Food Union invests EUR 1 million in new and environmentally-friendly car park, reducing CO2 emissions

The leading dairy processing company Food Union continues to invest in Latvia in a new and environmentally-friendly car park in order to reduce CO 2 emissions. Investing EUR 1 million, the company has purchased 10 new trucks with the newest Euro 6 engines and two coolers that ensure transportation of products in a multi-temperature regime. As a result, in two years a total of EUR 2.4 million have been invested in the car park, renovation of which started in 2019 with 14 new vehicles worth about EUR 1.4 million. At present, 50% of Food Union car park or 24 out of 47 vehicles are not older than two years.

The new Scania multi-temperature trucks are equippend not only with environmentally-friendly Euro 6 engine, but also with a unique two-chamber solution, allowing to transport dairy products, as well as icecream and frozen products in the same truck. Thanks to the vehicles purchased in the past two years, the number of kilometers run by vehciles has dropped by 2,600 a day, which is by 26.5% less than before renovation of the car park was started. As a result, carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions have been cut by 342.5 kilograms a day. Thanks to the Euro 6 standard, nitrogex oxide (NO x) emissions have reduced sixfold compared to the period before renovation of the car park.

“Along with the purchase of the new trucks, we can plan the delivery routes and related costs more efficienty, covering one route with one vehicle instead of sending two trucks as it was needed before. In this way, we save time, human resources, hazardous emissions and fuel, which is especially important at this moment when fuel prices are rising. The new car park also opens us opportunities to provide logistics outsourcing services – to transport products made by other producers if they share our routes and want to use the opportunities provided by multi-temperature chambers,” said Irena Holodnaja, Food Union director general in Latvia.

Food Union group companies in Europe have agreed on the three main directions that combine attempts in social, economic and environment sustainabilityu areas. “Improve consumer wellbeing”, “Reduce impact on environment” and “Enhance fair social system” are the directions based on the UN sustainable development goals. Every Food Union company is free to choose the priority projects in these three directions. One of the main Food Union projects in Latvia for the direction “Reduce impact on environment” is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developing environmentally-friendly car park.