A NORTH Yorkshire pet food producer is the first in the sector to achieved a national environmental standard.

Wagg Foods, the UK's largest independent producer of dried pet food, is based at Dalton, near Thirsk, and has achieved The Investors in the Environment (iiE) Bronze standard.

The accreditation covers legal compliance, the accurate recording and monitoring of environmental issues and resources, setting targets to reduce environmental impact and undertaking crisis planning.

George Page, Wagg's operations director, said: "We do everything we can to reduce energy consumption and prevent waste. Our Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) generates electricity from natural gas and also produces heat and steam for use in our production processes.

"It has also helped us to reduce our carbon footprint – in 2014 we cut it by 1,726 tonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent of taking 575 cars off the road each year.

"Zero waste goes to landfill with material that can’t be either recycled or recovered sent to a waste transfer station from where it goes to Ferrybridge Power Station to help generate electricity."

Other initiatives include sourcing raw ingredients such as meat and cereals locally to reduce transport costs and to support other local businesses. In addition, the business has developed a compostable bag to hold products.

David Knight, from the iie, said: "It’s great to see a business proudly setting the standard for the environment and making such a positive impact, with an environmental policy in place and improving their efficiency for resources such as energy and water.

"Within their environmental commitments, Wagg Foods introduced a robust waste management system, with good segregation of waste helping them achieve zero waste to landfill."

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