The recent Energy, Water and Emissions Benchmarking and Efficiency Culture Change report shows that plants which are best able to communicate each team member in delivering water and energy efficiency achieved better outcomes.
A water, energy, and emissions efficiency benchmarking and improvement workshop program is offered to processors who complete alongside the AMPC two-yearly environmental performance reporting.
Those who sign up for the opt-in program get a one-day workshop with Energetics, which uses primary data from their reporting to create a dashboard of plant performance and workshop areas for improvement.
AMPC Program Manager Matthew Deegan says part of the benchmarking and improvement project was to assess management systems to see how they impact on energy and water efficiency practice in-plant.
“We discovered, perhaps unsurprisingly, that those plants which scored highly for their management systems also scored well on environmental performance. Where processors can communicate not just at a leadership level but right through all levels in the workplace around the importance of environmental performance, they see better results. That can be through measures like setting targets for different teams and making sure individuals understand their role and responsibilities in achieving those goals.”
The benchmarking study found that overall, plants are doing very well on water intensity, which did not increase compared to the previous reporting period.
“Lower throughput typically correlates with higher water intensity but even with lower throughput during the past two years, levels have been steady, which is very encouraging,” Matt says.
The report does indicate room for improvement on energy intensity, though.
“Energy intensity has gone up over the past two years. This is perhaps a reflection of improvements in value-add products and retail packaging,” Matt says.
Overall, he says processors see the value of the benchmarking exercise.
“For this round, we had 30 members businesses representing 60 per cent of national throughput signing up for the program. The cohort continues to grow with members seeing the value of a 1:1 opportunity to look at their plant and test ideas.”
Results of the study can be found on the AMPC website.
For more information contact Matthew Deegan at m.deegan@ampc.com.au