Hain Celestial wins environmental excellence award!

07 November 2007

Hain Celestial UK, a producer of natural and organic foods based in Luton, has won top honours at the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (CIWM) Awards for Environmental Excellence, where the company was awarded, Recycling Performance of the Year.

The CIWM awards, which reward best practice in the sustainable management of waste and resources, and reduction of environmental impact, recognised the huge strides that Hain Celestial UK has made in the recycling area during 2007.

In April 2006 Hain Celestial UK acquired the Luton operations, which produce over 30 million sandwiches every year for Marks & Spencer plc. Hain Celestial UK immediately set about introducing a robust set of initiatives in order to decrease food and packaging waste, with the aim to achieve an 85% reduction by the end of 2007.

By July 2007 Hain Celestial’s Luton site was already recycling 88% of its waste – well ahead of schedule. It has also been estimated that almost all of the remaining 12% of waste will be recycled by the end of the year – a great environmental achievement.

Maureen Raphael, Occupational Health and Safety Manager, who accepted the award on behalf of Hain Celestial, said, “As the world’s largest producer of natural and organic food and personal care products, we take our responsibility to the environment seriously, and playing our part to cut down on waste is a firm priority for Hain Celestial here and abroad. We are extremely pleased with the results of our recycling initiatives as well as the recognition of our practices through this merit award. We aim to keep up the hard work and continue to strive for reduced environmental waste.”

Hain Celestial plans to continue its commitment to the environment by extending these initiatives across all their UK sites, including its Fakenham facility, which produces the Linda McCartney® and other meat-alternative products and has set future goals including:

· Resetting targets of recycling to 95% before the end of 2008
· Reviewing and modifying where necessary working practices to improve recycling
· Becoming carbon neutral by 2012

The CIWM winners were announced at an event held at the Dorchester Hotel on the 31 October, hosted by BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth.

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