Danish Crown: New agreement on biogas accelerates the green transition
A future where the natural gas for Danish Crown's slaughterhouses and factories in Denmark and the fuel for the group's trucks is replaced with biogas and other energy created from the company's own biological waste is no longer wishful thinking. A new strategic agreement with the biogas company Bigadan ensures Danish Crown access to significant amounts of green energy.
’’As interest in food with a demonstrably lower climate footprint increases, the agreement gives us the opportunity to make parts of our production far more sustainable. We can utilize the residual products that arise in production for heat and energy, and in that way make our products more circular,‘‘ says Jais Valeur, CEO of Danish Crown.
In production at Danish Crown's slaughterhouses and factories, significant amounts of biomass arise from sludge and gastrointestinal contents that cannot be eaten by humans or used as animal feed. The biomass is sold to biogas plants, and with the new agreement, Bigadan becomes the sole buyer of biomass from Danish Crown in Denmark.Bigadan operates a number of biogas plants around Denmark. One of Bigadan's largest biogas plants is located at Horsens only 800 meters from Danish Crown's largest pig slaughterhouse.
‘‘It makes very good sense that we create close partnerships in the industry, where we get to use the value - in this case organic waste products - optimally, and create good green solutions. Together with Danish Crown, we are part of the cycle of agriculture and the food sector, and we are happy that we can establish partnerships like this, where, in addition to providing green energy based on the waste products, we also contribute to the fact that we recirculate important nutrients back to agriculture, says Henrik Laursen, CEO of Bigadan. When the biomass from Danish Crown has been through the biogas plant and has been degassed, it is delivered directly back to agriculture and used as fertiliser.
‘‘Bigadan's biogas plant is literally on the other side of the road, and both we and Bigadan have an interest in creating green solutions that benefit both companies. Danish Crown's waste becomes Bigadan's raw material and ends up back with us. It's a symbiosis that makes sense in every way,‘‘ says Jais Valeur, CEO of Danish Crown.
Initially, Danish Crown receives a cash settlement for the biomass. But the agreement is arranged in such a way that in the future you can instead be paid in biogas through a direct gas pipeline to Danish Crown's slaughterhouses and factories or in alternative and more sustainable fuels for the group's trucks.
‘‘When we implement the opportunities the agreement provides, it will be an important step on the way in Danish Crown's sustainability journey. We want to challenge the global meat industry by taking the lead in the work to ensure a sustainable restructuring of food production,‘‘ says Jais Valeur, CEO of Danish Crown.Danish Crown will produce climate neutral (net zero) meat in 2050 and has had its climate plan approved by the UN partnership Science Based Targets:
• The agreement contains biomass from Danish Crown and the subsidiaries Danish Crown Beef and DAT-Schaub.
• Danish Crown has the option to exchange the value of the biomass for biogas, food-approved CO2 or guarantees of origin.
• The agreement takes into account the principles of the bioeconomic value pyramid
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