CP Foods pledges phase-out of coal use at aquafeed mills

Bangkok, Thailand-based food giant CP Foods (CPF) plans to put an end to its use of coal at its two aquafeed plants in Thailand by the fourth quarter of 2022.

The move is part of its CPF Coal Free 2022 initiative that has been designed to replace coal use in the company’s manufacturing activities in Thailand within 2022 with cleaner energy sources such as biomass, biogas, and solar power, CPF said in a statement on 20 January.

CPF said it expects the shift to cleaner energy sources will enable the company to meet its energy optimization targets and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70,000 metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide a year.

CPF has already suspended the use of coal at all of its 12 livestock feed mills in the country.

CPF has set a target of lowering its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production by 25 percent in 2025 compared to its base year of 2015. Renewable and cleaner energy sources currently account for 26 percent of CPF’s total energy consumption, helping trim its greenhouse gas emissions by 575,000 MT of CO2 equivalent, the company said.

"CP Foods commits toward sustainable green business. We strive to efficient use of resources in line with the circular economy approach. This effort will reduce production costs and the use of fossil fuels which will, in turn, help reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating global warming,” CP Foods’ Executive Vice President of Corporate Engineering and Chairperson of the Working Group on Climate Change Management Water and Waste Peerapong Krinchai said. “Phasing this out will also help CP Foods to achieve the goal of a net-zero carbon emissions organization that was set by CP Foods to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals."  

CPF is a member of SeaBOS, a group of seafood companies that collectively represent 10 percent of the world’s seafood production. In October 2021, SeaBOS members reaffirmed their commitments to lead the way on improving the sustainability of seafood throughout the supply chain. Nine out of the 10 SeaBOS companies have already set their own emissions-reduction targets and have agreed that by May 2022, all will have GHG emissions reduction goals that align with the aim of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Photo courtesy of CP Foods