As part of the assembled sustainable actions which are being developed by all of the Group’s affiliates, the latest developments pivot around the different initiatives promoted by Riviana Foods and Garofalo.
Garofalo, as part of its commitment to the substitution of single-use plastics, has developed a new packaging line composed of 30% recycled plastic, obtained from chemical recycling. The latter, different to mechanical recycling process, opens unprecedented recycling possibilities for waste fractions which, at present, are difficult to recycle, such as plastic from household collection. In this first phase, the new packaging has been implemented in five references: Spaghetti, Penne, Fusilli, Farfalle and Elicoidale. The brand’s objective is to progressively increase both, the number of references, as the percentage of recycled plastic used.
In this same context of circular economy, the Memphis plant of Riviana Foods has received an award from Pratt Industries, the largest global company in the production of 100% recycled cardboard packaging, due to the significant energy savings achieved owed to its packaging:
- 16.3 million liters of water
- 2.5 million kWh
- 1,552 m³ of waste to landfill
- 615 tons of CO2
As well as the protection of 10,455 trees.
Both subsidiaries have also developed initiatives in the field of sustainable production and biodiversity protection.
In this context, Garofalo has joined LifeGate’s Zero Impact project to offset the CO2 emissions generated by the manufacture and marketing of the primary packaging of its products supplied to the Italian market. The compensations recollected will be destined for the project being developed in the Rimba Raya Reserve, Indonesia, which aims towards the conservation of the tropical peat forest, an area of high biodiversity importance which shelters 94 endangered species within the IUCN Red List. This project also includes social programs to increase the development of jobs and micro-enterprises, as literacy training for children and adults in the region.
Riviana, through its brand, Success® Rice, will promote the implementation of the FSA sustainable agriculture standard, one of the SAI Platform tools, among a group of rice farmers in Arkansas. In this context, Riviana will purchase from these farmers an amount equal to the consumption volume of Success® brand white and brown rice, using a mass balance approach.
