At a Glance

2008-CP-8-S2

Project Description

Green Isle Foods has introduced a

series of initiatives for more
sustainable
production
at
its
manufacturing plant and offices in
Naas. The CGPP project focused on
identifying efficient ways to use raw
materials and carry out its production
processes, in a manner that would
reduce overall packaging waste from
Green Isle products.

Greening Green-Isle Manufacture and

Delivery

An extensive programme of initiatives was

introduced, summary details of which are
provided below.

Packaging savings in the thickness of

cardboard, the thickness of shrink
wrap and efficient logistics saved over
921 Tonnes of card over the project.
A second initiative was undertaken to
reduce process waste from its
bakeries. Reductions in bakery waste
was achieved by investing in
equipment, training and engineering.
The project also focused on
identifying opportunities to reduce
the energy consumption of its
processes so that improvements in
energy efficiency could be made.
Training was delivered to key staff on
Eco-design of packaging and on CGPP
awareness.
All CGPP initiatives introduced were
successful in improving environmental
performance, in a manner that was
consistent with the Green Isle brand
and compatible with product logistics
and route to market. The project also
delivered major economic benefits
with considerable financial savings.

Packaging Reduction Measures

Green Isle Foods Ltd.

IDA Industrial Estate, Monread Road,
Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland.
Green Isle Foods produces a range of branded
frozen pizzas made in Naas, Co. Kildare. There
are sister plants in Portumna, Co. Galway;
Longford and Gurteen, Co. Sligo. The
company employs over 1,100 people in
Ireland. The company is renowned for brand
development and its Irish made Goodfellas
frozen pizza now commands 30% of all frozen
pizza retail sales in the UK.

Aims of this project

The main aims of the CGPP project were:
1.

2.
3.

To adopt and apply the principles of the

waste hierarchy for prevention and
minimisation of waste in manufacturing.
To reduce the packaging
To improve energy efficiency

In working towards the first aim of waste

prevention and minimisation, there were two
key elements; reducing the volume of material
used in the packaging of Green Isle products
and reducing waste from the bakery process.
Specific initiatives for achieving the aim of
improving
energy
efficiency
included
equipment optimisation, retrofits on existing
equipment and delivering more efficient
production processes.

Photo 1 Green Isle Pizza and

packaging

Trials were conducted to support the

introduction of thinner cardboard in
the packaging of pizzas.
Trials were conducted to reduce the
volume of flow wrap surrounding the
pizza.
Bale optimisation studies focused on
re-engineering
the
packaging
automation to reduce the quantity of
plastic wrap required for bales of pizza
boxes.
Packaging engineers worked in
collaboration with the production team
to evaluate the potential for producing
thinner pizza boxes, which led to 4%
reduction in carton volume.

Photo 2 Pizza packaging

Bakery Waste Minimisation
Measures to minimise bakery waste
included the installation of Failure Modes
and Effects Analysis to prioritise activities
that reduce risks and waste arising. Vision
systems and weighing stations were also
used to check conformance in this area and
to identify opportunities to re-engineering
existing processes, eliminating defects
causing waste.
Other initiatives in this area included a
reduction in oil overspray from production
of pizza bases and the minimisation of
rejected pizza arising from the inaccurate
calibration of the dividers used to make the
dough bases.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency measures

The installation of gas CHP
generating 80% hot water requirements
at 75C and 23% electrical demand.
Installation of Vulganus
Iceless dehumidifier units to serve the
topping spiral freezers in the Naas plant,
allowed longer production runs and more
efficient freezing, as ice build-up reduces
the freezing efficiency.
A reduction in boiler load
by recovering hot water from CHP to heat
company offices.
Retrofitting refrigeration to stand
alone room cooling units with a
lower energy consumption.
Other measures included the installation
of energy monitoring system and meters
to track energy usage and the provision of
home energy meters to 100 employees.

Outcomes
Green Isle is proud of its achievements
under CGPP programme. Expectations
were exceeded in all areas with
environmental and economic benefits.
Specific achievements include:
Packaging reduction
Cardboard savings of 921 tonnes
over 24 Months
Changed to 100% recycled board
Plastic shrink wrap saving of 73
tonnes per year or 290 tonnes of CO2
Reduction in green house gas
emissions from transport as 123
truck journeys now no longer needed
as a direct result of the pallet
optimisation project.
Saving in excess of 4000 pallets
annually

Energy Efficiency and equipment

retrofit projects have delivered large
savings of more than 33% reduction per
pizza manufactured.
The benefits of the project were far
reaching, with hugely positive implications
in terms of cost savings and the
environment. The project is exemplary in
demonstrating the mutually beneficial
economic and environmental benefits of
cleaner leaner production processes.
The CGPP initiatives introduced at Green
Isle also had positive implications for many
customers, in helping them to meet
commitments to reduce packaging under
the Irish Packaging Regulations and its U.K.
equivalent.
This gives Green Isle a
competitive advantage to other food
producers who have not demonstrated
environmental responsibility. The project
also allows Green Isle to be seen as
proactive in terms of environmental
improvements,
which
helps
when
demonstrating capability and competence
when competing for funding for projects.

Cleaner Greener Production is the

application of integrated preventive
environmental strategies to processes,
products and services to increase overall
efficiency and reduce risks to humans and
the environment.
Production processes: conserving
raw materials and energy, eliminating
toxic raw materials, and reducing
the quantity and toxicity of all
emissions and wastes
Products: reducing negative
impacts along the life cycle of a
product, from raw materials
extraction to its ultimate disposal.
Services: incorporating
environmental concerns into designing
and delivering services.

Lessons
Many lessons were learnt as a result of
CGPP not least the value of engineering
tools for analysing potential savings arising
from resources and investment. The
importance of creating an opportunities
matrix with accurate savings and return on
investment calculated was also highlighted,
as it enables the informed prioritisations of
resources and investment. Other important
lessons learnt were the value of
incorporating eco-design principles at an
early stage and ongoing continual review
and improvement of material development.
More Information

Bakery waste reduction

Bakery waste reduction prevented
over 1350 tonnes of bakery waste
when the last 12 months is compared
with 2008, the baseline year
Average kg loss has shifted from
2092kg per week to 319kg per week
which is the equivalent of 84.7 %
improvement

The Cleaner Greener Production

Programme (CGPP) of the EPA is funded
under the National Development Plan 20072013. The CGPP was launched in 2001 as a
grant scheme to fund Irish organisations to
implement cleaner greener practices while
achieving significant cost savings.

For more information on this project please

contact:

The programme aims are focussed on

avoiding and preventing adverse
environmental impact rather than treating
or cleaning up afterwards. This approach
brings better economic and
environmental efficiency.

This case study report is one of the reports

available from the companies that
participated in the fourth phase of the
Cleaner Greener Production Programme
(CGPP4), which is funded by the EPA STRIVE
and NWPP programmes. A summary of all
the projects containing all the reports are
also available.

Ian Leslie
Monreid Rd. Naas, Co. Kildare

More information on the programme is

available from the EPA:

Telephone number
045 848000

Ms. Lisa Sheils,

Fax no
045 897001

Richview, Clonskeagh,

E-mail address
ian.leslie@northernfoods.com

Environmental Protection Agency,

Dublin 14, Ireland
http://www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/research