The frozen food industry reduces CO2 emissions by 10%

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In the last three years, Italian frozen food companies have reduced CO2 emissions by 10%, equal to those emitted by over 350,000 cars traveling on the Milan-Rome route. Water usage was reduced by 4%, the equivalent of 3 million 5-minute showers saved. While between electricity and heat, the refrigeration industry has been able to reduce consumption by 2%, equal to the annual needs of more than 8,500 two-person families. These are the progresses in the name of sustainability certified by the first environmental report of the IIAS, the Italian Frozen Food Institute. To obtain these results, data from 13 establishments were collected, which represent approximately 80% of the annual consumption of frozen foods in our country.

“This significant reduction in water and energy consumption took place in the face of a significant increase in production – explains Giorgio Donegani, IIAS president – since the consumption of frozen foods has grown by 10% in the last three years”. The sustainability of these products also passes through the intrinsic nature of frozen food, anti-waste by definition: frozen food in fact has a long shelf life and allows portion control. “In Italy – continues Donegani – only 2.5% of the 1.8 million tons of food wasted every year comes from frozen foods”.

To reduce the environmental impact, the efforts of the companies in the sector have concentrated on two main directions: on the one hand, the reduction of consumption per ton of product, obtained thanks to the streamlining of processes and the use of innovative technologies; and on the other, the reduction of the environmental impact of each energy unit consumed, thanks to investments for the self-production of the energy necessary for its processes and the progressive conversion towards the use of renewable sources. As far as energy is concerned, it is estimated that the frozen food sector consumes approximately 476,000 MWh of electricity and 474,000 MWh of thermal energy in a year, which correspond to approximately 1.04 MWh overall for each ton produced. 30-40% of energy consumption is attributable to production; 40-50% to freezing; the remaining 20-30% to storage.