Last week, Germanwatch published the study “Super-Emittenten in der Fleisch- und Milchwirtschaft in Deutschland” (Super-emitters in the meat and dairy industry in Germany).
Faba Konzepte was involved in the study, calculating the greenhouse gas emissions, as was Green Legal Impact, which discussed the corporations’ climate-related legal obligations.
The study has calculated the greenhouse gas emissions of the ten largest slaughterhouses and ten largest dairy companies in Germany for the first time. It takes a particular look at the efforts made so far by the two market leaders Tönnies and DMK Deutsches Milchkontor. The study also asks what needs to be done within the meat and dairy industry and in politics to significantly reduce emissions now and in the long term.
The study determines the potential for reducing emissions per animal product and applies the calculation to the production volumes and the previously determined emission volumes of the companies.
Savings potential through plant-based alternatives for the slaughterhouse groups with the highest sales
The savings potential through plant-based alternatives for the slaughterhouse groups with the highest sales in Germany is, therefore, 21.13 million tons of CO₂ equivalents for the top 10 companies.
The Tönnies Group is in the lead with a savings potential of 5.87 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. It is followed by Vion Food Germany, which could save 4.40 million tons of CO₂ equivalents by switching to plant-based alternatives. Westfleisch is in third place with a savings potential of 3.60 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. The potential emissions savings for the PHW Group are 1.63 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. Danish Crown Germany completes the top five with a savings potential of 1.75 million tons of CO₂ equivalents.
Potential savings from replacing dairy products in the top 10 dairy companies
The greenhouse gas emission saving potential of replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives in the top 10 dairy companies is a total of 16.46 million tons of CO₂ equivalents.
DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH is in the lead with a saving potential of 5.21 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. In second place is Molkerei Ammerland eG, which could save 2.10 million tons of CO₂ equivalents by using plant-based alternatives. Hochwald Foods GmbH is close behind with a savings potential of 2.07 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. The Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller accounts for 1.90 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. Also in the top 5 is Arla Foods GmbH, whose savings potential amounts to 1.58 million tons of CO₂ equivalents.
These figures once again underscore the climate protection potential of the meat and dairy industry’s transformation towards plant-based alternatives. Click here for the full study.
