Wilson’s Country makes move as part of its long-term net-zero goal

L-r: Alan Thompson, commercial manager at McCulla Ireland with Wilson's Country MD Lewis Cunningham

L-r: Alan Thompson, commercial manager at McCulla Ireland with Wilson’s Country MD Lewis Cunningham

Irish potato packer and processor Wilson’s Country has been reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4.5 tonnes of CO2e per week this year on the back of a new haulage arrangement.

The company said the reduction was the direct result of working in collaboration with Lisburn-based haulage firm McCulla Ireland, which operates a fleet fuelled by ‘green biogas’ for its downstream transportation and logistics.

“The agreement means that our outbound goods, destined for customers throughout the island of Ireland, will be transported in lorries that are fuelled with biogas produced courtesy of McCulla’s own anaerobic digestion plant in Lisburn,” explained Wilson’s Country managing director Lewis Cunningham.

“This has helped us to reduce our scope 3 GHG emissions by an amount equal to 4.5 tonnes of carbon emitted a week. The environmental impact of this is comparable to planting 625 trees per week, which over one year would be equal to 30,000 trees.”

While Scope 1 and 2 emissions relate to activities that take place within a business, Scope 3 are supply chain emissions from outside a company’s direct operations.

Craigavon-based Wilson’s Country has committed to securing a net-zero position “within the most feasible time frame possible”. The company has recently invested in its own anaerobic digestion plant, mostly fuelled by potato waste, which is already producing 60 per cent of its electricity needs. 

“This commitment, alongside other initiatives on site, has helped us to secure a 78 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from our baseline year, compared to our most recent reporting year,“ Cunningham added.

“By working with McCulla we are able to proactively plan and reduce our Scope 3 emissions, for downstream transport and logistics. This is a carbon-intensive area of the business and we are delighted to be able to make such a significant reduction.”

Separately, McCulla has announced a partnership with Farming Carbon and SusNeo to accurately report its Carbon Climate and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) performance levels.

 

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