First climate neutral dairy products to Dutch market. Arla organic climate neutral from cow to consumer

In March 2021, Arla Foods introduced the first climate neutral dairy products to the Dutch market. The dairy food giant launched the Arla organic climate neutral range – the first products with the independent ClimateNeutral® quality mark of the Climate Neutral Group.

The new range of three organic products was launched in CarbonNeutral® 1 liter Pure-Pak® cartons with natural brown board and renewable PE.
With this latest milestone launch, Arla Foods reduces greenhouse gas emissions in various parts of the value chain and compensates the remaining ‘Arla organic climate neutral’ emissions from cow to consumer. To achieve this, the company invests in projects that focus on planting trees and protecting rainforests.

“The climate is out of balance. As a dairy cooperative, we feel a responsibility to reduce our impact on the climate. With ‘Arla organic climate neutral’, we will increasingly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, so that we will have to compensate less and less,” explains Bas Padberg, Managing Director Arla Foods in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

“One of the ways we reduce the emissions is with our recyclable cartons made from unbleached cardboard. Our dairy farmers will perform the Arla Climate Check every year, which helps to continuously reduce emissions on farms and improve their climate impact. That process takes time, which is why compensation is the best short-term solution to immediately stop contributing to climate change.”

Arla Netherland’s target is to reduce its emissions by 30% per kilogram of milk and whey towards 2030 and to be carbon net zero by 2050. As the market leader in organic dairy, the ambition with Arla organic is to accelerate the process and achieve the 30% reduction target for the emissions by 2028 than in 2015. While working on reducing its greenhouse gases, Arla will compensate the emissions from cow to consumer of all Dutch Arla organic products in 2021; approximately 52,000 tons of CO2 equivalents, through certified projects. That approximately corresponds to the annual emissions of 2,600 Dutch households1.

To offset all greenhouse gas omissions, Arla Foods invests in projects that focus on planting trees in East Africa and protecting rainforests in Indonesia and the Amazon region. The local population benefits from the project proceeds and the biodiversity and habitat of endangered species. These projects are certified according to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and therefore meet high requirements for climate compensation.

Sources and information

  1. Milieu Centraal: https://www.milieucentraal.nl/media/g2ihajdz/mc-klimaatklappers-co2uitstoothuishouden.png
  • To be able to add up the influence of the various greenhouse gases, emission figures are converted into CO2 equivalents. One greenhouse gas has a greater influence on the climate than another. One CO2 equivalent is equal to the effect of the emission of 1 kilogram of CO2. The CO₂ equivalent of methane for example is 34 and that of nitrous oxide amounts to 298. This means that 1 kilogram of methane has a similar effect to 34 kilograms of CO₂
    More detailed information at www.arla.nl/klimaatneutraal.