Ebro Foundation has just held the III edition of its Sustainability and Environmental Awards, a competition that seeks to promote the internal talent of the Group’s professionals in the field of sustainability, devising proposals which contribute to the achievement of the objectives which the General Sustainability Plan, RUMBO A 2030, embarks.
For a subsequent year, the Group’s subsidiaries have brought very interesting ideas and projects to the table, aimed towards crop sustainability, as progress towards a circular production model, through the elimination of plastics and the reprocess of natural resources. The originators and protagonists of such initiatives were colleagues from the companies Riviana Foods, Ebro India, Tilda, and Ebro Foods Benelux.
In accordance with the evaluation criteria established in the terms for the awards, the projects which have received the highest score in this 3rd edition, therefore the prize winners, were Stop Stubble Burning Project of Ebro India, in first place, and Sustainable Boil in the Bag Solution of the subsidiary Ebro Foods Benelux, awarded the second prize.
Stop Stubble Burning Project is a sustainable agriculture initiative which’s ultimate goal is to find a solution to pasture burning, which is the current alternative for farmers to prepare the land for the coming harvest, with a limited margin available between 15 to 25 days. Even so, pasture burning causes the loss of soil nutrients, reducing soil quality, thus increasing the need to use fertilizers for the next harvest, hence, producing further toxic gases (carbon monoxide, methane, particulates…), increasing GHG emissions.
The project presented by Ebro India proposes to, innovatively, replace pasture burning through the implementation the of fungi, bioenzymes developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), which produce enzymes that decompose the straw in, approximately, 25 days. Hereby, preparing the soil for the next harvest, whilst reducing the use of fertilizers by around 20-25%.
Moreover, Ebro Foods Benelux program, Sustainable Boil in the Bag Solution, aims to replace the material currently used, this being of fossil origin, HDPE, with one made of bio-based bioplastic, PLA, specifically corn starch, for the boil in the bag category.
The two award-winning programs, in addition to the specific benefits inherent to the project, share a common, positive contribution towards the reduction of GHG emissions.
Our sincere gratitude and congratulations to both subsidiaries, as to Tilda and Riviana Foods, for their efforts, the innovative nature of their proposals, and their commitment to the sustainable growth of the Ebro Group.
We encourage all subsidiaries to participate and submit new initiatives for next year!
