The European flour millers are firmly committed to the EU environmental and sustainable development policy and believe that the flour milling industry makes an important contribution to EU's food industry in this area. Basically, flour miling is a dry process and produces negligible waste. The greatest environmental impact of flour milling results from energy usage. In recent years, the EU flour milling industry has introduced a wide range of measures to further enhance its environmental performance. The EU flour milling industry's key objectives in respect of the environment are to ensure a prudent use of natural resources, an effective protection of the environment during the whole production process and the production of valuable co-products in order to minimise waste.
This includes:
- Low use of natural resources
- Use of biomass for sustainable energy production
- Reduction of emissions
- Productive use of co-products
The European flour milling industry and agriculture
The European flour millers, although not directly involved in farming activities, are strongly committed to supporting and stimulating sustainable agricultural practices beyond legal requirements. Agriculture accounts for a notable part of the environmental impact along the food chain, including impacts on water, air quality, climate, soil and biodiversity. The European flour millers supported the introduction of the CAP requirements for cross compliance, that will ensure wheat and rye growers to pay more attention to protecting and enhancing the environment.
The European flour milling industry and Society
Flour production in the EU is conducted within the framework of rural agriculture. It provides a livelihood for some 350 000 European farms and makes an important contribution to the maintenance of the European agricultural model, which is based on the protection of the environment; the diversification of rural areas and the landscape; and high-quality and safety standards for food and feed. Both wheat and rye cultivation and processing of the raw material are located in each Member State of the EU, reflecting the flour milling sector's importance for European Union agriculture.
The European flour milling industry contribute towards a varied cultivation of land and ensures that large quantities of flour do not have to be transported over long distances, but can be produced locally. European flour thus ranks amongst these agricultural commodities which are not only produced in an environmentally sound manner, but are also -from the point of view of avoiding unnecessary transport- produced in close proximity to the consumer.
The industry will continue to assess its environmental record and how it might best reduce impacts and raise awareness on the environment.
