Circularity - closing production cycles and thus preventing waste - is one of the guiding principles behind everything we do. Together, we’re working on maximising the value of our crops by using every part of the plant and recovering ingredients and energy from our valuable raw materials.
To avoid large waste streams, we need to reuse existing materials. A circularity-based approach not only means reducing the impact on the environment, it also delivers operational benefits: you get more value out of your existing raw materials, and you need to produce fewer new ones. We constantly weigh up how we can get the most value out of co-products: is it better to ferment these valuable raw materials to produce green energy, process them into wallpaper glue, or get more value out of them by producing egg cartons or paper? This is how we’re reducing waste and closing the chain.
Our crops are not only contributing to the food supply chain, we’re also developing plant-based alternatives for commonly used product components, as well as green energy sources. How? For example, by converting the residual biomass from our sugar beet processing operation into green gas using our own fermentation plants. It’s no coincidence that Cosun is one of the largest producers of green gas in the Netherlands.
In addition to helping realise circularity, Cosun’s plant-based solutions are also contributing to healthier lifestyle, protein transition and our climate.
