010 Thai bhat which has been used to fund community projects including planting mangroves, a lunch program for local children and support to victims of flooding in Myanmar.
Identifying factories with high water-shortage risk enabled us to focus on their water efficiency and effective water treatment.
In 2015 we used the Aqueduct global water risk mapping tool to map the water stress at 15 of our key factories and facilities globally. In 2016, we included assessed 11 more sites, and increased the scope to include water shortage, floods, water quality, and water cost. This assessment identified 4 out of 25 factories that were located in areas of high water-shortage risk.
Developing alternative water sources in a water stressed location in Thailand.
Songkla Canning Company (SCC) is situated in a municipality with unstable water supply volume and quality. In 2015, SCC in the Songkhla province of Thailand developed alternative water sources that accounted for 79% of all water consumption at the facility, through a private surface water pond and its own rain reservoir. It also developed water treatment facilities to enable wastewater reuse, which amounted to 19% of its water consumption in 2015.
Our biogas initiative is helping us deliver against our commitment to reduce our GHG emissions by 30% over the coming years.
In 2014 we initiated a bio-gas project at Thai Union Manufacturing Co. Ltd. The project allows us to capture bio-gas from the treatment of our wastewater; this is then used to generate electricity. In the first year, this project delivered a GHG reduction of 0.00961CO2eq for every ton of production. And in 2015, the project reduced our electricity consumption by just under 9,000 GJ.